Cycling on the M50

Jip

Yesterday evening as I was driving down the M50 I came across a cyclist wearing all the gear cycling down the hard shoulder between the N4 and N7 exits. He was near enough the Red Cow exchange so had obviously come some distance already.

Is this a case of extreme stupidity, all the gear and no idea (he was in his late teens/early 20's I'd say judging from the quick glimpse I had of him) or would you more seasoned lads and lassies turn a blind eye ? The M50 was very busy at the time too due to the amount of traffic coming from the match at Croke Park coming off at the Red Cow junction

Acoustic

personally id like to see a cycle lane on the m50

u might see more people on their bikes if its a straight road to work

looks like it be a savage cycle

Nietzschean

it would be horrible to cycle on if we were let anyway....and it is a safety risk with the wind generated by cars going 120+ . I presume he was just a moron or someone chancing their arm for a short cut.

DJsail

seems fairly stupid to be honest, all it takes is one car to take a slip road as he's merrily continuing in a straight line to cause carnage, plus its illegal and surprised he wasn't pulled up?

tomasrojo

There was a post on Copenhagenize recently about this.

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/08/copenhagen-bicycle-superhighways.html

Jip

DJsail wrote: »

seems fairly stupid to be honest, all it takes is one car to take a slip road as he's merrily continuing in a straight line to cause carnage, plus its illegal and surprised he wasn't pulled up?

Absolutely, he was approaching the N7 exit and if he was planning on continuing straight he was going to put himself and others in alot of danger.

Beasty

I was on the A57(M) (Mancunian Way) in Manchester a few years ago when the World Track Championships where taking place at the velodrome, and I saw a full national TT team (not sure which country, but clearly one that does not undersatnd UK motorway laws), bombing along, probably at around 50k. There is no hard shoulder on this road, and only 2 lanes, with multiple junctions (it's a raised motorway right in the middle of town).

It's not something you expect to come across on a motorway, and I suspect a few motorists were taken aback at the sight. Clearly it's very dangerous for both cyclists and motorists (who were having to brake/swerve to avoid them)

Gidazzle

I will confess to cycling onto the M50 by mistake one day, around the red cow going southbound, managed to get off at the next exit, not a safe place to be!

keano007

I'm surprised he didn't get pulled over, what an idiot!

mcgratheoin

Beasty wrote: »

(not sure which country, but clearly one that does not undersatnd UK motorway laws)

Or doesn't care... Most countries (afaik) have similar restrictions - didn't Cipollini get arrested once for cycling on the Autostrada in Italy?

Genghis

DJsail wrote: »

seems fairly stupid to be honest, all it takes is one car to take a slip road as he's merrily continuing in a straight line to cause carnage, plus its illegal and surprised he wasn't pulled up?

Absolutely true. I know from cycling (legally) on the N7 that this is the major hazard - watching out as you approach the ramp for vehicles coming off the DC, then after you pass the flyover trying to get back into the left part of the hard shoulder and avoid merging traffic. Often going up and over is the safest way.

irishmotorist

Very stupid and illegal.

Húrin

Yeah that's almost as bad as cycling on the footpad.

the_syco

You'd have to wonder if the vacuum left behind a large truck going at a high speed would be enough to push or pull them off their bicycles?

petethedrummer

You'd probably be grand unless you cycle around with your eyes closed. No sharp corners, big hard shoulder, good visibility, no over-grown hedges, good surface.

Plenty of vehicles doing similar same speeds on dual-carriageways where cycling is legal.

seamus

On a nice bright, calm, hot day, you'd probably be perfectly safe. In anything other than ideal conditions, particularly in wind or rain, it would be asking for trouble.

Stark

Have seen the odd cyclist on the M8 Fermoy bypass. From a safety point of view, it's probably a bit safer than cycling on a dual carriageway that hasn't been designated motorway, as you've less half-blind drivers driving in the hard shoulder. Obviously it's a different situation from a legal point of view, with cycling on a motorway being illegal.

It would be absolutely great if there was a cycle route running parallel to the M50. In most cases, you have to go a good bit out of your way to avoid cycling on it.

GearoidP

The maddest cycling I ever did was on a sometimes 8-10 lane dual carriageway westwards from Istanbul. Completely manic especially as the drivers didn't indicate if they were leaving the motorway, and there were a gang of us. Completely legal as it was pretty much the only way to get out of Istanbul. Check out the 4th last and last photos on this link: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=74753&v=Oy

DJsail

GearoidP wrote: »

The maddest cycling I ever did was on a sometimes 8-10 lane dual carriageway westwards from Istanbul. Completely manic especially as the drivers didn't indicate if they were leaving the motorway, and there were a gang of us. Completely legal as it was pretty much the only way to get out of Istanbul. Check out the 4th last and last photos on this link: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=74753&v=Oy

great photos

Conor20

I've seen a cyclist on the M50 before, on a Sunday morning near Leopardstown. He looked as happy as larry, although I doubt he meant to be there for some reason.

The Eireman Triathlon cycle was on the M11 (which was closed to traffic obviously) and it was some cycle - perfect surface, completely straight and very fast with the wind. A rare privilege to cycle on such a good road.

wotdef

I do recall a memorial run by the Irish Road Club way back when, dont know if its still on. But the guy was sucked under an artic on the Nass road. Just imagine what it would be like on a motorway with faster speeds and bigger trucks. Only a fool would encourage it.

blorg

wotdef wrote: »

I do recall a memorial run by the Irish Road Club way back when, dont know if its still on. But the guy was sucked under an artic on the Nass road. Just imagine what it would be like on a motorway with faster speeds and bigger trucks. Only a fool would encourage it.

I don't know why you would think there would be bigger trucks on a motorway, and HGVs are limited to 80km/h there in any case, same as on a typical dual carriageway. Cycling on a motorway standard dual carriageway is not particularly dangerous if you have a hard shoulder to yourself and are careful with the on and off ramps. I did have a close pass with a HGV recently when overtaking a car parked in the hard shoulder on the N7- I was still in the hard shoulder but on the extreme right of it, a HGV in the adjoining lane stormed past without moving even slightly out from his line. Having said that I have had worse experience with HGVs on narrow sections of single carriageway N road (and indeed some R roads) without a hard shoulder.

I once ended up on a motorway by accident- in Spain ten years ago. Got off it at the next exit. I almost] ended up on the M50 more recently when the Red Cow was a bit more of a mess but managed to get back up, climb over a barrier and get off the on-ramp. Apart from that, no motorways for me. I guess it is a reasonable question, if you do end up on a motorway, should you try to back track or simply leave at the next exit.

As a general rule I try to avoid all N roads and indeed even some R roads if there is an alternative route... I do however use the N81 and N3 regularly enough to get to races and the N7 occasionally if in a rush down that direction (it is most definitely not pleasant, worse than the N3, I will avoid it if I have the time.)

Húrin

GearoidP wrote: »

The maddest cycling I ever did was on a sometimes 8-10 lane dual carriageway westwards from Istanbul. Completely manic especially as the drivers didn't indicate if they were leaving the motorway, and there were a gang of us. Completely legal as it was pretty much the only way to get out of Istanbul. Check out the 4th last and last photos on this link: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=74753&v=Oy

blatant blog plugging

wotdef

blorg wrote: »

I don't know why you would think there would be bigger trucks on a motorway, and HGVs are limited to 80km/h there in any case, same as on a typical dual carriageway

I must remember that when one passes me the next time.:rolleyes:

Pete4779

Húrin wrote: »

Yeah that's almost as bad as cycling on the footpad.

Footpad?

Stark

Pete4779 wrote: »

Footpad?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055434174

gman2k

Húrin wrote: »

blatant blog plugging

Yeah....Nice blog Gearoid!
PS, I know Trevor, but have never seen all the photos, sounds like an epic trip, far play to yis!

blorg

wotdef wrote: »

I must remember that when one passes me the next time.:rolleyes:

I'm just saying it is no more dangerous in those specific respects than cycling on the likes of the N3 or N7 which is legal (although not very pleasant and I would try to avoid it.) The trucks aren't any bigger and they aren't going any faster. Drivers are arguably less likely to expect a cyclist there, but on the other hand you are probably less likely to have drivers faffing about in the hard shoulder either.

Cycling on a single carriageway N road with no hard shoulder is far worse than either I can assure you, I avoid this one even more than the dual carriageways. I don't cycle on motorways ever BTW in case that is in question.

gurramok

About 15yrs ago(yeh!), a mate and I in our younger years did cycle on the M50 from Tallaght to Palmerstown in the dark at about 10pm at night on a summers evening 'for the craic'.

What was dangerous was the hard shoulder width and coupled with the trucks whooshing by, it was a frightening experience. Never again. And that was in the days when it had half the traffic of what it is now.

Point being, any cyclist doing it now would be on an even worse kamikaze mission, just don't do it if you want to live longer.

WLSM

Speaking of Motorways - the DC from Limerick to Adare, the N20/21 is becoming a motorway - there doesn't seem to have been any changes to the road - just the signs going from green to blue and the speed limit going up to 120kph.

Cyclists will be kicked off this road as a result - this was a handy road for training for cyclists and triathletes - not to mention the main route from Adare/Rathkeale/Newcastle West to Limerick.

Has this peeved anyone else off - cyclists will be confined to the potholed backroads of rural Ireland soon as we become a car/truck nation.....

trad

When the M50 opened first I was a traffic cop and I found a cyclist on it one Sunday morning. He told me he was in a hurry to meet up with his training group. I told him that if he could ride to the next exit at 30mph I wouldn't do him. So I sat beside hime from the N7 to the N4 at 30 mph, think he had his training done at this stage.

petethedrummer

This motorway cycling sounds like a hell of a rush. Anyone up for a midnight spin, M1 to the M11?

trad

I was in Switzerland years ago and the had cycle paths that ran parallel to the autobahns but one along the M50 would be some facility, especially if you had an underpass or an overpass at each junction so you could go end to end without stopping.

Chips Lovell

trad wrote: »

I was in Switzerland years ago and the had cycle paths that ran parallel to the autobahns but one along the M50 would be some facility, especially if you had an underpass or an overpass at each junction so you could go end to end without stopping.

They have these in Spain too. Very useful.

petethedrummer

It seems like a remarkably sensible idea. I'd say we'll have one by 2025.

tomasrojo

And in Denmark, apparently.

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/08/copenhagen-bicycle-superhighways.html

bauderline

trad wrote: »

I was in Switzerland years ago and the had cycle paths that ran parallel to the autobahns but one along the M50 would be some facility, especially if you had an underpass or an overpass at each junction so you could go end to end without stopping.

...... scrambler path ?

TheJones

All great ideas but have ye all forgotten something? This is the M50 we're talking about, the same M50 that has provided a case study for civil engineers worldwide in how not to build a metropolitan ring road/motorway for an ever increasing urban population and probably one of the greatest planning disasters we've ever had the pleasure to witness, right up there with a port tunnel that is too low to accommodate modern HGV's and a hilarious lack of visibility from the upper levels of the uncompleted Lansdowne Road.

Asking these people to plan appropriatley for cycle lanes is surely asking for a timeframe that may look something like this; cycle lane completed 2020, realisation its too small for the increased levels of cyclists 2021, implementation of the lane expension program 2022, dual cycle-lane completion 2030?:(