Tag Archives: tolka

Big Sunday Expedition

Big three hour hike down the Tolka, into Finglas (technically) and then back again. It’s an amazing mucky, hidden treasure, although not without its perils. At this point we ran into some scrambler riders, determined to blast across the stream. They did not. The first one got halfway across, got stuck, and fell over into the stream. They gave up, possibly from embarrassment. Why noöne makes any effort to stop this is always beyond me; they make the trail dangerous and unusable for anyone else.

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Moar mud

More cyclocross. Those tyres earned their keep today! I went for it, all the mud! It was raining a bit, it was very wet out, I was able to take my usual route by the Tolka, still walked the tricky bit, still need to get confidence. A shorter circuit than usual although I was pretty wrecked by the end. Also, the seatpost is still slipping so I need to figure that out. I saw a Buzzard get mobbed by crows! That was spectacular. Me, at home: Uhh, there’s a speck of dirt on this spoon, all the cutlery must be boil washed in the dishwasher Me, on the trail: Let me sup delicious water from this nipple caked in mud and shit and worse

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Sunday cycle

Another Sunday spin, on a lovely day and with some interesting route changes forced by the closure of a bridge over the Tolka. Second time here in a day, in the morning I was here with the child and it luckily let me scope out the alternative route on the North side of the Tolka. A little risky, it’s also used by scramblers and isn’t a path, just a de facto trail through the trees, and I don’t know it so well. Look at that, I’ve even re-used a photo from this morning’s walk, because it is the same place! But the light wasn’t as good later on. On the other side of that fence is Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown on one side, and the National Sports Campus on the other. It is a shame in a way that some link-up can’t be done for walkers and cyclists here but security for both places is tight, probably with good reason. So, there it was. The big deal was the combination of the new offroad route and of course the new tyres. The change in the clock really messed with me this year, I couldn’t get my head around it. Also, the […]

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A walk by the Tolka

We had a wander down by the Tolka on Sunday morning, on the side that’s a bit harder to reach and a little scary, but rewarding for the brave. This was thanks to building works on the bridge which meant that it was closed, so we had to improvise. The light was beautiful, I wish we could have stayed out for longer.

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Back on the bike and into the mud

Haven’t been out on the bike in ages, that was good. It was mucky and a bit slippery but good to be out and somehow some skills improved? Maybe just from not knowing what I think I shouldn’t be able to do. Wrecked now, though. I went via the Tolka river trail, which is a slippery, mucky mess at the moment, then to a little wood beside the Fingal golf course, then the canal, to the Phoenix park.

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I try to go for a morning walk before work, if I have time, in the nearby parks. This morning I managed to get up early enough to not only log out of my official Twitter apps, but to do 20 minutes of a HIIT Fitness Blender routine before I ran out of steam and then go for a walk in the woods. The photos are from Wednesday, in the same area.