Irish Cycling
 

Right, what's the bleeding story about cycling in Ireland? Looks like I'll be moving their in a few months:) I've been there a few times before but I've always been a car passenger. I'll be in Ashbourne, co. Meath, about 20km northwest of Dublin. Any not so horribly dangerous roads I can bike to Dublin on?

And, just some general questions...how do irish auto drivers like cyclists? Am I sure to here alot of "get off the road ya fookin eejit!" or are people there quite friendly about it? What about cycling in Dublin itself?

Look forward to hearing comments from anyone who's cycled in Ireland:)

Not done a lot of cycling down there, but car drivers are definitely a little crazier down south compared to Northern Ireland. Loads of my friends down there drive on a provisional licence by themselves, not having passed any sort of test yet.

Seems mad to me.

Dublin is pretty hectic as far as traffic is concerned, and you gotta worry about the stupid pedestrians as well. Every man for himself in the city.

I've never seen any animosity towards cyclist though, seem to be tolerant enough, plenty of bikes about, reasonably flat city, but the cyclists can be crazier than the car drivers.

Take this with a pinch of salt though - I'm usually there as a pedestrian or a scooterist in the past.

I just got back from Ireland. Cycling in Dublin is probably better than most US cities. Traffic is bad, like a US city, but drivers seem more tolerant and cyclists are a little more common. Cyclists also follow the traffic rules, just like any other road user.

Outside Dublin, in the rural areas and small towns, the roads are awful. Even on the national roads (most of which are only one lane in each direction), the lanes are significantly narrower than US roads, barely wide enough for ordinary large trucks. And there's rarely any shoulder at all, and usually a hedge right at the edge of the road. And that's on roads with speed limits of up to 100 kph. And a lot of the drivers seem to be American tourists who are unfamailiar with left side driving. On the plus side, drivers are definitely more likely to follow the right of way rules, and more patient and tolerant of slow traffic and pedestrians. You won't get the kind of red-neck harrasssment you sometimes get in the US.

I bought all the insurance I could get, and spent the whole week driving by rubbing the left side of my car against the hedges by the side of the road. Judging by the other rental cars I saw at the airport, that's a pretty common approach.

Ireland has the most dangerous roads in the EU, and they're getting worse.
I wouldn't ride a bike in rural Ireland under any circumstances.

EM

Agh...that doesn't sound to promising. Time to take up a new sport maybe:S

I rode from Cork to Belfast all along the west coast. loved it. beautiful, majestic, rustic, pure, friendly... just try to keep the Guinesses under control. I didn't find it dangerous because the were plenty of older roads they have little or no traffic. but i never rode in or near Dublin. enjoy

It's true that there's not much traffic in Ireland outside the cities, and drivers definitely have a better "share the road" attitude, but whenever I left the natioanl route I ended up driving in circles. Maybe if I had better maps and GPS it might have been easier.

EM