Tough climbs in Dublin

velogalway · 15-04-2015 05:29PM #1

I'm doing the Etape in July, facing into 4500m of climbing. From Galway and have to stay in Dublin some weeks. Thinking of finding some tough climbs to repeat ad nauseum over an evening and would be grateful for some suggestions.

jon1981 · 15-04-2015 05:33PM

velogalway wrote: »

I'm doing the Etape in July, facing into 4500m of climbing. From Galway and have to stay in Dublin some weeks. Thinking of finding some tough climbs to repeat ad nauseum over an evening and would be grateful for some suggestions.

You staying north/west/south/central Dublin ? a couple of loops of Howth head in both directions would be a good exercise, think the howth village side up to the summit is a category 4. Other than that you're probably looking at heading out towards Enniskerry and up to sally gap. There are some good rolling hills around Manowar and Balrothery a good 15/20k spin from Swords but I doubt anything that would test you.

wanderer 22 · 15-04-2015 05:48PM

No need to go quite so far south as Enniskerry/Sally Gap -
Stocking lane, Cruagh road, 3 rock & Kilmashogue are all within a few km of each other
https://www.strava.com/activities/64763919

godtabh · 15-04-2015 05:53PM

colm18 wrote: »

No need to go quite so far south as Enniskerry/Sally Gap -
Stocking lane, Cruagh road, 3 rock & Kilmashogue are all within a few km of each other
https://www.strava.com/activities/64763919

Ever done that in the dark?

Hmmzis · 15-04-2015 06:20PM

godtabh wrote: »

Ever done that in the dark?

Yup, especially Cruagh. You would need lights there. Same for Ticknock and Kilmashogue. Not sure about Stocking lane, there might be some street lights there maybe.

godtabh · 15-04-2015 06:26PM

Hmmzis wrote: »

Yup, especially Cruagh. You would need lights there. Same for Ticknock and Kilmashogue. Not sure about Stocking lane, there might be some street lights there maybe.

I have lights. The Kong Blinder Road 2. Just not sure if they are good enough for some where like that. That's why I generally go toward Vico Road for night time climbing

wirelessdude01 · 15-04-2015 06:40PM

There is a hill called Cupidstown near Kilteel that is horrible. Hits 23% near the top.

Brian? · 15-04-2015 06:59PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

There is a hill called Cupidstown near Kilteel that is horrible. Hits 23% near the top.

My favourite climb. It's agony.

sullzz · 15-04-2015 07:00PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

There is a hill called Cupidstown near Kilteel that is horrible. Hits 23% near the top.

Is that near " the lamb "

Brian? · 15-04-2015 07:02PM

sullzz wrote: »

Is that near " the lamb "

Cupidstownhill, Co. Kildare
http://goo.gl/maps/fpGIw

sullzz · 15-04-2015 07:08PM

Brian? wrote: »

Cupidstownhill, Co. Kildare
http://goo.gl/maps/fpGIw

How does it compare to lamb hill , I think it's located right beside it , I thought by your link it was the lamb , I think the lamb hits over 21% near the top , or maybe it has been Cupidstown hill I've been climbing

Fian · 15-04-2015 07:10PM

Cruagh hill, Military road, on up to sally gap, down to roundwood, then back to sally gap and down cruagh hill. If you are able you could always go back up cruagh again. Oh and there is a nasty looking very steep left after the second bridge on cruagh ("devils elbow?") that I have never been even slightly tempted to go up. At that stage the last thing i want is more gradient. Even if I stopped to take a break on the way up.

Apart from that there is the steep climb out of enniskerry. It is not very long but man is it steep. And when you get to the top you can turn left and come to the steepest part of the climb to the sally gap, albeit after a bit of a break.

That will sort you out for tough climbs imo. If you are into that sort of thing you masochist weirdo.

Edit: Just to be clear I have not done anything like the climbing advocated above myself. Stocking lane/Cruagh to sally gap and laragh then home via roundwood and enniskerry is my limit.

slap/dash · 15-04-2015 07:18PM

Just do repeats of rugged lane and summerton lane in the strawberry beds. Brutal

surball · 15-04-2015 07:18PM

Where exactly is the wall? Mentioned lots here but have never been able to see it on strava

sullzz · 15-04-2015 07:21PM

slap/dash wrote: »

Just do repeats of rugged lane and summerton lane in the strawberry beds. Brutal

Oh yeah , all around the strawberry beds is great for hill repeats

sullzz · 15-04-2015 07:26PM

surball wrote: »

Where exactly is the wall? Mentioned lots here but have never been able to see it on strava

Not too far from kildare town area , is part of the tour of kildare sportive

Don't Chute! · 15-04-2015 07:59PM

surball wrote: »

Where exactly is the wall? Mentioned lots here but have never been able to see it on strava

https://www.strava.com/segments/824925

Think that's what you're looking for.

Consey · 15-04-2015 08:17PM

Bohernabreena/Piperstown and a few round there are tough climbs, v close to Stocking Lane. Repeats of those were a staple of Etape training for me before.....

Daroxtar · 15-04-2015 08:24PM

Bohernabreena then Ballinascorney, couple of minutes recovery on the descent to Kippure estate then Sally Gap and on up to Kippure mast, recovery descent, featherbeds climb, down Stocking Lane. That's about 1000 m in 50km. https://www.strava.com/activities/272355655
You could do a few loops up and down to the viewing point via Cruagh or Stocking Lane for added hardship if you're on for it.

sullzz · 15-04-2015 08:34PM

black and amber wrote: »

https://www.strava.com/segments/824925

Think that's what you're looking for.

or this one ,
i thought this one was more common , this one is the one used in the TOK

https://www.strava.com/segments/715134

crosstownk · 15-04-2015 08:52PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

There is a hill called Cupidstown near Kilteel that is horrible. Hits 23% near the top.

Savage. Almost on a par with Kilmashogue.

EDIT: Interesting where the name 'Cupidstown' came from. Legend has it that it's named after Cromwell's gun (which he called Cupid). Cromwellstown is an adjacent village/townland. Sorry for the OT venture..........

El Kabong! · 15-04-2015 09:18PM

To 'train' for some alpine climbs I did repeats of Howth Hill, mostly from the harbour side but mixed it up a lot. Once I got to 7 repeats I felt I was OK. Depending on where you are coming from it might be nice to pootle out along the coast.

I also did Lambs Hill once... didn't stop but I was weaving a lot to stay upright.

terrydel · 15-04-2015 10:01PM

Never done stocking lane/cruagh/kilmashogue, how does it compare to Ballinascorney Hill?

wirelessdude01 · 15-04-2015 10:12PM

sullzz wrote: »

Is that near " the lamb "

Cupidstown is the Kilteel side ascent and 'The Lamb' is the ascent from the N81 side. Both are horrendous

wirelessdude01 · 15-04-2015 10:15PM

Is the main 'wall' oft referred to on this forum not the one near Enniskerry or somewhere down that neck of the woods?

sullzz · 15-04-2015 10:18PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Cupidstown is the Kilteel side ascent and 'The Lamb' is the ascent from the N81 side. Both are horrendous

Ah right , yep shocking climbs , I remember climbing the lamb with a mate and he came to a stop and had to unclip and put his foot down , he couldn't manage to start again so had to walk the rest of the way , when he got to the top he said it was just as hard to walk it as it was to cycle it .

sullzz · 15-04-2015 10:19PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Is the main 'wall' oft referred to on this forum not the one near Enniskerry or somewhere down that neck of the woods?

That's the one Black and Amber linked to

wirelessdude01 · 15-04-2015 10:24PM

sullzz wrote: »

Ah right , yep shocking climbs , I remember climbing the lamb with a mate and he came to a stop and had to unclip and put his foot down , he couldn't manage to start again so had to walk the rest of the way , when he got to the top he said it was just as hard to walk it as it was to cycle it .

I've seen lads on club spins literally keel over into nettles near the top as they couldn't unclip in time. Newbies to it always drop down through the gears far to early and then have nothing left for the top bit.

neris · 15-04-2015 10:32PM

El Kabong! wrote: »

To 'train' for some alpine climbs I did repeats of Howth Hill, mostly from the harbour side but mixed it up a lot. Once I got to 7 repeats I felt I was OK. Depending on where you are coming from it might be nice to pootle out along the coast.

I also did Lambs Hill once... didn't stop but I was weaving a lot to stay upright.

Wheres lambs hill?

sullzz · 15-04-2015 10:34PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

I've seen lads on club spins literally keel over into nettles near the top as they couldn't unclip in time. Newbies to it always drop down through the gears far to early and then have nothing left for the top bit.

Yep , I remember my first time up it I was with 2 others who did it before , it was on the way home from a spin around the gaps , I thought I was doing great , the other 2 way behind , needless to say they never told me the gradient beforehand , I got laughed at about 3/4 the way up as they passed me by as I was puffing and panting .
I love that hill

wirelessdude01 · 15-04-2015 10:48PM

neris wrote: »

Wheres lambs hill?

Cupidstown https://www.strava.com/segments/655142

The Lamb https://www.strava.com/segments/5890791

Tough climbs in Dublin

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