Ways to get bike into town.

af_thefragile

What are the best ways to get bike into town or places around.
I like pretty far away from the city centre and riding my bike all the way into town is not a very pretty option for me. So what other ways do you guys think are good to get my bike into town.
Oh and i don't live too far from a train station on the line to heuston. If it helps in any way!

davidsatelle100

why do you want to get it into town if your not going to go home on it???

af_thefragile

I'll get it back home the same way i got it into town... i guess!

And well, i'm not really using the bike as a means of transportation, its more for the sport. Mountain, trails, freeriding, trials and all...

davidsatelle100

grand

if you on the heuston line you should be able to get your bike onto the trains, although not the commuter ones they dont have mail carraiges

Sean02

What town?. Happy Christmas. I think your pulling our chain!!

af_thefragile

Town as in the Dublin city centre...
I live in lucan which is quite far away from the city centre to ride my bike all the way to there...

mikemac

Lucan isn't that far, I've read about loads of cyclists who commute from Lucan on boards.
You've not far from Heuston line but you're not that close either.

Guess you'll have to cycle it so

chicoben

you could just drive to where you're going especially if its trails you're going to.

af_thefragile

I don't have my own car yet...
And it'ld take me ages to get from lucan to city centre on a mountain bike.
I don't live too far from the adamstown station... Its only like a 5min bike ride away from me but i dunno if i can get my bike on the train. I know they don't allow it on the dart but they do on the intercity, though the train only stops for like 2-3mins.. i dunno if i'll be allowed to get my bike on the train.

Ciaran500

A cycle from Lucan to town is grand on a MTB. Will take you about 40min.

luckat

a) Get a fold-up bike and bring it on the train
or
b) Keep the bike locked in the station in town

af_thefragile

I wouldn't trust leaving my bike locked in station in town... Its a fairly expensive one.

And i'm not that fit either to cycle all the way from where i live into town... Its a hell of a long ride!

Could i bring the bike onto a train if say i takes the wheels off it and just bring in the frame with the fork and cranks n well, everything except the wheels...

Capt'n Midnight

af_thefragile wrote: »

Town as in the Dublin city centre...
I live in lucan which is quite far away from the city centre to ride my bike all the way to there...

Adamstown just does commuter trains I think

http://www.adamstown.info/facilities/index.html

af_thefragile

^there are a few intercity trains coming from Portlaoise that stop at adamstown.

Sean02

Perhaps you might be better just sticking to commuting on the train and relaxing with a copy of Cycling Weekly.

flickerx

af_thefragile wrote: »

And i'm not that fit either to cycle all the way from where i live into town... Its a hell of a long ride!

Just cycle the bike into town. You'll be fine. Its not that far.

mloc123

Lucan to town is no distance, I used to do celbridge(West) to town on my mtb in less than 40 mins.

Alkers

What MTB are we talking here, maybe it's a full suss freeride rig with 2.5" knobblies, not going to be fun riding that on the roads?

af_thefragile

Specialized P2.
Its sorta Dirt Jumping/Urban Assault hardtail mtb...
I'm not that fit either to ride it into town... though riding it into town will probably make me fit..!!

Itsfixed

mloc123 wrote: »

Lucan to town is no distance, I used to do celbridge(West) to town on my mtb in less than 40 mins.

Mloc123, what way did you go? Along the N4?

I live in celbridge too, but i ride to hazelhatch and get the train to heuston, where my other bike is locked. As long as one has two good locks (cable and U-lock), you should be OK. Was thinking of doing a cycle to work once or twice a week later next year.

niceonetom

af_thefragile wrote: »

Its sorta Dirt Jumping/Urban Assault hardtail mtb...

has it occurred to you that you may have lost sight of what a bike is actually for? while i'm sure jumping over bollards and going down stairs etc is a blast is you can't actually ride the bike to said stairs then you're in a pickle. i would suggest you get a bike that is capable of being ridden a few miles and then chose to go off smaller 'jumps' when you do arrive. lucan really ain't far, you might even enjoy it.

mloc123

Itsfixed wrote: »

Mloc123, what way did you go? Along the N4?

I live in celbridge too, but i ride to hazelhatch and get the train to heuston, where my other bike is locked. As long as one has two good locks (cable and U-lock), you should be OK. Was thinking of doing a cycle to work once or twice a week later next year.

Yeah, N4 all the way in. Its an okay cycle, bus lanes have always been quite and I just cut into the middle of the 2 main lanes if a bus comes up behind me. I thought the section at liffey valley to palmerstown would be bad with all the road works but its fine once you hold your ground. its about 13 miles, 40 mins in and more like an hour home because of the hills on the chapelizod bypass. Haven't tried it on the fixed yet but I will be this week at some stage.

penexpers

af_thefragile wrote: »

^there are a few intercity trains coming from Portlaoise that stop at adamstown.

According to the IR timetables, there's only one intercity train a day that stops at Adamstown.

af_thefragile

mloc123 wrote: »

Yeah, N4 all the way in. Its an okay cycle, bus lanes have always been quite and I just cut into the middle of the 2 main lanes if a bus comes up behind me. I thought the section at liffey valley to palmerstown would be bad with all the road works but its fine once you hold your ground. its about 13 miles, 40 mins in and more like an hour home because of the hills on the chapelizod bypass. Haven't tried it on the fixed yet but I will be this week at some stage.

Doesn't sound too bad...
Might try it one of these days.
I've actually ridden my bike that far. The furthest i had was when i lived in Malahide n i rode it upto the Howth summit and back... took about 2 hours riding time.
Its about 16kms from where i live into city. It takes about 30mins to get to the city by car, bus takes an hour... Guess it shouldn't be too bad on the bike.

Ciaran500

Much safer way to go is to cycle down to Kings Hospital then cross the bridge over the M50 on the path and down into Palmerstown village. Same distance and you avoid all the road works/weaving through traffic.

Sean02

If AFT is serious the best and safest route is on his doorstep. The Grand Canal Towpath.

af_thefragile

This looks like the shortest and relatively safest route to me to get into town from where i live.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=10908841854068349762,53.339050,-6.453186%3B17343312395793657687,53.352477,-6.357335%3B14930286952333001808,53.346329,-6.329801%3B13852804553580995420,53.346157,-6.277886%3B1033841874042903368,53.343620,-6.264450%3B10100588628999693698,53.338700,-6.261710&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=Lock+Rd%2FR120+%4053.339050,+-6.453186&daddr=Chapelizod+Rd%2FR109+%4053.346329,+-6.329801+to:Arran+Quay%2FN4+%4053.346157,+-6.277886+to:S+Great+Georges+St%2FR114+%4053.343620,+-6.264450+to:York+St+%4053.338700,+-6.261710&mra=mr&mrcr=0&via=1,2,3&sll=53.346043,-6.380138&sspn=0.090591,0.277405&ie=UTF8&ll=53.345018,-6.344948&spn=0.090593,0.277405&z=12&om=1

It says only 15.5Km which doesn't look bad at all on paper. Should be a good way to get me fit... Though i'm not exactly sure how safe that route is.
And i sorta find the alternate route along the grand canal a little dodgy, so i wouldn't really prefer going from there.

Sean02

Why do you say it dodgy when you have never tried it. ?? Far less dodgy than a 40ft monster overtaking you as you approach a bend. Personnaly I dont think your cut out for commuting on a bike at the moment. Do some short spins of a mile or two around Griffeen Park and perhaps next summer you could look again at commuting.

rob1891

I take it you just want to get into town to do some urban free ride as opposed to some shopping. I don't think anything is going to prepare you for cycling a 30+lbs free ride / street bike for 30k with big heavy rims and massive tyres. That is going to be a miserable nightmare, physically and psychologically!

Forget it and find somewhere local to practice. Business parks, school/college campuses, town centres etc. You should be able to find somewhere without traveling so far. You could drop by a skate park, there's a few in your area (link), they might not let you on with 26" wheels but you could have a chat with people, see if they know any spots.