Whitehall-Drogheda

Harrybelafonte

magicbastarder wrote: »

what distance did it end up as? about 50, 55km?

It was 46.5km and it took me about 1.75 hours. Haven’t been on the bike for a looong time, so happy enough.

You seemed to have got a decent enough day for it given the time of year. Hows the motivation for the return leg?

Harrybelafonte

[Deleted User] wrote: »

You seemed to have got a decent enough day for it given the time of year. Hows the motivation for the return leg?

Fine to be honest. Only section I’m nervous about really is the little rat run I use up by Carlos factory.

Edit to say I probably should go the same way back with the issue of taking the right turn at Julianstown junction.

We’ll see.

Harrybelafonte

Two hours home in the wet. Left at five so still daylight. Still a good few close passes and usual craziness. May not be super hot doing it in pitch black.

Wishbone Ash

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

.... I probably should go the same way back with the issue of taking the right turn at Julianstown junction...

That right turn is easier on a bike than in a car in my experience.

SmartinMartin

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

How is it dangerous? There's a pedestrian/cycle subway there. Even without using the subway, I'd never consider it to be dangerous.

Out of interest, where does that start and end, say heading north?

magicbastarder

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Two hours home in the wet. Left at five so still daylight. Still a good few close passes and usual craziness. May not be super hot doing it in pitch black.

and the evenings are going to get a lot darker in about ten days, i think.

Wishbone Ash

SmartinMartin wrote: »

Out of interest, where does that start and end, say heading north?

Northbound it starts just before the dedicated left lane for the M1 (about 100m before the junction itself.

Southbound - again about 100m before the Donabate left turn. You have to mount the footpath at the dished ramp. (Southbound is closed at the moment).

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

and the evenings are going to get a lot darker in about ten days, i think.

just did a double check to confirm, ten days away.

SmartinMartin

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Northbound it starts just before the dedicated left lane for the M1 (about 100m before the junction itself.

Southbound - again about 100m before the Donabate left turn. You have to mount the footpath at the dished ramp. (Southbound is closed at the moment).

Thanks, hadn't a notion where to look for it.

Large bottle small glass

Did you try the cycle.travel website?

Just put in your start and end points and it'll give a bike friendly route.

They can be lumpy sometimes though.

Your effectively following coast, and probably crossing a few streams/ rivers which head east to the coast.

Without having a clue of that area it'll probably put you on a more westerly route; effectively moving bridge crossings to the next one upstream of "car" route.

Harrybelafonte

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Fine to be honest. Only section I’m nervous about really is the little rat run I use up by Carlos factory.

In Drogheda? That lane between the R152 and the R108?

Harrybelafonte

[Deleted User] wrote: »

In Drogheda? That lane between the R152 and the R108?

Think that’s the one.

John Hutton

Lads, when you cycle on roads like the R132 do you go in the hard shoulder or stick with decent positioning in the lane proper?

Wishbone Ash

John Hutton wrote: »

Lads, when you cycle on roads like the R132 do you go in the hard shoulder or stick with decent positioning in the lane proper?

Hard shoulder where appropriate but it disappears in some places and in other sections it's unsuitable for cycling on.

magicbastarder

i occasionally find myself on it, usually the stretch north of blake's cross up to the junction for nag's head/man of war, and generally keep out of the hard shoulder - but that's not on a commute, it's not at rush hour so the traffic is not bad.

Harrybelafonte

The crazy thing is that even last night while in the hard shoulder someone couldn’t work out how to over make me.

positron

John Hutton wrote: »

Lads, when you cycle on roads like the R132 do you go in the hard shoulder or stick with decent positioning in the lane proper?

Hard shoulder when available - and there's a lot of it to be fair. There are also marked cycle tracks that you should definitely avoid - like the ones around Julianstown village, or heading south at South Gate shopping center roundabout etc.

lennymc

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Two hours home in the wet. Left at five so still daylight. Still a good few close passes and usual craziness. May not be super hot doing it in pitch black.

I found when I wore a full reflective jacket (on those roads) there were a lot less close passes, compared to when I used only lights.

something like this -

Carawaystick

Not to totally derail the thread, but has anyone ever seen a mix reflective/fluorescent versions of the above jacket? Whenever I see anyone at twilight, the reflective jackets seem to blend in lots.

cdaly_

lennymc wrote: »

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Two hours home in the wet. Left at five so still daylight. Still a good few close passes and usual craziness. May not be super hot doing it in pitch black.

I found when I wore a full reflective jacket (on those roads) there were a lot less close passes, compared to when I used only lights.

Interesting that. I was gonna say to use decent (dynamo) lights and you'll look more like a motorbike in the dark and might get better behaviour in consequence.

Carawaystick wrote: »

Not to totally derail the thread, but has anyone ever seen a mix reflective/fluorescent versions of the above jacket? Whenever I see anyone at twilight, the reflective jackets seem to blend in lots.

I saw one this morning on the commute. The back was full reflective/grey while shoulders and arms were yellow hi-vis. The hi-vis portion across the shoulders was not that visible because the rider's posture made it almost horizontal.

magicbastarder

from my limited exposure to them, i think they work better on country roads, where motorists are more likely to be driving with full beams on?
which probably suits HarryBelafonte's purposes anyway.

Harrybelafonte

magicbastarder wrote: »

from my limited exposure to them, i think they work better on country roads, where motorists are more likely to be driving with full beams on?
which probably suits HarryBelafonte's purposes anyway.

Yes, but a lot of that reflective material will be covered by the bag I've to wear. So at least the sleeves will work.

Though, and I'm loath to say this, I think all the close passes I had the last time were by drivers who were well aware of my presence.