This page was last updated Di 04 April 2023.

Contents: Cycling info pages (1)   

Reports by John Walshe

All descriptions are in English, unless otherwise noted.

Cycling info pages

Grading Ireland's cycling routes
by John Walshe, , submitted 29 October 2010

Independent assessment of Irish Cycle Touring Routes

Do you want an independent assessment of Ireland's Official Cycling Routes? If you do read on. My name is John Walshe and I have decided to cycle them all. According to the Failte Ireland website we have about 79 cycling routes in the Republic of Ireland which came as news to me when I happened upon that claim earlier on this year (2010). Since then I have been cycling them one by one and I have uploaded my report on each route onto my web page.

Some of them are o.k. but most of them are dreadful. I intend to assess each and every one of them. I am cycling them solely from the viewpoint of a touring cyclist i.e. the kind of person who uses his holidays to cycle bringing with him all his luggage, tent etc. on the bike. As I cycle these routes I also bring along with me a theoretical nine years old daughter and an equally theoretical 10 years old son. This is the standard test that is used internationally. Would you let your two kids cycle this route? If the answer is 'yes' then the route qualifies all things considered. If the answer is 'no it's too dangerous' then the route does not qualify. It's as simple as that. Of course scenery has to be factored in and the degree of difficulty. [...]