Stunning cycling trails to reduce your carbon footprint

Take the R668 heading north through a magnificent wood where the road gradually climbs to around 600m in the heart of the Knockmealdown Mountains. The Owenashad River accompanies you for several kilometres offering a very pleasant climb. This is a longish haul to the top at 13km but if you are reasonably fit you should manage it just fine. The pass between the mountains is in fact the Waterford border with Tipperary, where Knocknalougha is to your left and the long slope to Sugarloaf is on your right. Just below now in the direction of the Galtee Mountains is Bay Lough and its glistening surface making it stand out like a bright coin.

 At this time of year the mountains are swathed in a vast purple garment in the form of a rhododendron forest. They are invasive and destructive, yes, but are nonetheless spectacular. The road sweeps around a few bends before you arrive at the Vee with a magnificent view of a patchwork of fields, woods, towns and villages set out before you. This is one of the premiere cycling roads in the country so expect to see lots of other cyclists around.

Take a sharp left at the Vee, and descend through more woods towards the Co Tipperary village of Clogheen. Swing right, just before the village, on a very quiet road, towards the rustic village of Goatenbridge and on to Newcastle.

Here, you must regain the height you lost and cross back into Co Waterford. It is a tough climb, no two ways about it, and soon the road careens past the Cistercian abbey of Mount Mellary. The very attractive town of Cappoquin lies at the bottom of the mountains. To return to Lismore, avoid the busy N72 by taking a road on the south side of the River Blackwater. This can be found 500m outside Cappoquin on the main road to Lismore. Cross the stunning arched bridge and take the next right for a casual cycle through the trees and back to base in Lismore.

Distance: 60km 

Start: Lismore Town       

The Burren, Co Clare   

It is not many cycles that can boast a monument as eye-catching as the towering 5,000 year-old Paulnabrone dolmen in Co Clare. Its 1.8m height on a pass between the mountains is a staggering sight and one of the highlights of this highlight-packed route.

This is a cycle split between the coastal region of the Burren and its interior heartland and it is a truly magnificent locale in all its guises.

Begin at the lively coastal town of Ballyvaughan just west of Kinvara, Co Galway. With the imposing limestone mountain of Cappanawalla on your left and a small scattering of islands on your right, continue west for 6m before turning south at Blackhead Lighthouse. If you have the right footwear you could take a short diversion here by climbing up the rocks behind the lighthouse to Caherdoonerish stone fort about 2km distant near the summit of Gleninagh Mountain. The 10th century fort was named after a chief called Irghus and as a defensive enclosure it pretty much has it nailed. The views of the Aran Islands and of Galway Bay are breathtaking and are well worth the effort in getting there.    

Clamber back down the slopes and back on the bike for a beautiful cruise down to the next port of call at Fanore Beach, also worth a stop for a swim. Continue south and follow the signs for the famous matchmaking town of Lisdoonvarna before heading west again to the even more famous Cliffs of Moher which climb to over 200m above sea level. If you have time, on what is a cycle full of diversions, tear yourself away from the bike for half an hour to marvel at these foreboding cliffs.

The road now sweeps south to take in Liscannor and Lahinch before turning north to the beautiful town of Ennistymon. We continue to head inland here to the village immortalised by poet Paul Durcan in ‘The Kilfenora Teaboy’.

About 6km east of the village head north at a ruined castle on the R480. The Aillwee Caves are soon signposted along the road and another diversion could be made to see part of the vast underground chamber carved out over tens of thousands of years by rivers beneath the limestone crust. Next up is the incomparable Poulnabrone dolmen and then a fabulous downhill sweep through farmland back to base at Ballyvaughan.

Start: Ballyvaughan, Co Clare 

Distance: 89km