Planning advice for cycle across Ireland

DublinArnie

Hey!

I've never done anything like this before, so I'm looking for some feedback and advice from someone who has maybe done something like this?

I'm planning to cycle from Dublin to Dingle and maybe to Donegal and back to Dublin on the summer of 2017. There isn't anything special to this, just a few lads who want to try something new and explore the country. We might try to raise money and sponsor a charity. We're planning to spend three weeks maximum for the trip.

Is there any regulations on this? I know we'd have to pass through towns and so on, as cycling on the motorways is obviously illegal.

Have a year and a half to plan this thing.

Any thoughts? Sorry if this seems like a stupid thing to do!

nilhg

DublinArnie wrote: »

Hey!

I've never done anything like this before, so I'm looking for some feedback and advice from someone who has maybe done something like this?

I'm planning to cycle from Dublin to Dingle and maybe to Donegal and back to Dublin on the summer of 2017. There isn't anything special to this, just a few lads who want to try something new and explore the country. We might try to raise money and sponsor a charity. We're planning to spend three weeks maximum for the trip.

Is there any regulations on this? I know we'd have to pass through towns and so on, as cycling on the motorways is obviously illegal.

Have a year and a half to plan this thing.

Any thoughts? Sorry if this seems like a stupid thing to do!

Great thing to do, but very early to be worrying about details, for now I'd advise riding your bike, maybe do a few sportives and watch here for the threads on bike touring.

brocbrocach

Lovely idea allright, fair play to ye.
Never did any more than 3 or 4 days touring myself but I'd say the roads you use will be the difference between a great experience and a trudge.
Busy narrow roads would be hell especially in tourist season on West coast and with loaded panniers.
How about dividing the journey, when ye decide where ye're going, between everyone who's going along. Make everyone responsible for organising a good route in their section. Get them to organise the accom etc as well. Over a year and a half it shouldn't be too hard to do the research on specific sections. For one person to do all the planning would be very hard going I'd say.
Going off the cuff would probably be more fun and might work if it was just you on your own, maybe even for two people. Would need to be flexible re everything though - wouldn't really work with the charity aspect I'd say.

cdaly_

Check out http://www.audaxireland.org for regular long distance cycles. Perfect for a bit of training in navigation, pacing, self-reliance etc. Nice people to ride with too...

Qualitymark

What about trying it out by yourself or just a couple of you this summer first. Look for threads here about cycling across on the Esker Riada and cycling the Royal Canal to give you a start. (One of the Royal Canal threads is actually titled Cycling the Grand Canal, to be confusing.)

When I used to cycle from Dublin to Galway while not particularly young and fit, it took me three days - 50 miles (80km) per day; used to ask a farmer could I throw up a tent on the land. But farmers were more generous and less paranoid then.

Maybe if you start out by drawing a series of circles around your house now - 5km, 10km, 15km and so on - and fairly regularly go for the nicer cycles at those distances, so that you're used to setting a nice even pace for yourself.

DublinArnie

Qualitymark wrote: »

What about trying it out by yourself or just a couple of you this summer first. Look for threads here about cycling across on the Esker Riada and cycling the Royal Canal to give you a start. (One of the Royal Canal threads is actually titled Cycling the Grand Canal, to be confusing.)

When I used to cycle from Dublin to Galway while not particularly young and fit, it took me three days - 50 miles (80km) per day; used to ask a farmer could I throw up a tent on the land. But farmers were more generous and less paranoid then.

Maybe if you start out by drawing a series of circles around your house now - 5km, 10km, 15km and so on - and fairly regularly go for the nicer cycles at those distances, so that you're used to setting a nice even pace for yourself.

That's actually a very interesting way to get some what of an accommodation. Wouldn't it be somewhat difficult to cycle with camping gear though?

The three days from Dub to Galway looks like a very good and average pace anyone could achieve. So my trip shouldn't take too long 3/4 days to Kerry, 5 Days to Donegal, and probably 5/7 days back to Dublin.

DublinArnie

brocbrocach wrote: »

Lovely idea allright, fair play to ye.
Never did any more than 3 or 4 days touring myself but I'd say the roads you use will be the difference between a great experience and a trudge.
Busy narrow roads would be hell especially in tourist season on West coast and with loaded panniers.
How about dividing the journey, when ye decide where ye're going, between everyone who's going along. Make everyone responsible for organising a good route in their section. Get them to organise the accom etc as well. Over a year and a half it shouldn't be too hard to do the research on specific sections. For one person to do all the planning would be very hard going I'd say.
Going off the cuff would probably be more fun and might work if it was just you on your own, maybe even for two people. Would need to be flexible re everything though - wouldn't really work with the charity aspect I'd say.

I'm planning to go anyway, even if my friends drop out. It's an experience I want to feel, but I thought it'd be fun to share it with a few friends and laugh about it when we look back.

Why do you think the charity aspect wouldn't work? I was thinking of contacting a charity, and directly estabilishing a sponsorship and little event in order to raise some money - just to make the trip more worthwhile I suppose.

I'm the one who dragged all my friends into this. :pac:

iwillhtfu

As far as charity goes you'd be better off setting up a my charity page but to be honest it sounds more like a holiday than a challenge so people may not be inclined to sponsor your holiday. Usually you'd have to include some kind of deadline for it to work malin-mizen in 24 hrs or less or something to that effect.

Sounds like a great trip and if I were younger and had less responsibility (pesky kids getting in the way of my fun ) I'd happily spend a couple of months touring around. I'd pack a tent as it gives you the flexibility of stopping off in those memorable spots that make the trip worthwhile. Camping on inch beach for example. Yes you're probably not supposed to pitch a tent in a lot of places but once ye aren't taking the piss you'll be right.

In the age of smart phones your more or less set to just pack a bag and leave. Once you have the mileage in the legs there's not a lot else you need. Plan your route for 2-3 days then update as you go.

Good luck

brocbrocach

DublinArnie wrote: »

I'm planning to go anyway, even if my friends drop out. It's an experience I want to feel, but I thought it'd be fun to share it with a few friends and laugh about it when we look back.

Why do you think the charity aspect wouldn't work? I was thinking of contacting a charity, and directly estabilishing a sponsorship and little event in order to raise some money - just to make the trip more worthwhile I suppose.

I'm the one who dragged all my friends into this. :pac:

Like iwillhtfu says above, unless you have a structure the charity aspect will be 'Sponsor us skiting around'. If you don't have to justify anything to anyone you can do 2 hours one day, 12 hours the next. Stay on in nice places for extra days etc.
I think it'd be nice to 'take it as it comes' if its one or two of ye but the bigger the group the harder that gets. Farmers not as welcoming, B&Bs full, varying speeds.

endacl

Bring one car that you're all insured to drive. The trip will be more fun if you can chuck all your luggage, tools, spares, etc into a car. Also, you each get rotating rest days. So, if there's four of you going, you take turns having a day off, and your gear is waiting for you when you arrive. If the driver doesn't want a day off, he can park the car up at the destination, and cycle back to meet the rest of the group on the road. Also, this could minimise the cost of the tour. The boot could hold a load of camping gear. Cheaper than hotels or B&Bs.

DublinArnie

Very true about the sponsorship.

The trip does sound more like a holiday rather an endurance challenge. So yeah, people wouldn't be inclined.

Although the money isn't going to us. We'll get our own gear.

Setting up a My Charity page sounds like a great idea to be honest.

None of us can drive or will have the money for a car despite me getting my license later in the year... Good idea though! We're all under 20.

Appreciate the discussion.

Qualitymark

DublinArnie wrote: »

That's actually a very interesting way to get some what of an accommodation. Wouldn't it be somewhat difficult to cycle with camping gear though?

We used to look something like a camel train; tents have got smaller now, though.

We used to bring a brass Primus, a bottle of paraffin oil and a little methylated spirits, and a small wok with a cover to boil water for tea and to make a stir fry.

Again, things are different now - there are a lot more and cheaper cafes around the country today than there were then.

You might look at AirBnB rooms. We also used to stay sometimes in independent youth hostels; not sure if these still exist.