Cycling Dublin to Cork on backroads

blorg

I cycled down to Cork the weekend before the W200. Stuck to the back roads with only a short bit on the N8, not the most direct but it was very pleasant- 291km or so. First 103km to Abbeyleix after work on Thursday and the remaining 188km to Cork the next day. 12 hours cycling time. Posting this mainly for hunnymonster, who has asked about a route, but others may be interested.

Day 1, 103km

• Dublin (set out Naas Road/N7, not terribly pleasant but there is a grand hard shoulder)
• Naas (leave on R448 direction Kilcullen)
• Kilcullen (shortly after continue onto N78 direction Athy)
• Athy (leave on R428 direction Stradbally)
• Stradbally (turn right at T and then left onto R427 direction Abbeyleix)
• Abbeyleix (find both B&Bs are booked out and it's dark, panic, find massive hotel on road to Durrow, panic averted)

Day 2, 188km

• Abbeyleix (head out on N8 direction Durrow)
• Durrow (continue on N8)
• Urlingford (turn left onto R690, then turn right onto R689 direction Ballysloe/Fethard)
• Ballysloe, New Birmingham, Ballinunty, Killenaule (all on R689)
• Fethard (continue on R689, direction Clonmel)
• Lisronagh
• Clonmel (leave on R665, direction Ardfinnan - get rained on now)
• Knocklofty
• Ardfinnan
• Clogheen (left at signpost for "The Vee, Scenic route", R668)
• The Vee (continue over summit, direction Lismore - road surface turns to shít once into Co Waterford)
• Lismore (just before town, turn right onto the aptly named R666, direction Fermoy - if doing this again I might chance the N72, road surface on this was killing me)
• Ballyduff
• Fermoy (you should be near death at this stage, stop for a coffee that doesn't help, leave on old N8 which has been renamed to something else now the M8 is complete. Wind around the M8 on this, passing through: )
• Watergrasshill
• Glanmire (turn right back onto N8 at Glanmire roundabout, N8/N25 junction, GPS dies at this point, I am sure to follow, 10km on from there to my destination on the other side of Cork [Lee Road])
• CORK (RIP, the end)

It was a really nice cycle even if I felt like I was going to die at the end, I'll certainly do it again. We were rewarded with blue skies and beach for the rest of the weekend. Worth bearing in mind if you are planning similar that the prevailing wind tends to come from Cork to Dublin (I was lucky to get an exception and had a tailwind on the first evening and very little wind the next day.)

It's a very flat route, I took in the Vee only because I saw the sign and thought it might be fun; you could do it without the Vee and it would be flat all the way. Some photos to give an idea of the roads and overall trip:

blorg

Victor

I imagine Kilcullen-Athy wasn't fun, the road is narrow enough for the traffic it gets.

blorg

Victor wrote: »

I imagine Kilcullen-Athy wasn't fun, the road is narrow enough for the traffic it gets.

I found it fine, very pleasant in fact. Surface quality was very good and traffic volumes seemed low, maybe with the time I was on it I was lucky (around 20:30-21:00 on a Thursday evening.) Fourth picture in the first post is of that road I think, there wasn't always a hard shoulder but I didn't have any bother when it wasn't there; cars overtook with plenty of room.

bwardrop

Hey blorg - nice post! I see you were not on the Cayo - any particular reason - panniers perhaps?! Just being nosy!

Snapper1

Off topic but slightly relevant... Do you find having a pannier on only one side affects your balance? just wondering

blorg

bwardrop wrote: »

Hey blorg - nice post! I see you were not on the Cayo - any particular reason - panniers perhaps?! Just being nosy!

Yes, the panniers- that is my touring bike for multi-day stuff, the Cayo I use for day rides (it's around 1.5kg lighter, racier, and gets a lot more use.)

Snapper1 wrote: »

Off topic but slightly relevant... Do you find having a pannier on only one side affects your balance? just wondering

It sort of feels a bit funny to start with but I find I'm completely used to it within the first few km. I believe from what I read that the fact the panniers are quite low helps with this. That pannier was packed quite light, total weight was in the region of 4kg.

Victor

Snapper1 wrote: »

Off topic but slightly relevant... Do you find having a pannier on only one side affects your balance? just wondering

I only use mine around town and I find it does, but less than having it on your back and sliding around.

Caroline_ie

.... maybe we could do a Boards Lap Of Ireland one day, for charity.

hunnymonster

what a post! you are a star blorg.

stabu

ah,... a post to fall in love with cycling ...

for the newbies among us, could you give some extra background: essential data about the bike, how did you get back? was it solely for the trip you went down, or there was a second objective .. not being nosy, just to evaluate worthwhileability (to coin a phrase). Also, you _not_ being a "cycling newbie", and being KO'd at arrival ... well, it's not encouraging .. maybe a note or two in the "if you try this at home" vein.

Honestly hate asking for more when it's such an excellent post... you can always ignore me!

PD. Found the bike details: See the "Images of Beauty" Page 10, half way down. Holy cow, titanium! (that's what the cows in the photo were looking at! :-D)

Explosive_Cornflake

Caroline_ie wrote: »

.... maybe we could do a Boards Lap Of Ireland one day, for charity.

A day would be a bit short i think
I'm going to try and do it soon I think. I did mean a few times to put up a thread about it to see if there would be an interest in it.

on_the_nickel

I'm picking up my new bike in Dublin in a couple of weeks and seriously considering cycling it home. I'll be leaving from Dun Laoghaire and I initially (naively) thought I could do it in one day.

The shortest route I can find is just under 300k and I'm aware that I start by going over the Sally Gap. This is just a first draft, but it did make me realise it's probably better I do an overnighter in Kilkenny or somewhere.

Any thoughts appreciated and can anyone tell me what in the name of jaysis the spike at 214k is?

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/128487

on_the_nickel

Ps Google maps thought this would be the best route

http://maps.google.ie/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Grange,+Cork&daddr=Dun+Laoghaire-Rathdown&geocode=Fa9sFwMdjhB__yk9IHot9Y9ESDEiC7W6p8cAJg%3BFQCULAMdDPWh_yklTEg1JAZnSDGHQZKkG2Cetw&hl=en&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=52.593435,-7.31801&sspn=1.601771,4.938354&ie=UTF8&z=6

Freddy687

You need to redo your auto route to avoid this section of road.
The road in question is a climb over the Knockmealdowns outside Clogheen. This road is bearly passable in a 4x4. The spike is correct, the road is 7-9% for 4-5k.
You would be better served going straight on to Mitchelstown and then taking the old N8 to Fermoy then to Cork.

An alternative would be to turn in Colgheen and go over the Vee to Lismore. Don't take the R666 to Fermoy as Blorg will testify, go through Lismore to Tallow Bridge, from here you can either go to Fermoy or go into Tallow and head for Rathcormac (right turn in the middle of the town).
Both roads are much the same length, but the Rathcormac road will bring you out on the old N8 10k closer to Cork.

Peetrik

Inspiring, cy-blorg