One of the absolute best things about spring is that venturing outdoors is actually enjoyable. Like, not freezing your ass off in lashing rain and wind as you cycle around in your ancient fleece jacket enjoyable.
Ireland is home to plenty of incredible cycling routes, but one of the nicest ones I've ever done has hands down got to be Tollymore Forest Park in Co.Down.
This huge forest covers 630 hectares and sits right at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, meaning not only do you get a view of the trees, every time there's a break in the leafy canopy you can glimpse the mystical mountains where C.S Lewis took his Narnia inspo from.
While there's a designated mountain bike trail, I'm by no means a professional (sure one spin class a week destroys me), so I went for the lazy-man/genius invention of the electric bike, and jaysus it was fantastic.
I set off with a group organised by the incredibly sound lads from Life Adventure, who not only sorted me out with my speedy wheels for the day but also took us around the forest trails - and helped push me up a few steep hills when the going got tougher.
Cycle past pine trees, flowing rivers, caves and grottos...
Tollymore Park is genuinely one of the best forests I've ever seen, with each and every turn of the trail revealing a new hidden gem of the forest.
Make sure to take a breather now and then as you whizz through to further explore the grottos and vine covered arches of the route.
You can rent the bikes for either one, three, or six hours, with three hours costing £30 including usage of their hot showers and cosy coffee dock.
Thirty quid for a bike might sound like a lot, but having the electric bicycle means you can see a huuuuuge more amount of land than with a regular ol' push pedal yoke.
I'd never cycled one before and it did take a bit of getting used to, but the Turbo motor amplifies your pedalling power so you seriously fly along the rougher ground, making light work of inclines.
I felt like Lance Armstrong speeding along the trail.
I definitely did not look like Lance Armstrong...
There's so much to see in this forest, including a heap of classic Game of Thrones filming locations, that I'd really recommend packing a rucksack with sambos and snacks and making a whole day of it.
The bus from Dublin takes just two hours, and you could even go all out and stay in a hotel in the area or Bear Grylls it up and camp on site on the forest.
Next time there's some nice weather forecast, book one of these speedy gonzalez bikes, head up to the forest and hit the trails. You won't regret it.
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