32 counties in 24/36 hours 2016

Dia1988

Hi,

As the title suggests Im planning on driving through all 32 counties in either 24 hours or 36 hours. It is for charity and will be logged along the route with prominent county landmarks in each county.

My request is to find out if there is any up to date route that starts in Dublin?

Any suggestions welcome,

Thanks in advance

colm_mcm

will you need to pass through big towns on the way or do you just need the most efficient route where you technically hit all counties?

Dia1988

@colm mcm: I think I should go with the most efficient route where I technically hit all counties, then I can divert to landmarks if required.

I'll be driving a 2016 Hyundai Tucson so bumpy roads should be okay.

Any idea roughly how much mileage this journey will clock up?
There's 2200 km on it already.

Thanks in advance

colm_mcm

try and get a sponsored car from one of the distributors or at least get hyundai to give you something.

drunkmonkey

Another boardie made this map http://s294.photobucket.com/user/eamonnk/media/ireland.gif.html eamonnkeane

colm_mcm

wonder could you do it on one tank?

Dia1988

@drunkmonkey: Great map, very useful. It it me or is Meath/Leitrim included in the route?

@Colm mcm: A full tank shows it does 700km, so I reckon the entire journey will be 1200km

cormie

I did this journey on a regular basis: https://goo.gl/maps/8yiJat8Kmu32


I'd have it done in around 10 hours usually, but I had to do a delivery at each location, they were very quick, but the route had me going off main roads and deep into some cities which added a good bit of time. I only stopped for fuel and would time a toilet break in with this, or might go at one of the delivery locations. I'd eat on the road, stocked up with plenty of fruit. Tiredness can be a challenge and the fruit helped with this, as long as I was nibbling away at something I was ok. I'd make an apple last about half an hour, taking tiny bits at a time and making shapes and **** with it :pac: I don't drink coffee and wouldn't take any other sugar high stimulants. Slow release sugars are best, so yeah, fruit, and they will keep you hydrated too.

Tiredness is strange, sometimes on the Dublin to Waterford leg I'd feel it setting in when I still had 90% of the day left to do, but then it would go and by the time I got to Letterkenny I felt I could keep going a lot of the time, but I had to wait til morning to do the delivery there.

Even with my deliveries and stops, based on the the mileage and time taken, I remember one time working it out and my average speed was 100km ph so I was certainly making up time on motorways to achieve this and intelligent overtaking on single lane roads is essential too.

The longest I've ever been awake on the road for was 26 hours and I'd highly advise against this. I was dreaming while still awake at the wheel and it's highly dangerous.

Based on the map provided by eamonnkeane, I think it would actually be pretty easy to do in 24 hours. I thought there would be a lot more meandering to hit all counties but that looks relatively straight forward.

Hmmm... I'd question this a little bit. I know it's for charity but the first thing I thought was 'jesus that's a bit dangerous'. I'd figure out how long the journey will take and make my route around that. To hit every county in 24 hours would possibly be impossible (assuming you're stopping for photos etc), but even if it's possible, the first thing I think of is being bolloxed tired and flooring it down the road. Two negative images (especially when you combine them).


That said, if you have a partner or team, even if you are doing all the driving yourself and are practically asleep at the wheel, at least the outside world will assume that you took turns driving. (I'm not trying to be a high horse brigade member, by the way, I realise people drive tired and speed the whole time. Guilty of it myself. But it's just a bad image and not something you want to have people instantly think of when you're promoting this).


Anyway, my rambling aside.

Get yourself a Garmin satnav that has the app on it called 'Trip Planner'. I know it's on the Nuvi 55LM. It might be hard to figure out what ones do and don't have it because, even though it's arguably the single best thing in the world for sat navs, they make very little effort to mention it exists in the product specs and on the boxes. Bewildering, to be honest.


Anyway, what it does, effectively, is lets you add load of 'favourite' locations (in your case, 32 landmarks and a 'home' location). It will then, using the wizardry that is sat-nav technology, work out the quickest way to hit all 32 landmarks and return home.

This is brilliant in that not only will it do all the of the work for you, but it will also give you a strong indication of both how many KMs you'll clock up and how long the overall journey will take. It will also tell you how long it will take you to travel from point to point (ie; the distance/time it will be between landmark 1 and 2, and between landmark 6 and 7, etc.).

If you're gonna do this, I'd assume you'll probably end up doing it over a few days rather than 24/36 hours, as you'll probably want all your photos in daylight for best results. For quickest results, obviously do it in the summer when the days are longer so you can hit as many spots in a sun-filled day as possible. Also aim to start early on a sunday, so you can get stuck into the cities (Dublin/Cork) while they're void of traffic. Driving into Dublin on a Sunday morning, VS a Monday morning, is a world of difference in terms of the time it takes and the amount of traffic you're left sitting in (and how active traffic wardens, etc. are).

Atlantic Dawn

Just be aware that your insurance policy will most likely exclude pacesetting which this could potentially be interpretted as.

cormie

KKV, it's definitely dangerous if you're inexperienced, if you know how to monitor your tiredness and know when it's time to stop and pull over for a nap it would be relatively safe, providing you have been well rested beforehand and rest well after and have a relatively good diet and health in general as well as eat well on the road.

On the Garmin, I used to love my Garmin, until Google maps just got better and better and now I'd rate Google maps far higher than Garmin. You can plan your route and although it won't do a comprehensive journey planning route stop by stop, if you just have your destinations saved and can quickly point google to the next one, it'll take you there with the best route and give accurate traffic info, alternative routes etc.

vectra

Yes,
I regularly did 1k+ trips in 19 approx. hours many moons ago and I would stongly advise against it.
Tiredness does strange things to the mind while driving.

ba_barabus

There is actually an official Guinness book of records time for this trip. I'll look it up

Plopli

If you have the points:
http://www.gebweb.net/optimap/

ironclaw

I did a lot of 'endurance' driving in the US. Often upwards of 500 miles / 800 km per day. Its boring, dead tiring and unless you have a co-pilot I would not attempt this. Those miles were generally on Interstates and Highways, so dead straight, not much involvement driving but even by the end you'd be rag tired. My longest ever leg was San Francisco to Boise, ID in one day (640 miles) and by the end I was nigh on hallucinating with the tiredness and boredom. We had strict policies on drive time and sleep cycles i.e. Crew of three, the co-pilots never slept at the same time. Sounds ridiculous but it is needed.

Definitely a worthwhile trip, but I'd certainly have a co-pilot and plenty of coffee breaks defined before you start. If you get sponsorship, you could always hit dealerships on your way. I think Mini(?) did this last summer?

On the note of cross Irelands, and bordering very much on the grey here, has there ever been a North / South or East / West crossing time?

Red Kev

Four people from Kilmore GAA club in Co Roscommon did this a few years ago. Four might be a bit tight, but I'd be looking at 3 to do it. Trying it alone is madness.

I used to drive serious distances for work when I lived in Germany. All in a good Merc car, but 2-2,500 kms in 24 hours on motorways was nothing out of the ordiinary. You get tired, you don't really feel it coming up and yes, it's seriously dangerous.

At the very least get one other driver, personally I'd aim for two more drivers.

http://www.leitrimobserver.ie/news/sport/95353/32-counties-in-24-hours-for.html

TrailerBob

Agree completely on the tiredness issue. Longest I have done is 640 miles in 11 hours, North to South in France which by the end of the day was tough going. Bear in mind that was all motorway miles bar the last 20 or so. Can't imagine doing that on secondary and regional roads.