ETHICAL TRAVELLER:IRELAND'S FIRST National Bike Week starts tomorrow, which gives us an excuse not only to dig our bikes out from the back of the shed but also to see where we can enjoy riding them. At last the wheels of change are in motion for Irish cyclists, as National Bike Week (www.bikeweek.ie) is part of the new National Cycle Policy Framework, which aims to get as many of us as possible back in the saddle.
I am using National Bike Week to celebrate Ireland’s first long-distance cycle route, the Kingfisher Cycle Trail, a must for anyone who wants to discover the hidden gems of the northwest.
The Kingfisher is an appropriate name for it: this elusive little bird is associated with lakelands, and the 370km trail twists in and out of the extraordinarily endless lakes of Cavan, Fermanagh, Leitrim and Monaghan, giving the kingfisher (and us) a superb choice of shores to rest upon.
The trail is designed as a figure of eight. The northern loop circles Lower Lough Erne, then moves alongside Loughs Melvin and Macnean, stretching as far as Ballyshannon, in Co Donegal.
The lower loop is bordered on two sides by Upper Lough Erne and Lough Allen. A good starting point for the southern loop is Carrick-on-Shannon, from where you can travel east along back roads through the patchwork-quilt-like landscape of tiny lakes. On this route an ideal picnic stop is Newtown Butler, where, if travelling anticlockwise, you have to phone the ferryman to help you back on your journey across the lake to Crom, in Co Fermanagh.
For the northern loop section, hire bikes at ecofriendly, family-run Corralea Activity Centre (www.activityireland.com), or base yourself here for a few days. Then go farther north and check out the extra Atlantic mini-loop from Belleek or Ballyshannon to the sandy beach at Rossnowlagh. Creevy Cottages (www.creevy experience.com), overlooking the sea, are a perfect stop-off for this bit.
The Kingfisher trail’s map (€6, www.cycletoursireland. com) is excellent, offering several ways to break up the circuit, as well as day routes and attractions along the way. It also points out some of the busier sections of road, warning cyclists to take caution, but there are few of these.
Other fine ecofriendly places to stay along the trail, which either offer bikes free of charge to guests or arrange bike hire, include the Old School House (www.theoldschoolhousecavan. com) in Meenaslieve, Co Cavan. Or tie your bike up beside the tepee at Orchard Acre Farm (www.orchardacrefarm.com).
Two lake-shore accommodations that offer bikes and a boat free of charge are Little Crom Cottages, on the shores of Upper Lough Erne (www.littlecromcottages. com), and Trinity Island Lodge, (www.trinityisland.com), at a beautiful island hideaway near Killeshandra, in Co Cavan.
You can have a superb massage after a day’s cycling if you stay at Blaney Spa and Yoga Centre, overlooking Lough Erne (www.blaneyspa andyogacentre.com), and you can reward yourself with some of Donegal’s finest fare at Ard Na Breatha (www.ardna breatha.com), which won Georgina Campbell’s award for best guest house this year.
The new cycling framework also aims to integrate cycling into the public-transport network, and not before time. At present only certain rail routes cater for bikes (see www.irishrail.ie).
If you want to leave the car at home, you can also think about taking the bus, as both Bus Éireann and Ulsterbus will take bikes in the luggage bay, if there is room, on a first-come-first-served basis.
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