The first group for the Tour de Drublin is announced! Some of us will meet in Belfast on Saturday morning, either fresh off the overnight ferry from Birkenhead (Liverpool) or having spent a day or two in the city. We'll then cycle down to Dublin, staying overnight somewhere near the UK/Irish border.
Please sign up if you're interested: the signup form is here. See below for why (a rough idea of) numbers are really important.
The main route
It worked well in Amsterdam to advertise a main route—basically the last bit of the ride—and leave the rest optional, with advice for how to join in!
We propose to cycle from Belfast to Dublin, with one overnight stay, not too far from the 'Enterprise' train route (in case anyone needs to swap to the train!)
Proposed route: 195km
Stephen Cox has kindly put together two routes in the comments below.
Older routes still exist! Check the "Revisions" tab. Thanks to a huge number of useful suggestions from conorc that got us this far.
Depart Belfast Central train station, 0830 Sat 25 Sep
We'll leave Belfast around two hours after the docking of the overnight ferry at 0630, to give anyone on that ferry time to have breakfast and get to the meeting point.
We propose to gather in Belfast at the central train station. This is conveniently on NCN route 9, which can then take us out of the city.
Belfast to Dundalk: 105km
https://www.strava.com/routes/6556441
This follows Sustrans NCN route 9 for part of the way, along a canal towpath that is apparently "mainly tarmac, with sections of good quality gravel."
Halfway point: Scarva 1230?
We join the canal towpath at around 52km, but then at around 60km we pass through Scarva. Scarva visitor centre (opp side of canal, just north of the bridge at the rail station) serves food and has 4.4/5 on Google Maps.
Find accommodation near Dundalk, evening Sat 25 Sep
For most routes, it's around 100km Belfast–Dundalk (near the UK/Irish border) and 90km Dundalk–Dublin. This makes Dundalk a good place to stop overnight.
@criz points out a writeup someone made of a similar journey, where they wished they hadn't bothered to book accommodation in advance, because there were so many places to stay. Unless a lot of people sign up, we'll consider doing that. By the way, unlike that article, we won't be stopping for sightseeing, so two days should be adequate for this trip.
Depart Dundalk B&B, 0830 Sun 26 Sep
We don't plan to meet anyone at Dundalk, but if you want to join us then let us know and we'll pick a meeting point (e.g. the train station.)
Dundalk to Dublin: 90km
https://www.strava.com/routes/6556983
This is on fairly quiet roads, but there are fewer routing options so we take what we can get!
Halfway point: Drogheda 1130?
This town (with a train station) is 50km from Dublin, so people bringing bikes for the last bit are welcome to join us there. The Moorland Cafe, just north-west of the station and over the Boyne, is another high-rated cafe and right on our route (and open on a Sunday.)
Arrive Dublin, 1800? Sun 26 Sep
We plan to arrive at Fade Street, just round the corner from Drury Street's secure cycle parking, at around 6pm.
Recommendations appreciated for the last few kilometres into Dublin, if anyone knows of a nice route into the city for cyclists.
Optional extras
If you'd like to/need to do other bits of cycling or other travel with us, here's what some of us might be doing.
Getting to Belfast
There are two ferries daily from Birkenhead (Liverpool) to Belfast:
- 1030–1830
- 2230?–0630
You don't need to book the daytime ferry in advance but in order to secure a cabin, especially on the Friday night, booking in advance is advisable. It looks like there will be some travelling on the Friday night ferry, to arrive in time to meet on Saturday, and some will travel on the Thursday night ferry for a day and night in Belfast before the tour. Leave a comment below if you want to share a 4-bed cabin on either night!
Getting to Birkenhead
SailRail: a combined train/ferry ticket is available from any GB rail station to Birkenhead and onwards to Belfast - available on the day or at a reduced price in advance. 4-bed cabins are available on the overnight ferry, and to book this at least one person would need to book their SailRail ticket by phone in order to add the cabin (this can't be done for tickets booked with the rail companies).
Some of us might be cycling:
- from Sheffield (!)
- passing near Manchester
- and arriving at Liverpool for a ferry (which ferry tbc.)
Start a discussion if you're interested!
After the conference
Some of us might:
- Leave Dublin on the Holyhead ferry, and cycle back through North Wales
- Leave Dublin on Monday (direction tbc.)
- Cycle back up to Belfast
Again, start a discussion if you're interested.
Comments
About the route: I have done
About the route: I have done some routes in Strava last week, trying to follow smaller roads popular on strava and cycle paths.
Route 1 from Belfast to Dundalk: Small roads, direct one: https://www.strava.com/routes/6366075
Alternative coastal route: https://www.strava.com/routes/6366154 As said probably too long, but less mountains.
Don't want to post it above, as these routes don't take all the great recommendations from conorc into account. Also it would need some more checks about road surface.
Putting routes together now?
Thanks, criz. I think Stephen's putting routes together now so he might be able to feed this in. I don't think the mountains are really very mountainous, though? The maximum grade is less than 15%, from what I can gather, and you get that on the coastal route too, after leaving Newry.
There'll always be a compromise re the road quality. I would say that e.g. the Cyclestreets route looks (on reflection) better than I thought, with the only "main roads" being B roads in NI and R roads (the rough equivalent) south of the border. They'll be properly maintained roads; they'll just be shared with at least some motorized traffic. But you'll only get proper separated cycling provision on busy roads!
Route based on the Cyclestreets recommendation
I have created a route based on the Cyclestreets recommended route from Dublin to Dundalk: https://www.strava.com/routes/6556441
It is a bit flatter than criz's option 1 as it follows a cycle path along a canal for some of the way. This is the Sustrans route 9, which is incomplete at this point. The main issue with this is it's not clear what the surface of this is like.
I think each of the 3 routes have pros and cons;
- option 1 is the most direct (93 km) and the roads look OK, but is the most hilly
- option 2 looks the most picturesque but is quite a bit longer than the others (140km)
- option 3 is is a compromise in distance (105km) and possibly the quietest, but it's not clear how good the road surface is for some sections
Thanks Stephen! Option 3 and
Thanks Stephen! Option 3 and following the Newry Canal Towpath sounds good. And I think some short gravel sections should be okay:
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map/route/newry-canal-towpath
NCR "gravel" can be a bit
NCR "gravel" can be a bit variable, but from what images I can find it looks pretty good (quite compacted, so fairly close to a tarmac surface?)
https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=newry+canal+towpath
This is great, Stephen:
This is great, Stephen: thanks so much for all the hard work!
I think I'm going for option 3 too. Option 2 would be wonderful if we had three days, basically: we could do 80km a day and include some sightseeing. But it's a bit of a push if you have to follow a 140km day with a 90km one....
Even option 3, that Newry hill is a bit of a surprise, isn't it? 15.3%. Could be worse but I might be walking the Brompton up some of it....
Some changes from Keoal?
Keoal has done the route and suggests a couple of changes:
https://groups.drupal.org/node/513555#comment-1150889
1) we could go via the A1/N1 south of Newry. It's busier but much less steep. I've asked Keoal if he's any thoughts about the actual provision (e.g. is there a separate lane).
2) after Drogheda, we could head out to Skerries, then loop round the estuary and go back out via Malahide, Sutton and then into Clontarf (maybe through St Anne's park?)
Also note I've updated the description to give us possible lunch stops on the Saturday (Scarva) and Sunday (a cafe in Drogheda near the rail station.)
Route from Dundulk to Dublin
There appear to be less routing options from Dundalk to Dublin, but the most straightforward route looks to be about 90km on quiet roads.
Are we still considering setting a meeting place on the Sunday for people to join us for the day? If so, Drogheda looks a good option. It's on a train line and is about 40km from Dundalk, leaving a 50+ km cycle into Dublin.
I have put together a 95km route based on the Cyclestreets suggestion that takes in Drogheda: https://www.strava.com/routes/6556983. I'm not sure about the parts into Dublin, so that part could definitely do with some feedback.
Let's say provisionally
Let's say provisionally Drogheda's a good meeting place. I'll ask on the Ireland group about the last bit.
Having a looked at Keoal's
Having a looked at Keoal's advice I've updated the route from Belfast the Dundalk, the only change being the section between Newry and Dundalk; https://www.strava.com/routes/6583791. I'm not sure about cycling on the A1, even if we can use the hard shoulder, but there is a road that runs next to the A1. This was used in criz's 2 routes and looks to be well used by cyclists according to Stava heat maps. This would give us a chance to have a look at the A1 and decide which road we would prefer.
Keoal's route from Dundalk to Dublin follows the R132 and then heads into Dublin along the coast; this adds about 10km to the ride; https://www.strava.com/routes/6583873. The entire route looks a bit busier than my previous suggestion, but I don't think that's a problem.
Yeah, what with sliproads and
Yeah, what with sliproads and all, I'm happy avoiding the A1.
On my own, and in a rush, I might push it and give myself dyspepsia, but there's no point if we're meant to be having fun.
Weird that Keoal's route looks busier: I was expecting the coastal section to be quieter as it's not direct. We can decide en route anyway - as long as we preserve our waypoints (Scarva, Dundalk, Drogheda) then we can always fiddle with the route.