A few cycling questions from a newby.

digitaldarragh

Hello,
It might be a completely stupid question but are there any cycle routes / tracks / paths over 20KM that aren't full of hills but are near Louth? I live in Drogheda and no matter what route I take there are a lot of hills. I cycle a tandem so although flats and declines are great fun, it takes a lot of coordination for the inclines. We're getting that coordination but it would be nice to have an easy cycle for a change.

Our top speed on flats at the moment is 32KPH. Our top speed on hills such as that coming up the Baymore road before you get to the houses is 18KPH.

What should we be targeting?

Our longest cycle route at the moment is just under 25KM but I really look forward to extending this up to 100KM. It's great excersize but I love being on the back of a tandem as well.

I had thought of looking up cycle groups in Drogheda and / or Dundalk but I assume we would not be at a level high enough to participate yet.

With an average of two water breaks we are doing just over 20KM routes in an hour. I think we should be a lot faster than this. Inclines are really slowing us down I think.

Any suggestions welcome.

LCD

Hi,

Cuchulainn CC in Dundalk has groups that cater for all levels from beginners right through to racing. During the summer we ran a 6week introduction to cycling course, aimed at people with bikes & a helmet, nothing else. Have a look at www.dundalkcycling.com or email pro@dundalkcycling.com

Flat roads, ehh...around here Castlebellingham to Dundalk is about it.

I also know that Slieve Gullion Wheelers have a lot of tandem riders in their club.

lennymc

hi digitaldaragh, there are no real flat routes around drogheda that I know off. Maybe head out towards clougherhead and back in, but even that has some small lumps. The drogheda wheelers still meet every saturday at 10 am at the monument at the bottom of mary street, but generally do about 70 - 100 km spins, but at a nice leisurely pace. 32 kph on the flats and 18kph on the beamore road would be about what the leisure cyclists do (probably a bit less depending on who is out). Unfortunately hills are part of cycling tho, so if you accept that, and accept that you will get up the hill eventually, you may find that you dont need flat routes

Lenny

superlav

One extremly flat route around Drogheda would be:
out the Marsh Rd towards Mornington,
along the coast through Bettystown and Laytown towards Julianstown.
Left and then right in Julianstown towards Duleek
Right at Duleek, back into town.
That would be about a 30km loop.

Alternatively you could turn right in Julianstown and head straingt back into Drogheda which would be about 20 km, and not a hill to speak of in sight !!

Your speeds seem about right for the level you're at right now.
I would question the need for two water stops in an hour, maybe try drinking on the move.

digitaldarragh

superlav wrote: »

One extremly flat route around Drogheda would be:
out the Marsh Rd towards Mornington,
along the coast through Bettystown and Laytown towards Julianstown.
Left and then right in Julianstown towards Duleek
Right at Duleek, back into town.
That would be about a 30km loop.

That sounds nice. I'll do that later I think.

superlav wrote: »

I would question the need for two water stops in an hour, maybe try drinking on the move.

The person on the front isn't very experienced on a bike so isn't comfortable removing hands from the handle bars. Taking a drink while moving is a terrifying prospect for her at the moment. I would agree though that it should be unnecessary to stop on a route like this.

A few people I've spoken to are dieing to give the tandem a shot so I might try a few other partners. I'd love to increase my distance. but with the highest respect to my current tandem partner, she's just not up to it yet.

lennymc

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1712906 - shows the route mentioned by superlav above. You could look at creating routes yourself in ridewithgps to see what the profile looks like.

James Jones

Take your bike on the train to Newry and take a spin up to Portadown on the Newry Canal Tow-path. Its about 20 miles so, if you're up to it, you can cycle back. If not, you can get the train. It's so flat it's boring but being traffic free it is S-O-H-H relaxing.