Alternate, longer route, dundrum to ballymun

Gavin

Yo,

I thought my 15k commute was a decent distance for building up strength, but after going mountain biking twice now, I am run out of puff pretty bleedin quickly.

So I figure going on a good long route two or three times a week might be a good idea to start building up some more strength/endurance.

Anyone recommend a decent route ? I was looking at either heading out to the east, going up along the coast, or off to the west, taney road, kylemore road, through the phoenix park and either through cabra/phibsborough.

Kylemore road could be a bit dodgy perhaps ? Lots of cars ?

At the moment, I just go straight through the city.

blorg

Are you doing this on a fixie- looking to avoid hills, or like them (as Dundrum is not far from the mountains, you could do a loop up there and back - like this

stuf

the perimeter(ish) road of the phoenix park is about 6 miles so you could do that on your way through the park to add some distance

very rough route http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2003116

Gavin

blorg wrote: »

Are you doing this on a fixie- looking to avoid hills, or like them (as Dundrum is not far from the mountains, you could do a loop up there and back - like this

That's not bad. Dublin is quite flat, I could do with some climbing practice alright. I picture several torturous faces being pulled on my singlespeed. I'll give that a lash next week. Cheers !

the perimeter(ish) road of the phoenix park is about 6 miles so you could do that on your way through the park to add some distance

very rough route http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2003116

This could be handy for going home early at some point alright. I think blorg's route will be confined to mornings.

blorg

It might work better for you doing it in the morning direction all right, the grades are a bit lower on that side, more of a constant slog. I'd still be very impressed if you manage on a single speed! Here's an elevation/grade chart of the route, from Sandyford to Ranelagh:

Gavin

Jesus. Ok, I'll take it as a challenge.

blorg

Verb wrote: »

Jesus. Ok, I'll take it as a challenge.

Ha, yes, I asked if you were on a fixie more from the point of "should I avoid mountains" point of view ;-) Double checked- that elevation profile is actually a slightly different route, going through Kilternan rather than over the hill by Johnny Foxes. If you are doing it in reverse this saves you a bit of a climb from Foxes although the road back from Kilternan has a bit of undulation (it's not too bad.)