Dublin -> Naas

john__long

Hey all,

Long time lurker here! I PM'd Ant already as he'd mentioned in another thread about the trip. He advised posting on main forum.

I've only recently moved to Dublin (8 weeks) and have taken a notion that I wanna try cycling to Naas and back.

I've a Lapierre Shaper 100. I've been cycling from Dublin 1 out to Sutton and back 2/3 times a week but want to try more!

Any advice regards optimal routes and that? I wanna avoid the N7 as it's so busy and Ant reckons it's "interminably monotonous"! :-D

Thanks for any advice you can give!

mfdc

I dunno about optimal, but we've been down to Naas a couple of times for sportives and this is the way we've done it from north Dublin. It's a really nice route I thought, only one real hill just after Newcastle.

Ant

Here's the reply I sent to John earlier today. My route from the Adamstown Bridge over the canal isn't massively different to mfdc's

Ant wrote:

Hi John,

I was in a hurry when I cycled out to Naas so I took the dual carriageway. It was early on a Sunday morning so traffic wasn't too bad. But it was still an utterly miserable journey. The prevailing wind in Dublin is south-westerly and you get no shelter from it on the dual carriageway. The scenery (entries and exits) is interminably monotonous. So, in short, I wouldn't recommend it.

I came back via the canal. That's 100 times more pleasant but I've good wide 28mm wide tyres on my bike and not every bike would be capable of cycling the grassy paths between Naas and Dublin. If you have a hybrid, MTB or cyclocross, I'd recommend this way.

Now that the canal path is open as far as Adamstown, I'd recommend something like this for cyclists on a road bike: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Ireland+(Adamstown+GAA)&daddr=53.2618946,-6.5248912+to:Main+St+S&hl=en&geocode=FfTALQMdlImd_yEA6GTcnu3Mig%3BFUa2LAMdJXCc_yktmJMB_HZnSDFytb5rkxR2UQ%3BFQYCLAMd2Eya_w&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=12&dirflg=w&sll=53.244468,-6.59214&sspn=0.120185,0.32341&ie=UTF8&ll=53.292926,-6.506653&spn=0.120049,0.32341&z=12&via=1. This will bring you from the end of the canal path all the way into Naas. There's a bit of a hill at Athgoe but aside from that the route is mostly flat.

It's generally better to post these questions on the public board. That way, others can see the answer and add in their own alternative routes.

@mfdc That looks like a nice route, alright. It's a decent distance to cycle before starting a sportive.

kumate_champ07

I do Dublin city to Newbridge every week, you could go along the Blessington road, you need to get to the edge of Tallaght first and then go out towards Saggart, (you will have the option below also depending on which way you turn off when you get past Jobstown)

theres also nice scenic roads from Rathcoole to Kill, you'll be travelling almost parallel to the motorway, once you get to Kill theres cycle paths all the way into Naas.