| |
Scenery is pleasant and improves as the road reaches the top of
the hill when the view widens to include the surrounding hills
and, after a few miles, the Foyle Estuary stretching across to
County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.
The road narrows as it descends towards Limavady, named from the
Irish meaning Leap of the Dog commemorating an incident when beseiged
O’Cahans, local chieftans, sent a message-carrying dog to
get help. The dog cleared the River Roe at a place still called
Dogleap and reached friendly folks at Dungiven who came and relieved
the O’Cahan chieftans. The place called Dogleap is in the
Roe Valley Country Park which is signposted. A digression through
the town reveals a bustling commercial centre with several places
to stop and snack – and a bikeshop run by Sam Conley behind
the filling station at the bottom of the main street.
Continuing through the town towards Derry leads to a roundabout
with the rightmost exit to Magilligan and the B69. This
joins up with the A2 as it wends its way through flat countryside
to Magilligan where there is a turnoff to the left for the ferry
to Greencastle. This road has long been a favourite of bikers
because it has both sharp and sweeping corners on well-surfaced
tarmac. The road to the ferry is very recent but has a couple
of vicious (20 mph or less) turns to keep bikers alert.
Unless you are unlucky, you will be aboard the ferry within 20
minutes and enjoying a short cruise across the mouth of the Foyle
estuary. Bikers are usually first off so you can head straight
for the filling station(to the left off the ferry) or ride past
it towards Moville through several pleasant corners which will
bite back if you get the speed wrong.
At Moville take a right for Carndonagh to enjoy a relatively quiet
country road through farmland, passing the village of Gleneely
before approaching Carndonagh with its wide central market square
surrounded by shops and pubs and free parking. This route
now takes a left at the edge of the square and heads on the R240
through Glentogher to Quigley’s Point on the banks of the
Lough Foyle.  This
is a road which improves with use - reading its corners takes
practice and it is always a pleasure when the road curves to the
left and drops to reveal the Lough spreading over to Ballykelly
and Magilligan.
At the T-junction at the bottom of the hill, turn left to join
the R238 to return to Greencastle via Redcastle and Moville along
the banks of the lough. Although there are a few poor-enough sections
of tarmac, most of this road is well covered and offers many corners
for the biker to enjoy. Back to Greencastle and a return journey
on the ferry will leave you ready for a testing trip through Magilligan,
left towards Downhill along the twisty, smooth surfaced A2 to
Coleraine.
Time permitting, take a digression at Downhill up the Bishops
Road to the Eagle Hill viewpoint, and Gortmore Picnic Area. 85
miles.
<BACK
|
|
