The treks over the Mournes range from one to eight miles. The ferry ride from the mainland to Portaferry takes less than 10 minutes and if you call Gary, the owner of Mike the Bike, ahead of time, your mountain bikes will wait quietly to greet you beneath the screeching gulls. The two roads that circle the 60-mile peninsula are flat. The Lough-side road begins along the water, past bobbing sailboats and sea walls speckled orange. After a few kilometres, the road bends inland, wheeling you by old church yards dotted with Celtic crosses, Guinness signs on pub walls and the ruins of old barns.
Horses sleepily hang their heads over fences.
At Greyabbey, you can dismount to stretch your legs and visit the Mount Stewart estate. There are no sheep munching here. At times, the path along the cliffs of the Causeway Coast creeps dangerously close to the 374-foot drop down into the ocean below. On still, clear days you can see clear to Donegal on one side and over to the coasts of Scotland on the other. The path begins on the sandy beach of Bushfoot Strand and quickly ascends the basalt cliffs.