[Leviathan]

My flatmate, an occasional cyclist, recently came back from Ireland where he was attending a family funeral in County Tipperary. He reported that he had driven along a road that was a cyclist’s dream: the R445. It runs for 35 km between Limerick and Nenagh with one lane and a wide cycle lane each way. It was the old ‘A’ Road which has been replaced by a motorway but repaved and in good nick (unlike UK roads.) Apparently the Irish national team has been seen on it. It looks flat (cause Ireland is flat,) straight with very few turn offs. A nice core 25km could be done twice for a 100km TT best.

I think this will take over from the Afsluitdijk in Netherlands as my dream road which might be a bit windy. Maybe one day I will travel to one of these and find out what I can do on a ‘pure’ road with little or no traffic. Sadly the only thing around here vaguely similar is the Alderley Edge Bypass, which is only 5km. I won’t be doing that one 10 times up and down. Anyone know of anything similar in the UK?

Topic

[giff77]

Sorry to break the news to
Sorry to break the news to you bike boy. Those aren’t bike lanes. They kind of act like a hard shoulder. If your driving and don’t have your wits about you, you get undertaken. As a driver you swing into them to allow others to pass. This does benefit the cyclist though as the lanes tend not to hoard glass and debris.

BTW Ireland is not flat. Only Tipperary is. We’ve got plenty of mountains. Some being real b******s. Manmore Gap being one with gradients of 27%. Torr Head is another on which I have yet to stay on the bike.

[Leviathan]

glynr36 wrote:Looks pretty

glynr36 wrote:

Looks pretty boring to be honest, who wants to ride a flat road!

Just me then. 🙁

[glynr36]

Looks pretty boring to be
Looks pretty boring to be honest, who wants to ride a flat road!

[Leviathan]

Beautiful!
Beautiful!

[Author]

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