Is there a route you can cycle along the Foynes road to get a view of the sea?

banjobongo

I live in Ballyneety region and I would like some day, when the weather is nice, to do a cycle from here out to Foynes direction to enjoy the lovely views of the estuary there and then cycle back home. Is there a route you can cycle along the Foynes road to get a view of the sea?
Any ideas of the best route from Ballyneety?

panda100

I often cycle from Rathkeale to foynes, sometimes via askeaton but mainly via Creeves. You don't get the views of the estuary until your in foynes.The cycle from foynes to Tarbet is beautiful and I would really recommend if you want the river views. Though from ballyneety to foynes would be a long enough cycle in itself, probably about 40 km I say.

The N69 route is fine but it's a very busy road. You could possibly go via crecora, adare, clonshire, Creeves route. It certainly would be more scenic and tranquil than N69.

Poxyshamrock

You could take your bike on the train from Limerick to Foynes....oh wait, this is Ireland, you can't.

phog

Imho, the N69 is lethal for cyclists. I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry

moleyv

phog wrote:

Imho, the N69 is lethal for cyclists. I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry

I'd agree. Cyclist fell off his bike and landed across the whole lane in front of me near the ferry bridge about two weeks ago.

zulutango

phog wrote: »

Imho, the N69 is lethal for cyclists. I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry

Most Irish roads are pretty bad for cyclists, although the development of the motorway network has helped the situation a fair bit. Our biggest problem, though, is the dispersed nature of the population, which has resulted in us being far too car dependent, has made public transport impossible and has clogged the roads with far too may cars for a country of our size.

banjobongo

thanks to all who replied. It looks like try to cycle along FOynes isnt such a good idea. Any other ideas for a nice cycle route with views of lakes/sea/estuary etc?
I usually cycle around Lough Gur/Fedamore/Bruff region but Im looking for a new route....

Parchment

Dangerous road for cycling.

moby2101

Parchment wrote: »

Dangerous road for cycling.

Have to disagree on this lads, I cycle this road/route regularly both on my own and with LCC and Limerick Tri, it's no different to any other busy road elsewhere. Road surface is reasonable, take reasonable amount of care, it's a lovely spin. Enjoy

Special Circumstances

moby2101 wrote: »

Have to disagree on this lads, I cycle this road/route regularly both on my own and with LCC and Limerick Tri, it's no different to any other busy road elsewhere. Road surface is reasonable, take reasonable amount of care, it's a lovely spin. Enjoy

It's not the road surface that has people worried. More the very high chance of some impatient ahole trying to squeeze by you with an on-coming car/truck.

Parchment

moby2101 wrote: »

Have to disagree on this lads, I cycle this road/route regularly both on my own and with LCC and Limerick Tri, it's no different to any other busy road elsewhere. Road surface is reasonable, take reasonable amount of care, it's a lovely spin. Enjoy

Its a really tight road in spots with many blind turns/bends - how is that not dangerous for a cyclist?

zulutango

It's bloody dangerous to even drive on it! I wouldn't dream of cycling on that road especially around Kircornan and Kildimo, Ferrybridge, Mungret, Clarina ... pretty much all of it really.

panda100

Parchment wrote:

Its a really tight road in spots with many blind turns/bends - how is that not dangerous for a cyclist?

It depends on your cycling ability. I have no problem cycling along that route. As previously mentioned the tri club and cycling club regularly go out that direction so motorists are used to cyclists on that road. It could be quite nerve wracking for newbie cyclists though. There should be cycle lanes on that road really.

Special Circumstances

panda100 wrote: »

It depends on your cycling ability.

Are you suggesting bunny hopping over a ditch or something when a gimp tries to push you into the ditch so he doesn't have to lift off and wait a few seconds for an on coming car to pass?

Cycling as a group is a lot safer as you force motorists to overtake you as if you were a slow moving vehicle, fair enough.

I doubt anyone would actually enjoy being constantly buzzed by cars on a road that isn't all that suitable for the volume and mix of traffic on it.

It wouldn't be too far off suggesting a trip from Croom to Mallow would be an enjoyable spin, although that road actually has more hard shoulder than the N69.

OfTheMarsWongs

Croom to Adare, back roads then Adare to Croom on the dual carriageway is a nice cycle. If you're looking for something longer, go Croom - Rathkeale - Adare - Croom. There's parking the far side of the stream in Croom, across the road from the takeaway.

phog

moby2101 wrote: »

Have to disagree on this lads, I cycle this road/route regularly both on my own and with LCC and Limerick Tri, it's no different to any other busy road elsewhere. Road surface is reasonable, take reasonable amount of care, it's a lovely spin. Enjoy

I 've seen on Twitter where it is being promoted that when vehicles are overtaking a cyclist they should give 1.5m between them and the cyclist. If you were to do that on the N69 the vehicle would find it hard to get an overtaking opportunity.

Eidt eto Add the Tweet and Pic

Cycling Ireland
‏@IreCyclingFed
Has anyone seen this fantastic advertisement for safe cycling? Wexford bus sporting the #stayinalive message

panda100

phog wrote:

I 've seen on Twitter where it is being promoted that when vehicles are overtaking a cyclist they should give 1.5m between them and the cyclist. If you were to do that on the N69 the vehicle would find it hard to get an overtaking opportunity.

It's a great campaign called 'staying alive at 1.5'. We seriously need this in Limerick. Drivers have no awareness of how dangerous it is driving so close to cyclists.

Special Circumstances

OfTheMarsWongs wrote: »

Croom to Adare, back roads then Adare to Croom on the dual carriageway is a nice cycle. If you're looking for something longer, go Croom - Rathkeale - Adare - Croom. There's parking the far side of the stream in Croom, across the road from the takeaway.

View of the sea is crap though.

CatFromHue

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

You could take your bike on the train from Limerick to Foynes....oh wait, this is Ireland, you can't.

What about Bus Eireann?

phog

panda100 wrote: »

It's a great campaign called 'staying alive at 1.5'. We seriously need this in Limerick. Drivers have no awareness of how dangerous it is driving so close to cyclists.

Cyclists need to cop on a bit too. They consistenly cycle around slow moving vehicles and/or move ahead of traffic queuing at junctions especially on the drivers blind spot when both are turning left.

zulutango

phog wrote: »

Cyclists need to cop on a bit too. They consistenly cycle around slow moving vehicles and/or move ahead of traffic queuing at junctions especially on the drivers blind spot when both are turning left.

A cyclist would be stupid to cycle in the blind spot of any vehicle, but there's nothing wrong with moving ahead of slower traffic to the front of the queue. At most junctions in the city there's an area in the front designated for bikes because it's deemed far safer that cyclists move off ahead of motorised vehicles.

phog

zulutango wrote: »

A cyclist would be stupid to cycle in the blind spot of any vehicle, but .

Well then we have stupid cyclists in this city.

there's nothing wrong with moving ahead of slower traffic to the front of the queue. At most junctions in the city there's an area in the front designated for bikes because it's deemed far safer that cyclists move off ahead of motorised vehicles

I suppose it depends on how safely for themselves and other road users how they manoeuvrer their way to that dedicated space.

Parchment

panda100 wrote: »

It depends on your cycling ability. I have no problem cycling along that route. As previously mentioned the tri club and cycling club regularly go out that direction so motorists are used to cyclists on that road. It could be quite nerve wracking for newbie cyclists though. There should be cycle lanes on that road really.

Cycling ability? Your ability wont matter when a car comes around a bend quickly behind you and flattens you.

I cycle daily and that road isnt one i would use - its not safe. You must be really fast so that cars are not a risk to you?!

zulutango

Agreed, it's not the ability of the cyclist that matters, but that of the driver that comes up behind him/her. Plenty of experienced triathletes have been killed on the roads over the years.

bazz26

It's not always the driver's fault. The road is narrow in places and simply not suitable for both cyclists and vehicles to pass each other. That road has a lot of hairpin bends too which makes it very difficult to see any cyclists or pedestrians at the other side of them especially if they are not wearing high viz clothing.

Also since the Limerick to Foynes railway line closed you have a lot more commercial and heavy goods vehicles using that road. Like a lot of Irish secondary roads it was never designed for that sort of usage whether you drive, walk or cycle. I remember as a child been driven on that road to Ballybunion and it was the same, get stuck behind a tractor or group of cyclists and it could take ages to get a decent section of road to overtake them safely.