City centre cycling

aaabbbb

I'm going to be starting a course in Kevin Street soon and I'm thinking of signing up for a dublin bike membership as it's probably the fastest way of getting from the train connolly /tara/pearse stations to there.

Thing is that I don't cycle at all normally and haven't been on a bike in years. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on city centre cycling and or advice on what route I should take to Kevin st?

uck51js9zml2yt

Get a helmet and a hi Vis jacket

AndrewJRenko

Check out the Dublin Bikes app/website to see what availability of bikes is like at your chosen times.

Avoid the Quays and the Luas tracks where possible. Maybe something like Pearse, pick up the bike outside Trinity on Pearse St, walk back to Westland Row, then cycle up Westland Row, Merrion Square, Ely Place, St Stephen's Green, Kevin St. Be assertive - take the space you need to cycle safely. Ignore any beeping idiots behind who want to rush to the back of the next queue of cars.

And ignore the post above ^^^^

07Lapierre

Cycling is fun and safe.....as long as you obey the rules of the road, don’t run red lights, don’t cycle on the pavement or cycle the wrong way down one way streets. Be assertive/confident in traffic...look over your shoulder when you need to see behind you (eg turning right). Use hand signals when turning and be pridictable.

It’ll be fun... enjoy!

ED E

aaabbbb wrote: »

a dublin bike membership as it's probably the fastest way of getting from the train connolly /tara/pearse stations to there.

Unless you're an evening/night student you are very likely to be left walking a while away from Irish Rail/Luas to get a stand with bikes left after 8.15 AM. Load balancing since the expansion of DB kinda sucks.

aaabbbb wrote: »

or advice on what route I should take to Kevin st?

Off at pearse, walk up to Merrion Sq. Grab bike if any left - if not walk the remainder. Its not worth taking a bike at SSG for the two seconds over cuffee street.

flatface

Cycling in Dublin, especially on Dublin bikes is great. Take your time and try to be relaxed rather than fighting the traffic. Go a slightly longer route if the roads are nicer.

And safety wise my important tip is - Don't go past the back wheels of a bus/truck on the left, its the back wheels that do the damage. Just chill out behind.

flatface

ED E wrote: »

Load balancing since the expansion of DB kinda sucks.

Is there an app that will tell you how many bikes are at a station? I seem to have deleted mine, it wasnt the officlal.

ED E

flatface wrote: »

Isn't there an app that will tell you how many bikes are at a station?

Several.

Point is if you get the train arriving at 8.45 at say 7.55 from wherever the app will show full stands all over. By your arrival they'll all be empty but there'll be diddly squat you can do about it.

Moflojo

Carolina Gigantic Pointlessly wrote: »

Get a helmet and a hi Vis jacket

I also highly recommend those gold 'T's that people wear around their necks. Best to keep the good Lord on your side, just in case.

aaabbbb

So as of last week I have doe a few trial run's and it's been great so far! I just have a few questions

flatface wrote:

And safety wise my important tip is - Don't go past the back wheels of a bus/truck on the left, its the back wheels that do the damage. Just chill out behind.

Is it possible/correct /safe to filter up on the right either?
If the bus is stuck in traffic or in the middleof a junction where you need to get out of the way of oncoming traffic before the lights change? (This happened at the Fitzwilliam Sq leeson st junction last week and I wasn't sure what to do).

As for turning right when is an appropriate time to start centering myself towards to right side if the road particularly when approaching a junction?
If I'm driving I would just gradually slow down, indicate and change lanes to the rightmost lane before I got to the junction but on a bike I'm not quite sure what the safest /most appropriate way is to do this?

Also given the new Irish rail timetable it seems I'm going to end up having to get off at connolly a lot more and cycle from there to Kevin st so does anyone have any route suggestions this way?

I tried it last week (but off peak) and In order to avoid college green and most of the quays I went Talbot st, gardener st, around by busaras, Talbot bridge , city Quay, lombard st , Westland row, Baggott st, Fitzwilliam Sq, leeson st, Stephens green and across the Harcourt luas / Camden st to Kevin st

Could there be a better route I could take?

Coming from city Quay to lombard st I got stuck as the segregated cycle track seems to end with no way for you to cross the road so I had to dismount and walk around the construction barriers to continue my journey and turn up lombard st. In this case would it be better to stay on the right with the traffic when coming over the Talbot bridge and keep to the right or is there a better way to use this cycle lane that I didn't notice?

Lastly I'm correct in thinking that I should always try and keep left as much as possible when cycling just like I would in a car?

AndrewJRenko

aaabbbb wrote: »

Lastly I'm correct in thinking that I should always try and keep left as much as possible when cycling just like I would in a car?

Absolutely not - the advice from the RSA to cyclists is to 'take the space you need to cycle safely, as you are as entitled to your road space as any other road user'.


If you hug the kerb, you encourage bad overtakes - those who try to squeeze through without moving over at all. Take the space you need. The guy tailgaiting you with the SUV is just going to get stuck at the next queue of traffic if you were to let him through anyway.

Duckjob

don't cycle into any gaps where you don't have an escape route.

On multi lane streets, if you need to be on a lane away from the left side, take space in the lane you need to be in, don't get caught cycling on the line between lanes/between traffic

aaabbbb

AndrewJRenko wrote:

Absolutely not - the advice from the RSA to cyclists is to 'take the space you need to cycle safely, as you are as entitled to your road space as any other road user'.

Maybe not hugging the curb but I mean rather that I can't cycle in the middle of the lane all the time just for ****s and giggles , like I should be centre left?

aaabbbb

aaabbbb wrote: »

Maybe not hugging the curb but I mean rather that I can't cycle in the middle of the lane all the time just for ****s and giggles , like I should be centre left?

RSA say about 75cm but look if you are in a lane with traffic in the next lane to the right and you have cars or buses coming from behind in your lane that dont have room to pass to between you and the cars in the other lane safely then you take the lane and get used to ignoring the beeping. You safety is more important than their time.

Duckjob

aaabbbb wrote: »

Maybe not hugging the curb but I mean rather that I can't cycle in the middle of the lane all the time just for ****s and giggles , like I should be centre left?

If your position in the lane means cars can squeeze dangerously close by you then ride in the middle of the lane so that such squeezy passes aren't possible.

Taking the lane in these situations only p**ses off drivers that would otherwise seek to pass dangerously. Good drivers would recognise that there wasn't a safe overtake to be had anyway.

Cabaal

OP, for how to safely cycle in city's and when it comes to proper road positioning read this book

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyclecraft-complete-enjoyable-cycling-children/dp/0117082430/ref=sr_1_1/261-6456522-1805157?ie=UTF8&qid=1535955956&sr=8-1&keywords=cyclecraft

Read it years ago and it has some very helpful information about how to approach junctions and roundabouts in a much safer fashion. Most people do it arse ways which puts them in danger

beauf

Practice cycling in the city and various routes on a quiet day like a Sunday morning.

Because cycling in the city and traffic is a skill that has to be learnt and practised.

When I started back cycling I used to practise around my local area for a couple of weeks. Then did my route to work a couple of times at the weekends.

Weekday traffic is very different, but if you already know the routes and junctions it's a big help.

beauf

aaabbbb wrote: »

Maybe not hugging the curb but I mean rather that I can't cycle in the middle of the lane all the time just for ****s and giggles , like I should be centre left?

It's judgment call and experienced cyclist won't always agree on how long you need to do it.

Macy0161

Also, don't forget that we'll soon be back to gridlock. In some ways i find it more sketchy in lighter traffic than when you're just filtering stopped vehicles.

I'd also try a few routes - sometimes longer can be quicker, or easier if it's quieter.

AndrewJRenko

aaabbbb wrote: »

Maybe not hugging the curb but I mean rather that I can't cycle in the middle of the lane all the time just for ****s and giggles , like I should be centre left?

Why not? You are as entitled to your road space as any other road user? You're only holding them up from rushing to the back of the next queue of cars 95% of the time anyway.

Macy0161 wrote: »

Also, don't forget that we'll soon be back to gridlock. In some ways i find it more sketchy in lighter traffic than when you're just filtering stopped vehicles.

I'd also try a few routes - sometimes longer can be quicker, or easier if it's quieter.

I vary my route anyway, just to keep it interesting and keep me alert.


I found fewer drivers using their phones over the summer, as traffic was lighter and faster. Expect more WhatsApping as the school rush kicks back in.

tomasrojo

Taking the lane is a good tactic, but I find it's best to use it sparingly. Try and find a route that requires it to be deployed as little as possible. I mostly use it on my regular routes to occupy the centre point between the kerb and a car waiting to turn right, so that drivers following me don't try to pass the car on the inside. I probably use it for this reason many times more than for any other reason. Second would probably be turning right from right-turn lanes, and then third would be going through pinch points, but even then I sometimes just let drivers go first and wait for a gap, if they seem a bit aggressive.