Cycle Waterford, in Ireland’s Ancient East

Could leisure and road cycling become one of the biggest jewels in Waterford’s tourism crown?

There can be absolutely no doubt, that Waterford and the wider South East region, has an abundance of road and leisure cycling opportunities just waiting to be discovered. Many new businesses have opened up to encourage this emerging market, as well as various Waterford Greenway hire companies. Waterford Camino promises to help you explore and uncover some of Ireland’s hidden gems.

Waterford, Ireland's oldest City, boasts a very proud heritage when it comes to cycling. There's something about the air in this place, not to mention the arduous mountain climbs and undulating roads, that produces great champions. Home to former World Number One cyclist and current Eurosport commentator Sean Kelly. Also up and coming future champion Sam Bennett and Olympian and Giro d'Italia rider Ciaran Power. There really is a depth to road and leisure cycling in and around Waterford.

Why do we not hear and read more about “Cycle Waterford, in Ireland’s Ancient East?”

In a county where excitement for the approaching All Ireland Final is reaching fever pitch, it has to be said that these last few months have become a defining time in showcasing the best of what Waterford has to offer to the world. The Waterford Greenway is a game-changer, a vast meandering outdoor amenity that opens up the County like never before. There is a buzz in the county and sport is at the heart of it!

Our Greenway, in the very few short months since opening, has given added impetus to cycle touring and cycling holidays. This, the newest of Ireland’s Greenway cycle tracks, has attracted literally tens of thousands of visitors. The 46km old railway line bisects the County, linking Waterford City and Dungarvan Town. It has been an immense success to date and will continue to be so.

There is of course much, much more to discover in this most ancient of Ireland’s counties.

A leisurely route, mapping Waterford’s Copper Coast, a UNSECO Global Geopark, will take you and your bike, on a touring cycle with stunning seascape vistas. This stretch of coast line, running East-West along the Irish Celtic Sea, offers views from prehistoric, rugged, high cliff tops. Kilometre upon kilometre of amazing rock faces, precipices and sea stacks. Idyllic “private” golden sandy beaches awaiting you, around ever turn and corner. You may even catch a glimpse of schools of dolphins or porpoises playing in the surf.

Cycling out of Dunmore East, you’ll be pedalling “By Hook or by Crooke”, as you head towards the Passage East, before taking the car ferry across the mighty River Suir. Once in Ballyhack, County Wexford, all points on the compass will steer you South along the coastal road, towards Hook Lighthouse. On the way, you'll pass many of Ireland’s Ancient East’s historical attractions; Duncannon Fort, Loftus Hall, Dunbrody Abbey and Tintern Abbey, with mystical connections with the Knights Templar, before arriving at Hook Lighthouse.

Alternative cycle routes can take you past some of Ireland’s and Waterford’s most ancient locations. The copper ore mines at Tankardstown, the acidic fen peat environment of Fenor’s Ice Age bog, or Stage Cove/Knockmahon beach where the rock face resembles that of the Giant’s Causeway, although much older.

Newer more modern sites to visit, whilst cycle touring, include the John F Kennedy Memorial Park and Arboretum. Only a stone’s throw away from the actual Kennedy homestead, where the US political dynasty began. Explore the Dunbrody famine ship, with the eternal “Emigrants Flame”. Burning warmly 365 days of the year, in remembrance of those who had to leave these shores throughout the generations.

For those with more cycling experience and oomph there are, let us say, more challenging cycles available. Following in the footsteps of Sean Kelly, you can take on the demanding climbs of Mahon Fall, Tickincor, Powers The Pot and if you are brave enough, Mount Leinster – “All the way to the mast”, some 800m of climbing!

As a new leisure and road cycling destination, Waterford has so much to offer. Routes and trails will take you through the very heart of Ireland’s Ancient East.

Here is the county where sport and history collide...beautifully!

Kelly’s Heroes!

I haven’t become a film critic this week and will not be reviewing the Brian G. Hutton film starring the likes of Clint Eastwood and Telly Savalas.  I am referring to those absolutely mad, mad, men and women who took part in the 10^th Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford, which took place last Saturday and Sunday.

You always know that the Sean Kelly is upon us, as the weather inevitably turns nasty for Sunday’s main events. It is almost as though the man upstairs does not think the 160km Kelly Comeragh Challenge is hard enough. So, he throws some curve balls at you. This year we got incessant rain, fog, sea haar and a cruel headwind, strategically directed straight into your face on the homeward leg.

However, the day did start with the promise of better cycling weather.

My wee Mini was parked in a side street in Abbeyside, at around 06:15, just before sunrise. The omens were good. The morning was overcast, but bright enough, as I unpacked the car. Putting on let’s say, summer cycling gear – bib shorts, sleeveless shirt and a very light windproof, NOT waterproof, gilet.

I knew we were in for a decent weather day, as the Sean Kelly Facebook posts said so. “Looks like we might just escape the deluge” and “Sunrise Dungarvan Bay, it's gonna be a great day”. There was even a link to a weather website promising soooo much; “Forecast looking better now for tomorrow... here's hoping”!

Hmmm – a Michael Fish weather forecaster for 2017 I’d say!

As we mustered to set off for our Biscuit Club start time of 07:15, the weather closed in. Right on cue it started to rain. That nasty, thick, misty drizzle that just penetrates everything. Little did we know, that we would have its company for the next 160km! It would not have mattered if we had dressed in rubber, I am sure we would still have been soaked, by the time we returned to Fungarvan.

So, six courageous Biscuits set off. A pair who left at 07:00 and then, a group of four. By the time we had passed the viaduct on the coast road, we had, jokingly, contemplated turning back and taking on the lesser 100km challenge. Surely the rain Gods would relent at some stage and turn the taps off! If only we could have heard them taunting at us, they were about to open up both taps.

We soldiered on through Bunmahon and onto Kill, then up and down into Balllaneen. There we ALL encountered our first of many “Squeaky bum moments” on the greasy, treacherous back roads, resembling ice rinks, in some places. Kilmacthomas, Carolls Cross and up that nasty wee climb, between the reservoirs, which is part of the Comeragh CC Tuesday night circuit. (Oh the memories of pained, sore legs, as I raced this course for the first time in 2017, as a 50 plus grumpy MAMIL). Down Church Hill and into Portlaw, with yet more buttock clenching needed to round a few of these corners.

Scrouty was the first biggish climb, then some back roads to a welcoming warm cup of tea and a bun, in Rathgormack. There we were told that “It’s sunny at the top of The Powers the Pot!” “Yeh right and I am Sean Connery,” I said.

Tickincor and Powers the Pot were soon upon us, at around the 95km mark. A 15km loop of vertical tarmac that took us all closer to God. Some quite literally much closer to God!

The descent down the treacherous Mountain Road into Clonmel was difficult and dangerous. Especially with wet, tired, cold hands, unable to grip slippery brake levers. At this, the 115km mark, those chasing their own personal best times knew to stop or chase the clock.

The weather was unrelenting. A headwind now tried to push us backwards, all the way from Ballymacarbry. The last hour of cycling was sheer, utter torture. With Fungarvan appearing out of the mist and now insight, spirits were lifted. A tough, tough day to be a MAMIL!

Of course, the real heroes were the organisers, administrators, stewards, volunteers and caterers – a BIG bualadh bos!

As for the weather forecaster.....

“Golden Circles” and "BIG Tubes" everywhere!

Was it any real surprise the UK voters gave Theresa May’s Tory Government a bloody nose and, if truth be told, a damn good kicking last week in the UK’s surprise general election? An election that was supposed to increase the Tory majority to such a size that May could, quite literally, steamroll her policies through the Westminster Parliament with gay abandon. 

May’s so called “Dementia Tax”, ensured that thousands of traditional bedrock Tory voters would jump ship, for fear of losing their homes, farms or property. This, along with many other “Stupid” manifesto promises, well and truly put several nails in her coffin.

In the meantime, that wily old fox that is Jeremy Corbyn, promised young and old voters, the earth, moon and the stars. In terms of what he would deliver, for FREE, if he and his Labour party were given the mandate to govern the UK. Let us not forget that it is always easier in opposition at election time, to guarantee voting nirvana, when you don’t actually have to make the books of Government balance. The same, back of a fag packet economics, goes on at the moment with FF, SF and the so called Independent Alliance. Their economic policies as individual stand alone plans, probably do stand up to individual scrutiny. But, as a combined fiscal strategy, these are as watertight as a sieve.

It is also worth pointing out, that there was a huge amount of arrogance within the May campaign. That could clearly be seen on her battle bus’s shrink wrapped blue colour scheme and campaign slogan, “Theresa May for Britain” – no mention of the Tory party! There was very little acknowledgement of the actual Conservative Party, but lots of references to what Theresa May would do for the voter.

In the end May lost the trust of the voters and Corbyn gained the trust, albeit temporarily, of many others. Nobody really expected Labour to win, but many were prepared to give May a handicap to impede her run towards another “Solid” term in office. Her majority Government is no more and a rather uncomfortable alliance is now being sought, with that “Most stable” of parties the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)! I just wonder if Arlene Foster will ask for too much and that the Tories will be back to the people in a few months time?

It would seem now, that both UK and our own Irish politicians are much more remote from us, their paymasters. I put this down to the “Golden Circles” that they inevitably surround themselves with. After all, if your Cabinet, committees and work teams are all made up of “Lovies” and people who are prepared to “Lick arse”, then you are going to always get a consensus of opinion. There will be absolutely no buffer against someone standing up and saying “A hum, excuse me, but maybe, just maybe this is not what our voters want?”

To put it another way and to use a cycling analogy. Supposing you are unfortunate enough to get a puncture on your bike, whilst out on our Greenway and replace the inner tube with the wrong sized tube, i.e. you put on a bigger tube, then you are in real trouble. Whilst all may look well on the outside, whilst you cycle the bike, the ride will be extremely unstable and well, downright dangerous. The fact is that Governments are, in far too many instances, putting on “Big tubes”, instead of finding the right and correct size in the first place. They are guaranteeing themselves a bumpy ride by being downright lazy in not doing the right thing in the first place.

“Golden Circles” are here to stay. I fear that they are now becoming accepted, as part of our everyday lives in terms of politics. You can be sure that during the FG leadership election campaign, groups of the chosen few, from each camp, would have been sitting in darkened rooms paying tribute to their own efforts to get their man elected.

Unfortunately, we in Waterford don’t even have access to the “Bronze Circle”. For the foreseeable future, we will be outside of that circle, unless we find a real political heavyweight. 

“Keep it clean and keep it green!”

“Keep it clean and keep it green!” could very well be the motto for our wonderful new Waterford Greenway.

I ventured with my trusty steed, onto a very wee part of this 42km ribbon of regenerated old rail track, on a quiet Friday afternoon. My unicycle, shod in its skinny unforgiving road racing tyres, is not really suited to most of the surfaces to which its rubber would be exposed. “Slowly, slowly catchee monkey”, were the wise words of wisdom ringing in my ears.

As two Lyrca clad MAMILS, gingerly accessed this amazing piece of tourism infrastructure at Kilmacthomas, we’d carefully wound our bikes up to nowhere near their top speed. Very conscious that we could meet walkers, joggers, buggies, dogs and other bicyclists. In fact we only met three walkers on our small excursion. But, as the surfaces went from smooth tarmac to rather rougher stone and chip, we decided that egress at the next junction, was the wisest budgetary option.

 

There is no doubt that the Greenway is more suited to chunky mountain bikes, hybrid bikes and the new cyclocross bikes. All of which have wider tyres and better frame clearances than regular road racing bikes. We all of course knew this, but I just had to try out for myself, on that quiet overcast Friday afternoon.

I am pleased to report that the section tried, appeared almost litter free. I could see no significant signs of the dreaded “Doggy poop”, which seems to afflict all manner of public realm spaces, across the whole City and County for that matter.

Another reason I tentatively introduced my Cube to the Greenway, was to see and sample, for myself, the current rumpus about people using this newest of tourism experiences. You could not have helped noticing, that “Bad Greenway practices” have been splashed across social media, given vast column inches, in the local newspaper print and lots of on air chatter on WLR FM. In fact, on a very recent local radio programme, a listener had text in to effect that basically, “All cyclists should be banned from the Greenway!!!!!”

Well these few words, caused an avalanche, agreeing all cyclists are simply the reincarnation of Satan. Should you be unlucky enough to be caught in wearing cyclists Lyrca, you must be hung, drawn and quartered immediately. Or be sent to jail, “Do not pass go, do not collect €200!” This hatred, shown by many hiding behind anonymous profiles, never ceases to amaze me.

But the simple fact, for all our naysayers, is that our new Greenway will attract more and more people on two wheels. Something to accept if we are to reap the success from this amazing revenue attractor. Already making such a difference to the fortunes of places like Kilmacthomas, Durrow and Dungarvan. Once there is a real and indisputable connection to Waterford City Centre, we will see further benefits coming to more businesses from the “Pedalling Euro”.

I was interested to see if our world leading capacity to moan, groan and grip about positive news was catching. Low and behold it was!

The new roof, which is nearing completion on the Apple Market, is getting an equally bad press.

This very large public realm project, will provide a covered space generating so many opportunities. Yet the roof design and cost are both being pilloried by I suspect, the same people complaining about those using the Greenway.

Too expensive (paid by commercial rates etc)! Money should have been spent on the hospital Cath Lab (different budget centres)! The metal work (despite not being finished) looks crap! Will attracted undesirables (will be properly policed)!.....and so on.

Our ability to mock, deride and engage in diatribes, about our positive opportunities needs to stop.

You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Let us embrace these positive changes and wait to see how things work out, before we start shouting, bitching or criticising.

In the meantime, ALL users need to start looking after our shiny new crown jewels. Everyone needs to ensure that we “Keep it clean and keep it green!” for future generations.

Selling sand to the Arabs!

The good news, gossip and social media diatribe about the significant €300 million property investment, by the Al Hokair group from Saudi Arabia, started to trickle through various media channels early last week. By Tuesday morning the local and some national media sources (not unsurprisingly in limited column inches!) sources began reporting about this “Game changer” for Waterford City, County and the wider South East region.

Behind the heavily fortified closed doors of City Hall, our 32 Councillors were given first sight of this far eastern promise, by the Council CEO Michael Walsh. Refreshment must have been provided for this late evening session, which had all the potential to drive the City out of Division One and straight back into the Premier League. No need for any more relegation battles. Surely this €300 million, in one fell swoop, would regain our position as the fourth City of Ireland?

Our 32 Councillors unanimously passed a motion, allowing the CEO to engage further with the Al Hokair group, on behalf of the City and County.

As an aside, I read one or two funny remarks on social media, asking if “All” the Councillors had backed the plan, after many a post stating the word “Unanimously”! There were also some very strange comments, completely off topic and you often have to wonder if people are actually reading the same posts?

The devil is always in the detail, with any contractual negotiation. I have no doubt that the shrewd, wealthy business people of Saudi have ALL their ducks lined up and know that a proposal, for a multi-million Euro investment into Waterford City, would be grasped with both hands and feet, for that matter. This is one gift horse, whose teeth do not have to be inspected, or do they?

Waterford City has to be seen as a prime location for investment for all manner of reasons. The main one being, that the price of land and property is just so much cheaper than any other City. Just look at RTE selling circa 9 acres of land, in D4, with a guide price of €75 million. The likely outcome is that these few golden acres will realise much, much more than the €75 million guide, as property prices are once again ballooning in all corners of the Capital (Let’s hope we don’t see another prick bursting said balloon!). The North Quays and Michael Street are a mere fraction of this price, so why would you look elsewhere?

In addition to the cost of land being very “Cheap” in Waterford, the relatively low cost of housing also reflects the current economic climate. Yes, we do get so much more for our money down here on the South East coast and this has to be a significant attractor, when tempting the likes of 1,221,887,632 Saudi Riyals to Waterford.

Let us face facts. Property developers invest in projects to make substantial sums of money and Al Hokair will be investing in Waterford, because they see a future return on their million Euro investment. The potential has always been there. It is just that we have not been able to persuade someone to speculate to this level before in Waterford.

What is for sure, is that this investment will make others aware that Waterford and the wider South East region have REAL potential.

 

As Dublin smothers in increasing housing and rental costs, regions such as Waterford, must be an attractive alternative option. Appropriate infrastructural investment, by Government, needs to be accelerated. It was great to see Minister Coveney, down here pedalling his bike on the Greenway. However, he needs to guarantee and deliver money for this City, to ensure that we are a viable alternative to Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. Governments’ record on this is not great for Waterford, so we will need to keep the pressure on, to make sure they finally deliver.

“Selling sand to the Arabs”, was a phrase often trumpeted to me when I worked at Wembley Arena. The venue was the MUST play indoor arena for any musical act.

Wouldn’t it be great if in the next few years Waterford became such an easy sell?

Greenway is up and running, or cycling or walking!

On Saturday 25^th March, to be exact, the much anticipated Waterford Greenway officially opened. Encompassing Waterford City, in the East, to Dungarvan Town, in the West, along the full 46 kilometre route.

The use of this old, decommissioned railway line has been in planning for many, many a year and a number of sections have been accessible for some time now. Saturday marks the opening of the “Full Monty”. A 46km coastal/inland route, which will simply blow your socks off. Sharing some stunning vistas of sea, mountains, hills and glens.

Some parts of this coastline have for far too long been hidden gems, known only to a select few locals, quietly spoken about in the corners of bars and coffee shops. Now we can ALL shout from the rafters, that at long last, we are to have an alternative tourist attraction, which really does rival those dotted around the various corners of this wee green island.

In particular, the Waterford Greenway will rival the explosion of this type of development. Examples of these, can also be found in places that link Athlone and Mullingar, Westport and Achill Island, Abbeyfeale and Rathkeale. There are also plans to open a Greenway in Connemara, between Cloonbeg and Athry, later this year.

These large infrastructural projects are being designed to bring new life to otherwise unused, huge tracks of land. The restructuring of old railway lines and tracks is a good idea and one that should be welcomed by all. We need to find and source new tourism markets for Waterford, if we are to drive the County and wider South East, out of the third tier of recovery we find ourselves in. The recent Sunday Times Rich List report shows Waterford County has the lowest level of wealth, when compared to the other 32 counties on this island. This is something that we must quickly address and correct, if we are to ever regain our status as the fourth city of Ireland.

Waterford’s Greenway, must now be sold to the people of Waterford and further afield, to a National and International market. What cannot happen is that we open this wonderful attractor and sit back under the age old adage of “We have built this and now they will come!”. Not insignificant sums of public, Council, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland money must be spent on PR, marketing and promotion of our Greenway. There will be plenty of competition fighting for these additional resources and we must make sure that we get our fair share.

There will also be an onus on the Council, to make sure that the eastern end of the Greenway actually connects to the heart of Waterford City. We created a wonderful Viking Triangle and the connectors to the City Centre have been an awfully long time in the making! This cannot be allowed to happen with this project.

At present, the western end connectors are ALL in place, with access right into the very heart of Dungarvan. The eastern access points seem to be taking rather longer to be put in place and we have the very real prospect of yet another east/west split. Our “Full Monty” has to be delivered and delivered in a timely fashion.

Hopefully, from Saturday 25^th March, tens of thousands of people will be coming to Waterford, with the sole purpose of travelling our Greenway. We must at the very least, ensure that they leave having been absolutely stunned by what they have seen. We want these people to return in their hordes, bringing more and more family and friends. Repeat customers are the very best customers and we need to encourage this culture.

 

I do hope that we, the local citizens, look after this important piece of new infrastructure for our future guests. We cannot allow the Greenway to become a cycle race track, a scrambler track, a pony-trekking route, or a convenient place to let your dog poop or a place to dump rubbish.....!

Waterford’s Greenway is another jewel in our crown, so let us keep it shining bright. 

Memories - One hell of a ride!

On the 20^th and 21^st August thousands will take part in the Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford.

I have once again signed up to tackle the gruelling Sean Kelly 160km, along with many another Lycra clad pedal pushers – drivers be warned, the roads will literally be thronging with cyclists!

My memory of last year, the first time I tackled this most challenging of cycling events, is still very vivid and fresh, as though it was only yesterday that I completed the course, over some of Sean’s “training routes”. Whilst, I will never be a great cyclist, like Sean, I can at least say I have trained on the roads that made him the great cycling ambassador for Waterford!

Here is my memory of the 2015 Sean Kelly 160km.

I collected my goodie bag, the night before the event. This contained; a snazzy commemorative race jersey, a bottle of water, a couple of flapjacks, wristband and a bike registration number sticker. When I returned to the car I had a feeling that I would need far more than a couple of flapjacks and one bottle of water, to complete the daunting task that I would take on the very next day.

At 07:45 I and ten other Biscuits, set off from Dungarvan on an adventure that would test each and every one of us. Ahead lay 160 kilometres of hills, hills and more hills!!!!!

As we shot up The Pike and veered left at Lemybrien, we cycled for around 10km with the imposing Mahon Falls, shrouded by black low clouds, taunting us, teasing us and ultimately calling us, knowing that we would have to cycle, walk or crawl up this wicked hill at around 120km into the route.

But our first real challenge would be a wee hill called “Tickincor” at around 55km. Now if you have never heard of this hill go out, find it and try to drive up it. You will very quickly see just how steep it is and then image how hard it is to cycle up the damn thing!

Roche & Kelly

The “Powers The Pot” was the next hill at around 90km. Some comedian spray painted “3km to go” after what seemed like an eternity on the hill, just to remind us how hard the bloody climb was. There was a collective intake of breath, the odd swear word, when I and my fellow Biscuits crossed this marker and a realisation we were only halfway up this mammoth test of endurance. Up at the top, the Biscuits regrouped, then a quick food stop at Rathgormack and we headed towards the final challenge of the dreaded, nasty climb up Mahon Falls.

At around 120km the Falls called us like some cruel Siren would have called Greek ships to their doom. Low gear selected, with some “Rusty Spokes” ahead of me to chase up the Falls, I dropped my head down and I was off. Some hellish 20 odd minutes later, it was all over and a quick regroup with my fellow Biscuits and it was “all downhill” to the finish (so they told me).

No it wasn’t! We still had the 7km or 8km drag up the Mama Road.

Mama Road conquered and now it was mostly downhill to the finish line in Dungarvan. We had enough in our legs to manage a wee sprint and top speed of 53kph on the borders of Dungarvan.

One final regroup and these 11 Biscuits crossed the line together in perfect formation. Our wee group had stayed together for 160km of torture, hell, fun, laughs, memories and a sense of accomplishment.

Well done to ALL involved. A great event, great company, great event organisation, a great “Packet of Biscuits” and above all a great occasion for Waterford to be VERY proud of.

It was one hell of a ride! Bring on the 2016 SKT.

The question is, will I be so elated after next Sunday’s cycle. Oh the joys of looking forward to “THAT” pain in my legs once again!

A road less travelled.

Biscuit Club cycle humour!

I have now been cycling around the South East region for a little under two years and during that time I have covered many thousands of kilometres across Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Tipperary and I have even, dare I say, visited the neighbours in Kilkenny on many an occasion – without the need for a passport may I add.

Who said we are two warring counties fighting over a proposed boundary extension in and around the Ferrybank area? As all seems fine when I peddle my bike through what some would picture is “bandit territory”. If you are to believe some of the rhetoric coming from certain public representatives then you might just need a flak jacket the next time you venture across the bridge!

Anyway, last weekend I took part in another fundraising event. This time for Mount Sion CBS which was an event I participated in last year and hopefully this will now become an annual fundraiser for the school. Make no bones about it? The people you regularly see at weekends, squeezed into all manner of coloured Lyrca, give a considerable amount of their time and money to many of the charity/fundraising cycles around this wonderful South East corner of Ireland.

Already this year we, The Biscuit Club members, have helped raise money for The Cycle for Sarah, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, Solas South East Cancer Centre “Dance for Life”, Waterford Hospice, Kilmacow Wheelers Charity Cycle to name but a few and the calendar for the summer looks equally busy.

There can be no doubt and speaking as a MAMIL only (so as not to upset the fairer sex), that when you get to certain age we either buy; a Harley, a stupid convertible car that makes you look like a numpty, a set of ridiculously expensive golf bats or a carbon racer bicycle with all the bells and whistle in terms of wheels, groupsets, low rolling resistance tyres, GPS computer gizmos and the latest trend a power meter! There is even an App that allows us to record our rides, compare times and keep an eye out on just how many kilometres you are covering every week.

In addition, if you were any way competitive in a previous sporting life, and some say I still am, then your weekend cycles, sportifs and charity events can become very spirited. The fact that you can now be as nerdy as you wish with all the statistics available makes cycling even more competitive.

There is of course a commercial side to cycling and if we are to be honest then there is a whole market out there for road, mountain and leisure cyclists that the South East region is missing out on. As the closest point to the UK, by boat and ferry, there really is a vast untapped market, of potential affluent customers to the South East and yet they do not come.

The opening of the Greenway will of course help us draw this lucrative market, but it will only do so if we are prepared to tell people about what we have to offer. To date our international promotion of the City, County and the greater region have been sadly lacking and I do wonder if we are to forever remain, in terms of international tourists, the Quiet County and forgotten region! Or perhaps it suits others that we remain the Cinderella in terms of our tourism opportunities.

Ideal Greenway companion bike!

Yes, we do have sooooo much to offer and I see this every weekend whilst out on the Penny Farthing. But what I do not see are lots of foreign tourists out enjoying the same fresh air, the stunning scenery, the beautiful beaches, challenging roads and the great hospitality.

My bike has taken me many places and given me the time to clear my mind to allow my creative juices to flow and I just wonder if those promoting this great region actually take the time TO do the same.

Tourism – the biggest industry in the World!

Tell me what you really think.

Those readers who know me will know that over the last twelve months I have literally come out of the closest in my Lycra and can officially be described as a MAMIL (middle aged man in Lycra). It is a hobby that has taken me all over the south east and further afield, around this island of green. In fact since I had to hung up my golf bats (due to old rugby injuries), cycling is a sport I have taken to my heart over the last 15 months and I am now just a few of kilometres short of cycling 10,000km. I, like most of today’s cyclists have an App, as there is an App for everything, and this App also show that I have climbed nearly 62,000m in those 15 months - hard to comprehend just how high that is.

Who needs the Tour de France when we have so much available to us on our doorstep here in Waterford.

The unseasonably good weather has allowed me to continue to cycle in my Lycra shorts over the last couple of weekends and last Saturday and Sunday was no different. So mild was the weather that I even managed to see a few butterflies out and about, and I also managed to be hit by several bumble bees, and being smacked on the face by a bumble bee at 30 plus kph stings like hell!

It has amazed me that as we head into the depths of winter our wonderful countryside and coastline are still accessible whether you are on a bike, in a car or simply just walking. Being able to see the vast array of autumnal colours that coat our countryside at this time of the year I can see why this is the favourite time for so many people. There were simply oodles of people out and about over the weekend and car parks that access our stunning coves and beeches, whilst not heaving, were very busy with families taking the opportunity to enjoy the extremely mild weather and get one or two last autumnal walks in, with the dog, before the winter weather finally decides to arrive.

The more I cycle around Waterford and the south east, the more I come to appreciated exactly what we have on our doorstep and I do often wonder if we are really utilising this natural beauty for the benefit of ourselves and as a potential tourism income generator.

We all know that Ireland’s Ancient East has been designed as a tourism driver in an attempt to balance the tens of millions being spent on dragging millions of tourist “out west” to the Wild Atlantic Way. Yet we read recently that funding for this project across Waterford and the south east has not been forthcoming and we must ask why? I would also hazard a guess that many readers will not be aware that the Ireland’s Ancient East project is now over two years old and we are yet to see any real economic benefits from this new branding.

 

In my 10,000km of cycling around the south east I have yet to see one sign proclaiming that you are in Ireland’s Ancient East and I am yet to see any real signs of branding that will encourage our tourists to spend their Euro in Waterford and this region. I fear that we are yet again being dreadfully acceptant that what has been delivered to date is satisfactory and adequate to compete with other tourism offerings.

We have accessible scenery that rivals the very best in Ireland and we have a tourism offering that certainly competes with some of the more established brands in Ireland and yet we seem to be, once again, the poorer cousin when it comes to funding and shouting about just what we have to offer.

More must be done for Waterford and the south east as after all tourism is the biggest industry in the World!