Cycling the N4.

Buchaill_Mor · 22-09-2014 2:11pm #1

Need to get to Lucan village for the next few Mondays. Leaving Kilmanham, what are the pro's and cons to the N4? What should I look out for safety wise? I will get getting off and the Woodies exit.
I believe the traffic builds up badly at the big wall on the left outbound, and it can get a bit hairy with buses and taxis and jokers in the bus lane. All suggestions and tips welcome.

godtabh · 22-09-2014 2:14pm

The worst bit I find is the M50 turn off just past Palermstown. Can be avoided depending on which way you go.

Ole Rodrigo · 22-09-2014 2:19pm

You could cut across Houston and along by the Phoenix Park to the Strawberry beds ?

Seaswimmer · 22-09-2014 2:27pm

I would go down the side of the CIE works, out opposite Liffey Gaels and up through Ballyfermot/Cherry Orchard/Coldcut Road/Fonthill Road. Then go down St Lomans Road and turn right which brings you to flyover at Woodies.

Avoids N4 and M50 and long stretches without traffic lights. I use this route when going to Leixlip sometimes.

cdaly_ · 22-09-2014 2:31pm

Or take the Grand Canal from Kilmainham out to Adamstown and then cut north for Lucan?

rp · 22-09-2014 2:38pm

Buchaill_Mor wrote: »

Need to get to Lucan village for the next few Mondays. Leaving Kilmanham, what are the pro's and cons to the N4? What should I look out for safety wise? I will get getting off and the Woodies exit.
I believe the traffic builds up badly at the big wall on the left outbound, and it can get a bit hairy with buses and taxis and jokers in the bus lane. All suggestions and tips welcome.

I'd say the N4 section will be the safest part of your trip, Palmterstown/M50 overpass is ok, just get into the 'normal' ahead lane at the lights (not the bus lane) and stay in that lane over the M50.
Merging with the M50 offramp, I stay in the bus lane (which becomes the normal LH lane) until its clear to move left, just before the Liffey Vally bus-stop
Stay out to the RH of the bus lane before the LV offramp, as cars will try to cut you up there (and what your left - I've had a taxi try and squeeze past inside me)

Buchaill_Mor · 22-09-2014 4:08pm

Thanks for the input guys. Don't fancy the canal at the moment. Also don't fancy the Strawberry beds. I know people who use that as their driving route home, and I wouldn't trust them in a pedal car, never mind a real car. I will try the B-fermot way, unless I am feeling risky, and do the N4.
Thanks for all the feedback.

Orion · 22-09-2014 4:19pm

I cycle the N4 regularly to Maynooth. It's fine - as said already the only dodgy bit is getting lane after Palmerstown to go over the M50 from the left lane. After that it's a clear run.

the.red.baron · 22-09-2014 4:21pm

Strawberry beds is the more pleasant cycle for sure.

Going out is probably easier that coming in on the n4, especially the M50 interchange, the traffic at Palmerstown is accelerating up to about 60k from the traffic lights and you can get into the Left hand hand lane easy enough. It's trickier to then merge with the m50 to n4 traffic after this before liffey valley as they don't seem to think a bike has right of way there.

Coming in, you are trying to merge at say 40k with traffic doing 100k plusss at the m50, you are really putting your life in the hands of others there as it's not possible to ahem manage traffic in this instance, you get people passing inside, outside, in the bus lane, cutting in at the last second, beeping, flashing.

If you shoulder check, it's impossible to tell if traffic coming from behind intends to go the m50 or into town and at the speed they are on you in seconds.

People do crazy stuff there all the time because they get in the wrong lane.

Also, the people merging from liffey valley going into town are not looking for bicycles at all. So assume they have not seen you.

the bus lanes only lovely the rest of the way though.

Done it about 1000 times and still alive

The faster you go the better

Seaswimmer · 22-09-2014 4:23pm

Buchaill_Mor wrote: »

Thanks for the input guys. Don't fancy the canal at the moment. Also don't fancy the Strawberry beds. I know people who use that as their driving route home, and I wouldn't trust them in a pedal car, never mind a real car. I will try the B-fermot way, unless I am feeling risky, and do the N4.
Thanks for all the feedback.

Another small tip. When coming back towards Kilmainham take the 2nd exit off the Fonthill roundabout and go through Liffey Valley and back to Coldcut road that way.I have had a few near misses going all the way around that roundabout to go back down Fonthill road.

the.red.baron · 22-09-2014 4:42pm

Buchaill_Mor wrote: »

Thanks for the input guys. Don't fancy the canal at the moment. Also don't fancy the Strawberry beds. I know people who use that as their driving route home, and I wouldn't trust them in a pedal car, never mind a real car. I will try the B-fermot way, unless I am feeling risky, and do the N4.
Thanks for all the feedback.

I've had more near missed in Ballyer than anywhere else.

Between the cars reversing back out onto the road and the traffic calming measures it's a death trap.

hmmm · 22-09-2014 5:11pm

When I'm on a bus I cringe when I see cyclists on the N4 between Heuston & the Lucan turn-off. Way too dangerous for me, cars are going too fast and a cyclist can be hard to see.

How about along the Liffey track at Chapelizod, then Old Lucan road, there's a pedestrian/bike-only bridge over the M50, then straight on to Lucan.

rp · 22-09-2014 6:09pm

the.red.baron wrote: »

Coming in, you are trying to merge at say 40k with traffic doing 100k plusss at the m50, you are really putting your life in the hands of others there as it's not possible to ahem manage traffic in this instance, you get people passing inside, outside, in the bus lane, cutting in at the last second, beeping, flashing.

Never had an issue on this stretch, but be sure to track the outside of the bus lane from after Deadman's, and wait for a good break in traffic and take the opportunity when it opens up, but by the bus stop at the latest: I've seen people trying to get across after the offramp start, and would not like to be in that position. Now we're back into School Run time, the traffic is stationary anyway.

the.red.baron · 22-09-2014 6:22pm

rp wrote: »

Never had an issue on this stretch, but be sure to track the outside of the bus lane from after Deadman's, and wait for a good break in traffic and take the opportunity when it opens up, but by the bus stop at the latest: I've seen people trying to get across after the offramp start, and would not like to be in that position. Now we're back into School Run time, the traffic is stationary anyway.

I'd say it depends on the time of day you are doing it. For me, the liffey valey slip onto the n4 until you get past the m50 is the most dangerous part.

The higher the speed difference the harder it is to get out. You are then in a vulnerable position with people trying to get across. It's much the same as trying to drive onto the m50 at 50k with everyone doing 120k.

Even in the car there I've had near misses and I'm already in lane.

Can be done, but you need to have your wits about you for sure.

And in the dark and the rain...

alias no.9 · 22-09-2014 6:32pm

Buchaill_Mor wrote: »

Thanks for the input guys. Don't fancy the canal at the moment. Also don't fancy the Strawberry beds. I know people who use that as their driving route home, and I wouldn't trust them in a pedal car, never mind a real car. I will try the B-fermot way, unless I am feeling risky, and do the N4.
Thanks for all the feedback.

You could cross into palmerstown village by the footbridge or at the lights beside it and there's a foot/cycle bridge across the M50 and another back across the N4 your experience on the road route across the M50 depends on whether you catch a wave of traffic moving off from the palmerstown lights or are lucky enough to dodge the waves. The merge from the M50 onto the N4 is hairy as you have traffic coming from behind both shoulders trying to merge into the lane you're in as it ceases to be a bus lane.

Me, I'd go ballyer or the canal, much flatter.

Buchaill_Mor · 22-09-2014 6:37pm

Did it. And I won't be doing that again!! M50 was not too bad. The bends before the on slip at B-fermot was dodgy as a dodgy thing in dodge city. Taxi drivers and people not supposed to be in the bus lane hooring along. Ended up trying to be in the right hand side of the bus lane to move into the left lane of traffic if needed. Think I nearly got killed about 5 times there. Hope this course is worth it.

alias no.9 · 22-09-2014 9:06pm

Buchaill_Mor wrote: »

Did it. And I won't be doing that again!! M50 was not too bad. The bends before the on slip at B-fermot was dodgy as a dodgy thing in dodge city. Taxi drivers and people not supposed to be in the bus lane hooring along. Ended up trying to be in the right hand side of the bus lane to move into the left lane of traffic if needed. Think I nearly got killed about 5 times there. Hope this course is worth it.

If it's just the chapelizod bypass that was a bit hairy, haven't cycled it myself but I can picture it, there's a path along the river from the war memorial gardens to chapelizod which is a good alternative, I've used it a bit.

Cycling the N4.

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