The Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland are by no means strange to bikers from across the world. Just look at Newcastle, Co. Down’s Main Street on any given Sunday (or any given sunny day) and you will see rows of bikes lined up outside the Town Hall, awaiting or having just returned from a zip through the Mournes. Look across the street at anyone of the Coffee Shops or ice-cream shops and you’ll find the riders of said bikes enjoying a much needed treat, or getting the energy levels up before starting off on their journey.
Bikes from across the country and beyond congregate here, the riders all united by their two wheeled machines. And it is from here that the journey begins.
Many bikes have left the coast at Newcastle and ascended into the mountains, where well maintained roads twist upwards and onwards. The sights are enough to guarantee a return by any visitor, especially on a bright sunny day, the landscape here is truly breath taking.
But there is another side to the Mournes, after all this is the Kingdom of Mourne, not simply a one way route. However this other side of the mountain range is effectively untouched, but it is no less beautiful. There are sights on the other sode of the Mournes that will leave you breathless as quickly, maybe even more so, than anywhere else on the range.
Most riders go Newcastle and up, may I suggest that you try Newry and up.
