Phoenix Park

selana

I'm looking to start doing morning spins around the phoenix park as I've moved into the area.

Any recommendations?

RacoonQueen

Phoenix park is VERY small when you're on the bike. I use it some Saturday evenings for fast 2 hour spins but if you're looking for anything longer you're best off getting out of it IMO.

selana

Looking to do an hour or so in the morning before heading into college mostly.

Lumen

The anti-clockwise loop is fast and safe-ish.

http://app.strava.com/segments/664839

Plenty of other little routes and variations.

http://app.strava.com/segments/explore#location/Dublin,%20County%20Dublin,%20Ireland/type/cycling/min/0/max/5/center/53.359173,-6.33435/zoom/14/map_type/terrain

maloner

Yeah the park gets a bit small and tedious after a while. There's plenty of cycling to be done out towards lucan and maynooth along the strawberry beds. Right after knockmaroon hill you're pretty much in the countryside and decent roads.

My pre work spin that I did once or twice a week over the winter:

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/700249

For a longer spin just keep going along that really. Theres's lots of options for making it shorter or longer by turning down to the lower road at lexlip, maynooth or kilcock. You can also hook up with the blessington area for longer again and most of this is flat with only short sharp hills every so often


Flat enough 53km out to maynooth:
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/577968


Longer version out to kilcock

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/514763

onimpulse

I'd agree that the Phoenix park is very small on a bike. Unless you are planning on going out very early (before 7 am) I don't think is suitable either. It's too busy with traffic and walkers / children / dogs & not safe or responsible to do a big speed.

ROK ON

onimpulse wrote: »

I'd agree that the Phoenix park is very small on a bike. Unless you are planning on going out very early (before 7 am) I don't think is suitable either. It's too busy with traffic and walkers / children / dogs & not safe or responsible to do a big speed.

Tend do agree. Neither suitable or interesting - too many distractions.
For me its a place to cool down after a spin, as opposed to a place to train in the first place.

Lovely place for a cycle early in the morning on a cool crisp day. So peaceful.

Lumen

As long as you're not staring at a heart rate monitor whilst doing precisely timed balls-out intervals, I think the Park works quite well for a bit of top-up training before or after work. You just have to adapt the pace to the conditions, e.g. go harder before each junction then recover as you yield to traffic.

It is a bit boring but it's a hell of a lot more pleasing on the eye than the backroads of Meath.

When the heavy tourist traffic comes on summer evenings it's pretty much impossible to go fast, on or off-road, but on a misty spring morning there are few places I'd rather be.

G rock

Agreed.

Spent most of the winter mornings in the park before work, around 7am it's perfect cycling territory, only the deer for company some mornings

ROK ON

It's rabbits that I seem to attract for company. There is a family of them at the top of Upper Glen road. There most mornings and evenings. Been there for years.

petethedrummer

Lumen wrote: »

As long as you're not staring at a heart rate monitor whilst doing precisely timed balls-out intervals, I think the Park works quite well for a bit of top-up training before or after work. You just have to adapt the pace to the conditions, e.g. go harder before each junction then recover as you yield to traffic.

I go up the khyber pass a couple of times* on my way home. Usually try to chase down any riders up ahead while trying not to show signs of effort.


*is that an innuendo?

DonVincenzo

The Park is perfect for Cyclocross training - an hour or so flat out is great training & smashing fun.

I do an early morning or after work session at least once a week to mix up the road training.

Agree its a bit boring for road training - but absolutely class for off road. You can tear it up the hills and trails around the magazine fort, khyber pass, chapelizod gate etc... and do some circuits around the perimeter wall too.

Enjoy!

buffalo

I was out for an easy spin with a friend in the Park last night, and we used the section of Chesterfield Avenue that they close off for parts of it. It's a bit over a km long, and I'd say it'd be perfect for kids on bikes - lovely smooth surface, lots of space.

On a related note, I wasn't too sure what the etiquette was wrt the paths. The road was closed to cars, and so open to foot and bike traffic. And yet people were still walking on the cycle paths... but maybe they were closed to bike traffic and open to foot? Who's allowed use the footpaths then, cars?

Seve OB

buffalo wrote: »

And yet people were still walking on the cycle paths...

they always do

Lumen

buffalo wrote: »

On a related note, I wasn't too sure what the etiquette was wrt the paths. The road was closed to cars, and so open to foot and bike traffic. And yet people were still walking on the cycle paths... but maybe they were closed to bike traffic and open to foot? Who's allowed use the footpaths then, cars?

The etiquette is: don't run people over.

What we really need is a slightly smaller version of the Nardo Ring in the Phoenix Park.

Although it would fill up with rollerbladers and dogwalkers in no time.

buffalo

Lumen wrote: »

The etiquette is: don't run people over.

I was only poking fun. Why would I want to use the wee cycle paths when there's a freshly-surfaced, car-free four lane road for rolling up and down? And I notice you're KOM both inbound and outbound! *shakes fist*