Cycling the Grand Canal

Feebar

Hey
Just wanted to report that a friend and I just had a terrific 3-day cycle - only as far as Tullamore, mind you - rain and carousing slowed play - but wanted to say that it is do-able the whole way, bar one tiny stretch near Clondalkin for which you have to go a short way on the Nangor Road, but you pick up again in Clondalkin village.

The council have done amazing work as far as Lucan; it looks very Dutch and modern European in west Dublin and if you're worried, as I was, about getting a bit of hassle from messers, they have installed cctv and big-brother-style tannoys and the idea is that it's 'constantly' monitored. We went the day after the kids finished school, so I think they were all still in bed, in any case everyone was really friendly, the whole way along.

Ideally use a mountain bike, there are extended stretches where there isn't really a track, and the towpath is just a grassy surface. Also, it might well be problematic to cycle it on your own, because many of the stiles are too narrow to get a bike with saddlebags through - we had to help each other lift the bike - apparently this is being changed as it's EU regulations that each stile should be the width of a wheelchair, so that's good, and every so often (esp round Lowtown where the Irish Waterways Assoc head is in a wheelchair) you'll get through no bother. But it is a pain in the ass - we probably had to do that 20 times in total.

But it was spectacularly beautiful for long stretches, we stopped in Sallins and Rhode, great fun in both, and Digans is a great pub in Tullamore with loads of space to stash the bikes out the back while you have a spectacular pint inside... If anyone needs to know anything else that i've left out just ask. Definitely get yourself some cycling shorts and maybe gloves if you can run to them - it's easy on the legs but it's bumpy...

Oink

Great post. Certainly sounds like a fantastic idea! I'll keep it on file in a filing cabinet, might be a plan for the summer...:)

Feebar

thanks! by the way, we used hybrids, so it is possible, but a bit painful, to do so

serendip

Thanks for the report.

Any pics?

Feebar

just added a few to whet appetites. Didn't take a picture (why?!) of the traveller waist-deep in the canal washing his beautiful white pony's tail with a bottle of Fairy...

keenan110

Feebar wrote: »

The council have done amazing work as far as Lucan; it looks very Dutch and modern European in west Dublin and if you're worried, as I was, about getting a bit of hassle from messers, they have installed cctv and big-brother-style tannoys and the idea is that it's 'constantly' monitored.

There was an article in The Irish Times today about this-here.

'68 Fastback

Hey Feebar,

That trip sounds pretty nice. Did you camp along the way or did you have accommodation booked in advance?

feck sake lads

Feebar wrote: »

just added a few to whet appetites. Didn't take a picture (why?!) of the traveller waist-deep in the canal washing his beautiful white pony's tail with a bottle of Fairy...

ah great pic's tell me is it possible to camp along the route,how many day's/miles in total did you do and is it possible to go much further.
i would like to have a bash at that looks fantastic.

Feebar

well, we had a tent with us and planned to camp both nights, but turned out my co-canaller had a friend in Sallins so we stayed with him - just as well as it turned out, though it was a beautiful balmy evening there was a thunderstorm that night and we woke up to heavy rain on the bank holiday sunday, so sat in the pub reading the sunday papers till two, which was the earliest we could've set off (note: 9 hours cycle from Sallins to Rhode, if you stop for picnic tea). Camped the second night in a field in Rhode, pitched in a large clump of nettles in the dark! So it was 'wild camping' - no facilities bar the odd stand pipes by the live-aboard canal boats to refill water bottles. Original plan was to go as far as Ballinasloe, which would have been another day at least. I'd like to have made it as far as Shannon Harbour. The other alternatives are the Royal Canal, the whole way to Carrick on Shannon - which I'd love to do - i've done the train ride which runs alongside, it's exquisite - and the Barrow Way, which goes past Craignamanagh (apologies for bad spelling) is supposedly wonderfully beautiful, through Kilkenny. Plan to tackle both of these over the summer - the great thing is that you just throw the bikes on the train on the way back - apparently you're meant to pay extra but we just smiled sweetly with our best 'really?' faces...

Feebar

sorry, make that 7 hours sallins-rhode (at our pace, which involved a fair bit of stopping for the view)

Feebar

I think it was 120km in total (dun laoghaire - tullamore)

keenan110

feck sake lads wrote: »

ah great pic's tell me is it possible to camp along the route,how many day's/miles in total did you do and is it possible to go much further.
i would like to have a bash at that looks fantastic.

According to this book it would take 4 days to do the whole thing from Dublin to Limerick, 252km in total, so thats only about 60km a day. The author of the book talks about wild camping every night near the canal, becasue i don't think there are any campsites along the route.

feck sake lads

thanks for that isn't it a pity there's no campsites along this route (or is there) but if it's cycle able it would be a great tour all the way to the shannon,.
i would imagine the grassy sections would be next to impossible to cycle if it was raining :mad:
thanks again.

keenan110

Well according to that book it say'a that even after heavy rainfall the paths were still fairly solid,and he did it on 32mm tyres!

Feebar

According to this book it would take 4 days to do the whole thing from Dublin to Limerick, 252km in total...

cracking - thanks for this - cheap home holidays, way to go!

feck sake lads

keenan110 wrote: »

According to this book it would take 4 days to do the whole thing from Dublin to Limerick, 252km in total, so thats only about 60km a day. The author of the book talks about wild camping every night near the canal, becasue i don't think there are any campsites along the route.

i actually bough that same book but never got to read it yet must have a look tonight.

dogmatix

Despite the article in the Irish Times, the Kylemore section was still closed and blocked off as of Wednesday last. According to a sign at the site, this section will be open on August 31st.

Unfortunately the new path has already led to noticeable increase in anti-social behaviour, at least around Parkwest. Hopefully this will settle down in time - but only if CCTV cameras are actually going to be used.

Harrybelafonte

Sounds great. What kind of anti-social behaviour are we talking about?

dogmatix

A local resident was mugged with a knife, a few stonings, and I nearly rammed (accidentally) a huge Rottweiler a few days ago (of course the skangers who owned it had it neither muzzeled or on a lead). I've also encountered scrambler bikes, ponies and ponies and traps - the very things I assumed the gates would prevent.

The new path and the weather has brought the skangers out onto the canal in significant numbers - and it appears that the CCTV are not having much of a deterrent. I'm hoping that it is still early days yet and things will settle down in a few weeks/months but I suspect (and hope I am wrong) that no one will be bothered monitoring the CCTV cameras to prevent anti-social activity.

And the gates are poorly designed and situated in some cases. At the Killeen road for example you must pass through two sets of gates if you want to join the path from the main road.

BTW - The Kylemore road section is currently open as there is a temporary access route to the underpass. So in effect the whole path is usable from the lock road into the city.

treade1

Can you confirm that if I join the path at Inchicore this evening I will be able to cycle all the way to Grangecastle? I tried it last Wednesday and there was no sign of a temporary underpass while the ramp that is due to open on August 31st is being finished.

dogmatix

Yes - I went from the Tyrconnell road section all the way to Parkwest last night and there is a single-lane path access under the Kylemore road.

treade1

Yes I cycled in all the way from Grangecastle to Inchicore this morning. It is an excellent path. The gates are a real pity. I think I had to dismount 8 times in total to go through each gate. It is very frustrating.

Tails142

dogmatix wrote: »

A local resident was mugged with a knife, a few stonings, and I nearly rammed (accidentally) a huge Rottweiler a few days ago (of course the skangers who owned it had it neither muzzeled or on a lead). I've also encountered scrambler bikes, ponies and ponies and traps - the very things I assumed the gates would prevent.

The new path and the weather has brought the skangers out onto the canal in significant numbers - and it appears that the CCTV are not having much of a deterrent. I'm hoping that it is still early days yet and things will settle down in a few weeks/months but I suspect (and hope I am wrong) that no one will be bothered monitoring the CCTV cameras to prevent anti-social activity.

What you will probably find is that this type of anti-social behaviour has always been going on but that you never went down by the canal to see it.

Hopefully they will be driven out and go somewhere else.

Hondo75

Anyone been out this year. Got about half mile past the end of track, about 20mins from Hazelhatch, muddy in places but can be done.
A few dry days might help..

Step23

I cycled from Lucan to Robertstown today along the canal. The track was fairly dry and with a few detours I managed 70km in 4 hours. Im thinking of aiming for Tullamore in one day someday soon.

jismith

Cycled from Hazelhatch to Straffan along the canal this morning, nice easy cycle. I'm planning on cycling the full length of the Grand Canal from Grand Canal Dock to Shannon Harbour at the end of the month, I hope it's good all the way. I'll post back here once I have it done. I hope to do it between 7-8 hours, hope that is

KieranO

Cycled from Dublin to Shannon Harbour on 13/09/13, joining the canal at Portabello. According to Strava that was 131km and it took 7 hours and 14 mins, at an average speed of 18.3km per hour. That time doesn't include breaks.

It's all very navigable, a mixture of road, gravel, towpath and grass, but you can stay next to the canal all the way.

A few things to note. The canal splits at Robertstown, left for the Barrow line, and right for the Shannon line. You want to take the right.

Other than that you just need to make sure you are going down the correct side of the canal. For the most part its signposted which side to go, but do keep an eye out for the signs at every bridge, even if it seems obvious which side you should be on, as the path can come to a sudden stop.

Páid

Any punctures? I read on here somewhere that one guy had 11 punctures.

Link to Strava?

KieranO

No punctures, but I was on tubeless Rocket Rons. Nothing on the terrain that was too controversial that should cause 11 punctures, some patches of stones/gravel, but nothing else.

Had to swap phone batteries about an hour short of the finish line, so two Strava links, don't think there's a way to merge them,
http://www.strava.com/activities/82167418
http://www.strava.com/activities/82183328

Páid

KieranO wrote: »

Had to swap phone batteries about an hour short of the finish line, so two Strava links, don't think there's a way to merge them,
http://www.strava.com/activities/82167418
http://www.strava.com/activities/82183328

If you have the two GPX's you could merge them into one. They are just text files but you need to know what you're doing.

Headdy

KieranO wrote: »

Cycled from Dublin to Shannon Harbour on 13/09/13, joining the canal at Portabello. According to Strava that was 131km and it took 7 hours and 14 mins, at an average speed of 18.3km per hour. That time doesn't include breaks.

It's all very navigable, a mixture of road, gravel, towpath and grass, but you can stay next to the canal all the way.

Hi KieranO

What type / model of bike did you use?

lamaq

I also cycled the Grand Canal this year with similar times to KieranO, I used a hybrid Giant Escape 1 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2013.giant.escape.1/11838/58056/

Didn't have any punctures but a couple of things to note:
- Mostly the surface is tough on your hands, use gel cushioned gloves.
- Just before Robertstown I went on the wrong side and this took a lot of time and effort.

I would recommend using Open Street Map to check if in doubt, if you have an Android smartphone then you can use OSMAND for offline use.

KieranO

I used a 2009 Cube Ltd Race Pro, that's showing it's age, but I'd just got a new chainset so it was running fairly smoothly. It's a hardtail mountain bike, and I'd recommend front suspension for the reason Iamaq mentions above.

Joshea79

Hi folks,

Just wondering what camping is like along the Grand Canal way. Will be starting from Lucan. I'm walking, but there seems to be more updated info on this thread, and was pointed in this direction.

Thank you for any help forthcoming.

iboard

Hello all,
I'm here on a temp relocation assignment from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Just cycled the Grand Canal from Dublin to Shannon Harbour and back. Left Dublin at around noon Sat Jul 25th, spent the night at a B&B in Banagher (no occupancy in Shannon Harbour) and cycled back Sunday.
I went at it solo, looking for some peace. I took my Focus cyclocross, a spare tube, a rain jacket, and my wallet. Nothing else. No major incidents on the road. I stopped at the Village at Lyons for lunch (posh place in Ardhclough. Met a couple from Vancouver, Canada walking towards Dublin near Sallins. I also met 2 cyclist from Ontario, Canda (believe it or not!) cycling towards Dublin in Edenderry. I saw countless people fishing, 2 or 3 tents, and lots of people walking their dogs. I'm assuming they were somewhere local to where I saw them.
I stopped for a pizza in Edenderry and drank me 2 pints in Tullamore. I worried about getting there with enough daylight, so had to push the pace the last 30 or so kilometers. As I arrived in Shannon Harbour I punched the air with my fist, as if I had just won the Tour de France.
The weather was spectacular on Saturday. Ireland is a beautiful country and you can see it better from a bike than from a car. All the docks and bridges are amazing and well preserved. The towns were neat, the fields were amazing, the livestock, the sky, the canal itself full with life. Everyone I met was very friendly.
I knew I was in trouble when I woke to the sound of rain Sunday morning. I ate breakfast, filled my water bottle and headed back. The pouring rain made me change plans and came back on the road. Got to Lucan at around 5:30 pm, dead tired and shivering from the rain.
It was a peaceful journey on the way there, but I'm taking a piece of the Grand Canal with me forever.

ishotjr2

Hi

I set off on Wednesday 25th October from Shannon Harbour at 14:30 and arrived in Tullamore around 17:30 and stayed in the Central hotel. I set off again at 9:00 the following day and arrived at 17:00 in Sallins.

Thoroughly enjoyed the cycle. You may be wondering why it took me so long, well, I have barely cycled anywhere for the last 15 years but I would be average or slightly above average fit as I do a lot of Hiking. I did it in a Hybrid with about 25Kg of gear. It was slow going around Edenderry as there was a lot of wet grass after being mowed. I would have to think that a mountain bike would make a better fist of it but it is possible for a complete novice to complete it on a Hybrid.

Autumn was a great season to do it I thought because of all the color. I met very few people and it was a great way to have a safe cycle and enjoy some nature. I did not get any punctures.

smacl

Possibly worth noting a number of sections of the Grand Canal between Dublin and Sallins are closed at present. According to the people I was talking to, all the unpaved sections are being given a crushed gravel surface, which is due to be in place by January. I had to divert at Hazelhatch and get back on after Lyons Estate, but the closures are moving around.

Thargor

All the unpaved sections as in the 50+ km of grass paths you mean? Hope they dont make it unusable in doing so, I was on a MTB doing it and some of that crushed gravel I saw was very dodgy, the kind that can yank your steering 45 degress into the canal kind I mean. If its properly laid and flattened it can be nice though, seems to be the very old stuff that eventually turns nice, it weathers to powder on top and slowly settles into flat hardpacked surface, the new stuff can be horrible.

smacl

Thargor wrote: »

All the unpaved sections as in the 50+ km of grass paths you mean? Hope they dont make it unusable in doing so, I was on a MTB doing it and some of that crushed gravel I saw was very dodgy, the kind that can yank your steering 45 degress into the canal kind I mean. If its properly laid and flattened it can be nice though, seems to be the very old stuff that eventually turns nice, it weathers to powder on top and slowly settles into flat hardpacked surface, the new stuff can be horrible.

According to the guy I was talking to, he said it would be a smooth surface suitable for cycling, similar to the greenway. At as guess they but a layer of hardcore down first and then add and roll the finer gravel as a finishing layer. Time will tell.

Thargor

Interesting thanks, it will be a great ride if they put a track all the way.

SCOL

I'm planning on cycling the Grand Canal next week, I done the Royal last year.

Is the pathway clear all the way I assume the path will be the same as the Royal or is there anything I should watch out for ?

I'll be camping hopefully only one night is there and Pub's / Restaurants along route ?

ishotjr2

Less pubs than I expected, you can pop in to the Tullamore Dew Distillery.
Dangean looked like a nice place to stop for a pint.
Had a few pints in Sallins/Roberstown which was grand.

I hope the weather is with you

I did it on a Hybrid, do it on a Moutain bike and follow the signs for the walk way.
Around Edenderry if its wet was hard going.

There was a lovely spot to camp between Tullamore and Shannon Bridge in the bog, it was a bird sanctuary with a draw bridge corssing the canal, very peaceful.

But bring some insect repellent just in case.

poochiem

ishotjr2 wrote: »

Less pubs than I expected, you can pop in to the Tullamore Dew Distillery.
Dangean looked like a nice place to stop for a pint.
Had a few pints in Sallins/Roberstown which was grand.

I hope the weather is with you

I did it on a Hybrid, do it on a Moutain bike and follow the signs for the walk way.
Around Edenderry if its wet was hard going.

There was a lovely spot to camp between Tullamore and Shannon Bridge in the bog, it was a bird sanctuary with a draw bridge corssing the canal, very peaceful.

But bring some insect repellent just in case.

^good info^ I stopped in Daingean in a pub opposite the church. I just pitched up on the bank near Daingean as it's grassy, wide and you won't meet anyone all night. I managed it on a cyclocross around halloween so it's possibly better underfoot right now.

SCOL

I'll be doing it on a Hybrid bike also. Where about is Daingean pub ? If coming from Dublin what town is it after ? or probably built beside the canal so can't miss it.

poochiem

No, Daingean is a couple of Km off a bridge that crosses the canal. The village is on Google Maps.

blobbie

SCOL wrote: »

I'll be doing it on a Hybrid bike also. Where about is Daingean pub ? If coming from Dublin what town is it after ? or probably built beside the canal so can't miss it.

The stretch into Daingean from Killeen Bridge (east of Daingean) was closed for upgrade at the end of May as per http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=99866603&postcount=202 . Could be reopened by now but if not just go to southside of canal and head west.

It will be hard to miss Daingean. Cross the bridge just after Castle Barna golf club or (as per above) you will be diverted to the edge of town if the tow path is still being upgraded. https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Daingean,+Co.+Offaly/@53.2975516,-7.2913717,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x485da2870a8fcf69:0xa00c7a99731f980!8m2!3d53.2960818!4d-7.291967

The XL shop up the town does a good all day breakfast roll :-)

blueballfc

blobbie wrote: »

The stretch into Daingean from Killeen Bridge (east of Daingean) was closed for upgrade at the end of May as per http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=99866603&postcount=202 . Could be reopened by now but if not just go to southside of canal and head west.

It will be hard to miss Daingean. Cross the bridge just after Castle Barna golf club or (as per above) you will be diverted to the edge of town if the tow path is still being upgraded. https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Daingean,+Co.+Offaly/@53.2975516,-7.2913717,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x485da2870a8fcf69:0xa00c7a99731f980!8m2!3d53.2960818!4d-7.291967

The XL shop up the town does a good all day breakfast roll :-)

Anyone know has there been any upgrades since 2016 ? I know the surface is good from town all the way to adamstown, from there to hazelhatch not great and almost up to sallins not bad. Any update further west ?
Was think of doing Lucan to tullamore have a cx bike just wonder would I be able to get across on it ?