Tell us about your new improved government regulations compliant cycle part II

Wildly Boaring

I was stopped at colpe cross.

Scooted up the inside of the queue. Slowed to be waved through.

Insisted on me stopping.
Just asked where I lived.

No drama at all

Daroxtar

45km, absolutely Baltic. Garmin reading 0 degrees all the way around. Headwind from all directions. A shower of rain just after I went out the door left the roads manky. Cold hands, completely frozen toes. Nice clean bike destroyed with muck.
Grand apart from that.

a148pro

CramCycle wrote: »

Roundabouts, the last bastion of free choice where the rules of man seem not to apply. Overtaking on single lane roundabouts, the left lane to turn right, indicating any f*&*ing way they want for sh1ts and giggles.

I'll always remember being in India, where it seems the entire world is on their giant dusty roads, on every type of vehicle conceivable - bikes with trailers piled with crates, motorcycles with pillion passengers, rickshaws, cars, weird motor bike truck hybrids, buses, massive trucks

in a rickshaw ploughing through it all and we come to a "roundabout", very large one maybe the size of the darndale ones on the Malahide road back in the day

driver is evidently making the right turn, but doesn't decrease speed at all and instead of going three quarters the way around the roundabout he just swings straight to the right to go one quarter the way around the wrong way into oncoming traffic! Roundabout is busy, cuts across it all and makes the turn. No one bats an eyelid!

I'd say they'd get a good laugh reading our threads obsessing about some minor traffic violation

Weepsie

Did a race on RGT. Came 50th out of 115 but the race within the race was actually more interesting. 4 timed sections of varying lengths within the 60 k that you basically tt.

Finished 27th , 37th, 44th and 36th or something on those. I started a minute late so went balls out for a bit.


Twas just a bit of fun and something to try but some people are awful whingers and some people are all too full of a need to win anything. They must have terrible confidence issues anyway.
60 virtual km at a 38kmph.

Update. Aggregate times. 168th out of 400 over 4 races

CramCycle

a148pro wrote: »

I'd say they'd get a good laugh reading our threads obsessing about some minor traffic violation

Sounds like my experience of Russia, coming into Moscow, road/motorway several lanes wide and cars doing 80 and only inches from each other, indicators and lanes were advisory at best. Our taxi driver didn't even flinch as he swerved across 3 lanes for a turn he apparently forgot he needed to take. Further south in Saratov, you could pay the police to drive through their version of Grafton St. and even get what appeared to be an armed escort. I don't recall a sober taxi driver and was warned about putting my seatbelt on could cause grave offence.

alentejo

cycled to work (6 k). Was not too bad out there. I think if you are mentally prepared knowing that you will face the coldest headwind from hell before hand, it helps! Nice and dry with some snow.

devonp

usual commute in from leixlip.....into the driving sleet showers on the wide open N4
worked up a good sweat

LollipopJimmy

Bit muddy in the park today, I'd just sank halfway up to my shins here.

This bike is grand for most of the trails in the park but some parts get a bit tough :pac:

https://imgur.com/gallery/S9QdBIa

magicbastarder

i remember sinking up to my knee as a kid, very possibly in the same spot.

LollipopJimmy

To be fair that was the only really muddy part, the rest is doable on the gravel bike. Might get chunkier tyres for more craic though. That there is in depths of the Furry Glen

wheelo01

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

Bit muddy in the park today, I'd just sank halfway up to my shins here.

This bike is grand for most of the trails in the park but some parts get a bit tough :pac:

https://imgur.com/gallery/S9QdBIa

I'm glad I didn't take you up on your offer on Saturday to join you

Your new bike looks the business, but by jaysus, I wouldn't like to be cleaning it - maybe during the summer lol

magicbastarder

looking at that, the easiest way of cleaning it would be to cycle to the bridge at islandbridge and lower the bike into the liffey on a rope for a couple of dunkings.

I'm spotting a business opportunity in the Park for a man with a Karcher €5 a wheel :pac:

a148pro

CramCycle wrote: »

Sounds like my experience of Russia, coming into Moscow, road/motorway several lanes wide and cars doing 80 and only inches from each other, indicators and lanes were advisory at best. Our taxi driver didn't even flinch as he swerved across 3 lanes for a turn he apparently forgot he needed to take. Further south in Saratov, you could pay the police to drive through their version of Grafton St. and even get what appeared to be an armed escort. I don't recall a sober taxi driver and was warned about putting my seatbelt on could cause grave offence.

I have the sense that in Northern and Western Europe we're kind of obsessed with health and staying alive. In much of the Med and the rest of the world they literally do not give a ****. Its quite charming, provided you're not caught up in it yourself.

a148pro

magicbastarder wrote: »

i remember sinking up to my knee as a kid, very possibly in the same spot.

Is that the river that leads to the bridge / tunnel you can walk through up towards Ordinance Survey building? Or the steep part of the Furry Glen off walkers left leading up to the path to your right (generally frequented by lads cruising)? From recollection the later was way too steep to cycle, slipped up it with the kids recently, but doesn't look like it in that video

a148pro

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

To be fair that was the only really muddy part, the rest is doable on the gravel bike. Might get chunkier tyres for more craic though. That there is in depths of the Furry Glen

I think it is the river that leads to the tunnel actually. What are you on 36mm? Surely there's nothing beyond a fat bike that would give you grip in mud like that, and certainly not going uphill?

LollipopJimmy

a148pro wrote: »

I think it is the river that leads to the tunnel actually. What are you on 36mm? Surely there's nothing beyond a fat bike that would give you grip in mud like that, and certainly not going uphill?

It's not quite as far in as the spot you're thinking, tbh there's loads of tracks so I just try and find one where I don't have to walk. I got out of there today once I got beyond the log 'bridge' you can see there. Wrong bike in the wrong place but still knocking a bit of craic out of it

magicbastarder

i think i went up to my knee just downstream of the lake in the furry glen.

cletus

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

Bit muddy in the park today, I'd just sank halfway up to my shins here.

This bike is grand for most of the trails in the park but some parts get a bit tough :pac:

https://imgur.com/gallery/S9QdBIa

I see your mistake there Jimmy. It's all in the nomenclature.

That's not a "trail", that's a "ditch"

a148pro

I'm amazed anyone can ride a bunch of those trails, pretty impressive. Will have to lower my tire pressures and lift my game.

smacl

Muddy as bejezus in Masseys today too, awkward trying to keep enough speed to keep from toppling sideways in some spots. Promised snow never really arrived, though pretty bitter up by the Hellfire and very blowy coming back down making for an interesting descent. The more I cycle around Masseys the more I reckon we should be planting well spaced decidous hardwoods in areas that Coilte has nominated as parkland for primary use. While not a huge area, you can walk and cycle pretty much anywhere in it, giving the impression it is way larger than it actually is. Really magical at this time of year. A slow 18k with 400m of climbing but a very pleasant one.

jrby

How did you get 18k out of Massey, the kids have me plagued with bringing them to the gap and tichnock, presume Massey is a bit more gentle and more forgiving for someone at my age who doesn't want to be jumping over everything.

smacl

jrby wrote: »

How did you get 18k out of Massey, the kids have me plagued with bringing them to the gap and tichnock, presume Massey is a bit more gentle and more forgiving for someone at my age who doesn't want to be jumping over everything.

18k included Cruagh road up to Masseys and Masseys up to the Hellfire, only a couple of KM in Masseys itself today, including the main path and the river path on the way back. You've also got the outside edge route which can take you to the upper part of Cruagh and quite a few other smaller tracks. Its nothing like the GAP or Ticknock in that the trails aren't designed for bikes and you will be sharing the space with walkers and the odd horse rider. The climb up to Cruagh involves chucking the bike over styles at a couple of points and I'd say it is quite challenging, not sure I'd let kids descend that bit as there are a few steep and deep drops if you get it wrong. More of a place to explore at a meandering pace than to look for any andrenalin buzz, possibly worth doing a recce yourself first to see if it fits the bill for what you're after.

jrby

thanks, not looking for an adrenalin buzz, more meandering pace would suit and fine doing climbs, prefer them to the desents. Same on the road bike, even though i don't have the build of a climber....

will give that a go without the kids.

thanks and any other recommendations would be appreciated.

a148pro

smacl wrote: »

The climb up to Cruagh involves chucking the bike over styles at a couple of points and I'd say it is quite challenging, not sure I'd let kids descend that bit as there are a few steep and deep drops if you get it wrong. More of a place to explore at a meandering pace than to look for any andrenalin buzz, possibly worth doing a recce yourself first to see if it fits the bill for what you're after.

Did this at the weekend and it was about 8 inches of mud the whole way. Gets very muddy in Winter and I suspect has been getting more traffic since COVID. I've never done it and not regretted it, I think once in Summer I was able to cycle most of it apart from the styles.

a148pro

jrby wrote: »

thanks, not looking for an adrenalin buzz, more meandering pace would suit and fine doing climbs, prefer them to the desents. Same on the road bike, even though i don't have the build of a climber....

will give that a go without the kids.

thanks and any other recommendations would be appreciated.

There's a worthy loop to be done around them all, all fireroad and not a jump to be seen - go into Massey's from the Equestrian Centre, you follow the original cobbled Military Road up and take a right at the top into Hellfire. Loop around Hellfire (right around the front where smacl posted a pic from the other day is nice and has a very challenging climb back up to the actual ruin (realistically you need to get out and push I think?).

Then back down into Massey's, over the other side of the forest then up the muddy described path up to Cruagh (carry), into Cruagh by the Dublin Mountain Way route (access at the twisty bends you'd know from the road bike up to the viewing point - short carry)

Then down the nice descent into Tibradden, across Tibradden and over to Kilmashogue and in to Ticknock.

Cafes at Hellfire and the Hazel House.

Iits hard to describe these routes unless you know them, but you can't go wrong just going in to explore them, its basically fireroad and obvious trails. There aren't that many options there. I find Komoot is a good app for looking to see where a fire road goes and whether its a dead end. Either way go in and fiddle around, you can't go far wrong.

As Smacl says Massey's is a gem, particularly for a walk. I only discovered it about a year ago and have been going to Cruagh for years. In Autumn its off the charts. You really learn the value of proper mature trees. The main fire road routes in Cruagh are monoculture holocausts, but there's actually a more mature forest trail that leads out of the car park, usually too muddy for a bike I'd say.

Another great place is Prince William's Seat. There's an attractive long fire road descent there which goes around the mountain from the Glencullen side down towards Glencree Road, and can be combined with a super spin along the river where the Wicklow Way goes goes into Chrone and you can divert up a lovely loop to give you views of Powerscourt. But alas you'll be well beyond the 5k there. Hopefully soon.

Eventually I'll get round to posting a clean GPS run of these routes on the gravel thread as I have a sense a lot of people buy these bikes and then, like me, struggle to find decent routes on them. If you don't have time to explore it can be hard to get going.

smacl

a148pro wrote: »

Did this at the weekend and it was about 8 inches of mud the whole way. Gets very muddy in Winter and I suspect has been getting more traffic since COVID. I've never done it and not regretted it, I think once in Summer I was able to cycle most of it apart from the styles.

Never managed the rocky bit aftey the stiles either and the steeper sections when its very muddy would often have me getting off and pushing. Once I drop below 5kph, its get off or fall off time here! Always enjoy it though. Some great rope swings scattered around in the woods for the kids too.

jrby wrote: »

thanks, not looking for an adrenalin buzz, more meandering pace would suit and fine doing climbs, prefer them to the desents. Same on the road bike, even though i don't have the build of a climber....

will give that a go without the kids.

thanks and any other recommendations would be appreciated.

Probably worth noting if you're going in by the bottom gate on Cruagh lane, you're better cycling than driving as there's very little parking, particularly at the weekend. If you're brining kids, drive as far as the cemetery and go from there. Also, know that they will be coming home caked in mud

jrby

Brilliant, I usually just do road cycling but got a mountain bike as there was no point in renting a bike every time I brought the kids to the GAP. Really enjoy the GAP but really more interested in the more off beaten / less jumpy stuff. So thanks for the directions.

magicbastarder

chilly enough out there; pleasant in the sun cycling with the wind, not so fun cycling in the shade into the wind.

Seaswimmer

2 laps of my usual Deansgrange > Killiney > Glenageary > Bakers corner circuit.

Snow flurries on the first lap and blazing sunshine on the 2nd..

as Brendan Behan was reputed to have said " With this weather you wouldn't know what to pawn"