Cycling from Hueston Station -> Maynooth

patmahe

Not too familiar with the roads around Dublin so threw a route into strava from Hueston Station, to Maynooth.

The route it came up with for leaving Dublin was through the phoenix park and out of Dublin on the R109 lower lucan road.

My question is, being the country that boy I am, is this route badly congested generally, will I have a line of cars a mile long behind me or even stationary that I need to try and pass? Is this the best way to get to Maynooth assuming you leave from Hueston?

devonp

Hi there,

I commute regularly to leixlip from Dublin cc. the R109 is the strawberry beds road, nice and scenic and not as busy as before Covid...but...its narrow(ish) and there is no hard shoulder..some drivers are impatient and i've had a few close passes over the yrs. also the back road from Leixlip confey to Maynooth can be busy esp. with the increased trafiic due to building at Intel.

Another option would be to take the my reg winter commute via Connyham rd, there's plenty of cycle path from Chapo to Leixlip and then out the old Galway rd to Maynooth...plenty of hard shoulder on this

https://www.strava.com/activities/6935879830

patmahe

Cheers devonp appreciate that a lot, good to get input from someone who's done it, strava link helps a lot 🙂

wheelsandreels

And worth mentioning the Royal Canal which depending on your bike and reason for travel is an option, there are up to date threads here about the various sections.

DaveyDave

The Strava link above is the route I do from Lucan to the city, handy enough route as it's mostly bike lanes and quieter roads so not much hassle.

I stay on the road alongside Phoenix Park going into Chapelizod as the lane is wide then has a bus lane, the bike lane is very bumpy. Also I'm an idiot, I never thought to cycle across the slip at Liffey Valley past The Deadman's Inn, I would always go back up the slip road on the path...

I tend to avoid crossing at Liffey Valley and going back onto the N4 there, the slip road exit there is usually very busy so staying straight on in the bus lane isn't ideal.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119040228#Comment_119040228

The main downside to the Strawberry Beds route is the number of badly designed ramps and adjacent shores.

I think any route choice will also depend on your bike type (road or MTB or whatever) and your experience/confidence. Worst case scenario, you could go through the Hueston > Phoenix Park > Strawberry Beds > Laraghcon Hill (@ Lucan) > St Catherine's Park > Glendale Estate (Leixlip) > Royal Canal from Confey to Maynooth

devonp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119045844#Comment_119045844

oh yes completely forgot about the ramps ,21 of them, on the strawberry beds (i suppose i'm just used to them) also the beds road tends to flood badly after a heavy rain (is that what Seth means ??)

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119045925#Comment_119045925

There are shores at the "corners" of the ramps meaning that if you try and cross at the very edge to avoid the bump, there's still a bit of a bump.

Mercian Pro

While the ramps on the Strawberry Beds road are a PITA, they have had the effect of dramatically reducing the traffic. I find it a far preferable and safer option than the higher Porterstown/R121 roads. Some of views along the Liffey are great too!

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119055654#Comment_119055654

Funny that you mention it because the Porterstown/R121 is one of those roads that I will avoid where possible.