cycling round the coast of ireland

ciarsciars

Hey,
I am planning on cycling round the entire coast of Ireland this summer; well as much as I can in a month. I will be doing the trip alone and plan on staying mostly in hostels and B&Bs (camping alone doesn’t seem like that much fun, nor does hostels and B&Bs but there ye go!). I have booked a month off work from mid-july and mid-august. I have never done any touring before so have a few questions that I hope people may be able to help with.

I do quite a bit of mountain biking (3-4 times a week) along with my daily commute, but I realise I will have to put in a good bit of training before the trip. As suggested in other posts, I plan on doing long back to back cycles fully loaded with all my gear. Should this be enough?

Route: I recently bought this book http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detail.cfm/book/562/title/cycle-touring-in-ireland. The routes seem very well laid out and it saves me having to attempt to put something together myself. The routes in the book go in an anti clockwise direction. I have read post suggesting going in a clockwise direction. Does it make much of a difference? It would save me having to re-engineer the routes of the book

Bike: I’m currently researching which bike to buy. A bloke in my job has a Bob Jackson which Think Bike in Rathmines put together for him, so I may go down that route. I have had some issues with my lower back, which I am in the process or sorting out, so I am concerned about buying the correct size online. Has anyone any other suggestions re buying touring bikes in Ireland: where, which ones? I haven’t really come across many shops with them in stock.

Gear: I suspect two panniers will be enough but I have no idea how much clothes/cycling gear to bring? 3 cycling shorts/jerseys and the rest civvies? Do I need rain gear, maybe just a rain top?

Sorry for the long winded post. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

DualFrontDiscs

ciarsciars wrote: »

Hey,
I am planning on cycling round the entire coast of Ireland this summer; well as much as I can in a month. I will be doing the trip alone and plan on staying mostly in hostels and B&Bs (camping alone doesn’t seem like that much fun, nor does hostels and B&Bs but there ye go!).

Brilliant idea. I, for one, am very envious. Cycling on your own can be great fun. You get to set your own pace, lunch stops, rest days etc.

ciarsciars wrote: »

I do quite a bit of mountain biking (3-4 times a week) along with my daily commute, but I realise I will have to put in a good bit of training before the trip. As suggested in other posts, I plan on doing long back to back cycles fully loaded with all my gear. Should this be enough?

My personal experience is that you can easily cycle in a single day what you normally commute in a week. So, if you're doing 20 km a day, 5 days a week, then 100 km a day is easily within your grasp. Since you do mountain biking too and presumably you'll have a touring specific bike, I think you could easily 'budget' between 100- 150 km a day. Also, you'll get stronger as you go on through the trip. You should definitely have a few long(ish) cycles with all your gear.

1. You'll be making sure you can pack (and access) all your stuff.
2. You'll get accustomed to how it feels on the bike.
3. You'll get a feel for what you really need (and don't).

A good idea way to emulate your tour is to get the train a day's cycling away some evening and cycle back the next day.

ciarsciars wrote: »

Bike: I’m currently researching which bike to buy. A bloke in my job has a Bob Jackson which Think Bike in Rathmines put together for him, so I may go down that route. I have had some issues with my lower back, which I am in the process or sorting out, so I am concerned about buying the correct size online. Has anyone any other suggestions re buying touring bikes in Ireland: where, which ones? I haven’t really come across many shops with them in stock.

There are lots of recent posts on here. The Bob Jackson idea is a nice one. What's the budget?

ciarsciars wrote: »

Gear: I suspect two panniers will be enough but I have no idea how much clothes/cycling gear to bring? 3 cycling shorts/jerseys and the rest civvies? Do I need rain gear, maybe just a rain top?

Two panniers should be enough. I'd get a handlebar bag too though, just for the phone/ camera/ cake/ etc. With regard to cycling gear, I go with the motto: 'Wear a pair, pack a pair, wash a pair'. You really won't need much civvy stuff and I always try to pack civvy stuff that can be used the bike as necessary. Remember you'll only be wearing the civvy stuff on rest days and for the few hours between getting off the bike and going to bed. I bring Northface trousers with me, just one pair that pack down really well and dry easily. The next day's base layer works well as an evening t-shirt too

Bring a full set of waterproofs. Absolutely worth it. Get mudguards on the bike too.

Good luck and enjoy the planning. It's half the fun!

DFD*

*DreamingForDistance.

blorg

Clockwise probably would be easier. The prevailing wind in this country is from the south-west but it is also stronger in the west.

Good luck with your trip. I would suggest trying a couple of weekends away before you go so you can get a feel for what you really need. Try to keep it to a minimum. Get into the habit of washing your clothes regularly and bear in mind it is more important to have clean shorts than a clean jersey. The latter also dries quicker.

Like DFD I wear my base layers as civvy tops and so the only specific clothing I would bring would be some underwear and a light pair of trousers. I use my SPD shoes or sandals for walking in.

You are cycling in Ireland, so yes of course you need rain gear, as well as thermals. I would bring a good breathable waterproof jacket, overshoes and knee and arm warmers at a minimum. Waterproof socks could be a good idea too.

I think a Bob Jackson would make a lovely tourer all right.

DualFrontDiscs

@OP

Definitely bring warm clothes. You're going to be spending a lot of time outside (which is good), but even if Ireland has it's best summer in a generation you'll still get chilly.

I alway have a woolly hat close at hand and always put it on when I take a break.

Also, give some consideration as to how you'll be feeding yourself. Presumably breakfast is at the B&B and dinner is a sit down somewhere at the of the day.

I cycled across the country recently and it's really easy to spend ridiculous amounts of money on poor food in Ireland. A generalisation? Possibly, but that was my experience.

Don't get too hung up on a very specific route either. I can't imagine there is any real need to book B&Bs much in advance. With regard to daily mileage (what's the word for kms?) whilst 100- 150 kms a day is well within your capabilities, you'll want to factor in some easy days and possibly some sight seeing too.

Have you decided on a 'theme' for the trip yet? Or is the coastal bit the theme? Myself and a friend cycled the four compass points of Ireland last year, which obviously included four bits of coast. It was great to have a focus for the cycle.

Anyway, I'm rambling now.

DFD*

*DiscriminatingFuelDiner.

rottenhat

Not that I'd dissuade anyone from handbuilt British steel, but the last time I was in Joe Daly's they had a Trek 520 which is a perfectly respectable touring bike - worth taking a look at, at any rate, and would probably work out cheaper/less hassle. I think it's the last model in their line that would give you any hint that they started out building tourers (hence the company name).

DualFrontDiscs

rottenhat wrote: »

Not that I'd dissuade anyone from handbuilt British steel, but the last time I was in Joe Daly's they had a Trek 520 which is a perfectly respectable touring bike.......

The Trek 520 is an incredibly popular touring bike, particularly in the 'States'. There was a time when every second bike on http://www.pbase.com/canyonlands/fullyloaded was a Trek 520.

DFD*

*DecentFrameDesign

ciarsciars

Sorry about the delay replying to this. Thanks for all the really helpful replies, especially about the clothes and waterproofs.

I went ahead and bought a Dawes Super Galaxy. I bought it online from the UK for just over €1300 delivered. I had wanted to buy it in Ireland but I was quoted €2000 in a couple shops, so the difference was too great. I have been commuting on it for the last few days and it feels great.

Unfortunately I banjaxed my knee in a mtb race about 3 weeks ago and have done very little cycling since. Hopefully i can build up enough strength in the remaining time before the trip.

Directionally I’m a bit of a mess, so i was planning on buying a Garmin 705. Would the base maps that come with the 705 be sufficient to get me around the coast of Ireland? I couldn’t find this info anywhere. I spoke to 2 guys in CSS and they didn’t know. Also, anyone purchased from these guys: http://www.mysatnav.ie/garmin-edge-705hr. They look the cheapest around.

In answer to your question DFD, I don’t really have a theme but maybe i should incorporate one as it may break up the trip into more manageable sections.

Lumen

ciarsciars wrote: »

Also, anyone purchased from these guys: http://www.mysatnav.ie/garmin-edge-705hr. They look the cheapest around.

Cheaper.

on_the_nickel

Sounds brilliant!

I can offer a bed on the southside of Cork city if we're around, let me know your due date.

ciarsciars

On_the_nickel, you are not a 24 yr old blond Swedish girl by any chance ar ye? Only kidding, that’s a very generous offer and I might hold you to it. I’ll keep you posted as to when I think I’ll be around that way. Thanks again!

Dr_Colossus

Great idea and best of luck with the trip and the weather. Just on your Garmin question, no the base maps that come with the gps wouldn't suffice to get you around the coast. They've very basic maps and at best just have the national N roads with perhaps a few regional roads. The city nagivator maps on the other hand have pretty much every paved road in Ireland and Europe on them and are very handy and I'd consider the Edge 705 a worthy investment for such a trip. Battery life is great also and the functionality of being able to record and download your trip data also I believe would be very useful again to review the trip and times.
If getting the maps I'd advise getting the cd/dvd version rather than the SD Card version as it comes with Mapsource which is useful in mapping routes as the likes of MapMyRide and GoogleMaps are slightly inaccurate in terms of road positioning.
+1 on the Hardec source Lumen recommended, I bought mine from them last year and they were the cheapest at the time also. The Garmin 705 is an expensive piece of hit and hard to get a view of it's functionality and features from online reviews etc so if you want to get a feel for it in person let me know.
Good luck again with the trip

DualFrontDiscs

ciarsciars wrote: »

I went ahead and bought a Dawes Super Galaxy. <snip>

Unfortunately I banjaxed my knee in a mtb race about 3 weeks ago and have done very little cycling since. <snip>

In answer to your question DFD, I don’t really have a theme but maybe i should incorporate one as it may break up the trip into more manageable sections.

Congratulations on the Super Galaxy (SG). I have one too. I'd say it's 15 years old. Absolutely gorgeous.

The gearing on the SG is quite low (or mine is at least). Much closer to mtb gearing than a road bike. It should be easier on your knee. You can spin more.

A theme's a great motivator too. When we did the four compass points, it really helped, especially on tough days with wind/ rain/ wind/ rain to contend with.

DFD.