The North Leinster Riviera is a 200km audax permanent. It was designed to stay as close as possible to the coast as it travels north from Clontarf, Co. Dublin to Annagassan, Co.Louth and then back the same route for most of the way. This was to try to reduce the effects of frost and ice so that this audax could be used in the cold winter months.
Luckily for me it wasn’t feezing but the rain came a few times to remind me that it was winter time. As mentioned above the it is an out and back route starting in dublin. I asked the organiser could I do it the other way around, starting in Annagassan. This was better for me as I live near it. He had no problems at all so all was set to go.
I wanted to be back home that evening to spend some of the day with my family so I started at 5am. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone willing to do the cycle with me so it was a solo mission.
The Route
Starting in Annagassan I rode south hugging the coastline as I went. It was dark and raining at the time so I didn’t take any photos until I reached dublin so the photos here of my return cycle.
You follow the road through clogherhead and termonfeckin. These are all quiet country roads I don’t think a car passed me for the first hour. The surface is good but they can be quite mucky as it is all farmland.
From termonfeckin you keep cycling south until you meet the river Boyne where you will have to head west into Drogheda until you find the first bridge to cross over. This is a bigger road now but there is still very little traffic.
Once you cross over you will then head east back along the Boyne to Mornington. This is a similar road to the north side of the river but is a little busier and is pretty narrow. You will be near the coast again so you start to cycle south again through Bettystown and onto Laytown. This stretch of road has a lot of houses on it. There is footpath and street lights the whole way from Mornington to Laytown.
Once you pass through laytown you come to another river so the road begins to veer west again but before leaving Laytown there is a carpark on you left and to the side of it is a footbridge across the river. I nearly missed it. It crossed the river alongside (but not attached to) a railway bridge.
When you come off the bridge you need to turn right and go under the railway line. You will be on a very quiet road for a while. Enjoy it because the next big junction joins a very busy road the was not made with cyclist in mind. After spending over 2 hour cycling on nearly empty roads it was a bit of a wake up for me but I quickly got used to it.
The craziness doesn’t last long as most of the traffic then veers off to the M1 but you’re still on a main road the whole way into Balbriggan.
From here you turn left and you are along the coast again until you get to Skerries. I have to admit that I was dreading cycling through these next set of towns as I though the they would be mad busy and dangerous for cyclist. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no sign of either.
As you leave Skerries the route heads inland slightly and travels through small quiet roads until you get to Lusk and then onto Blakes Cross. The road is busy again but there is a good hard shoulder. It is a dual carriageway until you get to Swords. Be sure to use the cycling tunnels when you’re crossing the M1.
Instead of going into Swords the road takes you left and joins the coast once again. It is then a simple matter of following the coast through Malahide and Portmarnock. Keep heading south until you get to the seafront cycling lanes and don’t be tempted to follow the road along the coast to Howth, like I nearly did.
Once your on the cycle lane you are on the home straight. It’s about 10km of (nearly) uninterrupted cycle path the whole way to Clontarf. This is the start and finish for most but only the halfway point for me.
For me, I just turned around and cycled back the way I came until I got to Blakes Cross. There is a slight deviation here from the way down. After blakes cross you will veer right onto quieter roads the whole way to Rush. You then follow the coast north until you rejoin the route in skerries. The road gets increasingly busy the closer you get to Skerries.
After that it was an easy spin all the way back to Annagassan.
Wrap up
I hope this information helps you if you are trying to decide whether or not to do the North Leinster Riviera. Just remember that I started from the north side. You will more than likely start from the south side
I really enjoyed this route. It was the first time I did an out and back Audax and it was a nice change to see the same places from two different angles. There was very little in the way of hills. Just some slight rises but I never had to get out of the saddle.
I was also surprised at how nice the shoreline is from Skerries to Clontarf. I simply didn’t know it was like that.
Yet again I’ve discovered a little bit more of Ireland that I never knew, thanks to Audax Ireland.