Cycling the Grand Canal

gzoladz

gzoladz wrote: »

Thanks, that location would be perfect! I will check it.

Lovely little village Daingean! (but I didn't stay there at the end).

I cycled Dublin - Tullamore yesterday and going on to Ballinasloe today.

First leg was 99.5km. It got hard due to persistent 30km/h wind against me and some very soft surfaces in some parts.

9.5 hrs door to door, which included a few stops for lunch, coffee, etc.

Thargor

What was the bike you used? How were the surfaces you were cycling on? Im going doing Tullamore to Dublin any day now but even the 10km to the shops and back I do on my ancient mountain bike is hard work, not sure about a century on grass with it but I suppose I can brake it up into chunks.

blobbie

Some updates here https://www.facebook.com/Rycgz?fref=ts

gzoladz

Thanks blobbie for posting the link.

Thargor, it is an hybrid with hub gears. The surface varied from excellent to uncycleable (grass, mud, stones, etc). One thing I did well this time was to research the route in advance and take a few small detours to avoid the worse parts. It is alsoma nice break away the Canal and you get to see nice little towns and meet people on the way.

The trip can be hard on the bike so I would strongly recommend that whatever you use be in very good condition. I was lucky enough not to get even a puncture.

gzoladz

Forgot, the second leg were 70km in total. Luckily almost no wind. The surface was a bit better although I still get the mix of mud, pebble, stones, etc in the 35km from Tullamore to Shannon harbour. However from there on to Ballinasloe was on the road.

SCOL

I've orginased a week off next month and hoping to set off on my bike along the Royal canal. Never done a cycling holiday before !! so tent and sleeping bag on the carrier of a hybred bike and see how I get on.

Can anyone give me any advise ? starting off at Mountjoy.

smacl

SCOL wrote: »

I've orginased a week off next month and hoping to set off on my bike along the Royal canal. Never done a cycling holiday before !! so tent and sleeping bag on the carrier of a hybred bike and see how I get on.

Can anyone give me any advise ? starting off at Mountjoy.

I did the Dublin Mullingar section over the Winter and found the bit after Ashtown (Deep Sinking) pretty nerve-racking, albeit it was wet and windy at the time. On a loaded bike, I'd either skip this section, or be prepared to get off for some of the worse sections,

Thargor

Nerve racking how?

Mec-a-nic

Thargor wrote: »

Nerve racking how?

The bit west of Ashtown, past Coolmine station and before the Porterstown Road, is one of my favourite MTB trails in the city - it gets to be a narrow (2foot?), packed earth trail with exposed roots, right beside a 20foot drop into the canal with sheer rock sides... wouldn't be nice at all in the dark or if wet.

This is a photo of the wide start of it

OldBean

Re; Deep Sinking...

It's thin, bumpy, slippy and strewn with rocks and trees. Oh, and there's a rocky drop into the canal.

I've done it on a road bike, not for the feint of heart, it'd be a much nicer 15 minute walk than an 8 minute cycle.

Make sure you have a pump, tubes, wide enough tyres and mudguards. And carry a spare folding tyre if possible. It's thorny out there, I wrecked a tyre (along with all my tubes) on the Grand and had a 8km walk to a bike shop.

Thargor

Ah right I didnt think it got that mountain bike-y, Im skipping the roadbike anyway, managed to give my banger mountain bike a really good service the other day and got all the gears working perfectly and the bottom bracket tightened up so Ill be using that instead.

Were you going flat out when you wrecked your tyre or are you practically guaranteed to get a flat doing the 100k from Tullamore?

OldBean

Deep Sinking is probably the most mountain bike necessary part in the first 50/60km. I've been quite a ways out on a road/touring bike with 28's and a gravel friendly thread. It felt pretty comfortable, if I was doing it again, I'd think about 32's with a bit more grip.

Not going that fast, probably 18km or so. It was on a flat grassy section, a thorny branch which had fallen into the grass got stuck through the sidewall. Went through a few tubes trying to get it back together, but in the end it was game over for me. Wouldn't say you're guaranteed, but there's plenty out there to do damage to your tyre, and you could be quite a ways from a bike shop.

That said, it's beautiful on both canals.

smacl

Thargor wrote: »

Nerve racking how?

This is one end, the fence ends after about 50 metres, it gets narrower, lots of tree roots, and the bank / path is collapsed in several locations with a steep drop to the water. I cycled it all on the way out but lost my nerve a bit on the way back and pushed the bike over the worst bits. As Oldbean has said, for the sake of 10 minutes, unless you are a keen off roader, pushing is the sensible option.



If you didn't catch it, Dick Warner's series on the canals would make a lovely prelude to your journey, and he talks about deep sinking here far better than I ever could;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEEz7BgBuQs

SCOL

I have 3 days thinking of maybe getting to Mullingar / Ballymahon the first day making my way from there to Athlone to get onto the Grand and home.

What's the best way to get from the Royal to the Grand ? would Mullingar be a better option ?

Carawaystick

I'd say Mullingar, along the canal to Balinea
then Castletown Geoghan (maybe on the greenway if its open - opening in July apparently) Kilbeggan, Tullamore.

Or if the Greenway is built, follow it to Moate. then take the R444 towards Clonmacnoise and the N62 to Ferbane

Thargor

How do you know which side of the canal to be on if cycling from Tullamore to Dublin on the grand canal? Stick to the left same as the road or is it signposted?

Moreilly

Thargor wrote: »

How do you know which side of the canal to be on if cycling from Tullamore to Dublin on the grand canal? Stick to the left same as the road or is it signposted?

i think usually there is small black posts indicating a walkway, but you dont stick to the left (as the left is opposite sides depending on direction of travel!). ive done a fair bit of this route and usually it is fairly obvious which side of the canal to cycle when you come to a bridge ect just by a quick glance at the bank, it's a great spin with varied secnery

SCOL

I cycled from Dublin to Mullingar. Overnight in a tent a great trip.

Thargor

I did Tullamore to Dublin today, some pics here, glad I did it but a hard auld slog back to Dublin especially for the first half.

Red Kev

SCOL wrote: »

I have 3 days thinking of maybe getting to Mullingar / Ballymahon the first day making my way from there to Athlone to get onto the Grand and home.

What's the best way to get from the Royal to the Grand ? would Mullingar be a better option ?

You can go direct on backroads from Ballymahon to Shannon Harbour, or via Athlone. If going via Athlone its best to take backroads through Roscommon to Shannonbridge as the Athlone-Ballynahown road is narrow and busy.

Thargor wrote: »

How do you know which side of the canal to be on if cycling from Tullamore to Dublin on the grand canal? Stick to the left same as the road or is it signposted?

Its mostly to the north of the canal on this stretch. Every bridge is signposted as to which side you should be on. It's adviseable to follow these signs even if the other side looks better as the other side can end in a dead end or an impassable stretch.

Moreilly

Thargor wrote: »

I did Tullamore to Dublin today, some pics here, glad I did it but a hard auld slog back to Dublin especially for the first half.

would agree with you on the stretch from tullamore to lowtown, most of it from tullamore to carbury is a long grassy slog, its a nice spin from lowtown into naas though, seen your pics, very nice, you would have passed my front door !, i live close to the 'bridge' on your 6'th photo ( it was used to rase and lower tracks to allow loco's from the bog to cross the canal

Thargor

Oh really? Some nice cottages along the way alright, if you value peace and quite there must be nowhere better to buy a house, its basically totally silent until you get to Kildare.

SCOL

I done Dublin to Mullingar last week. I am hoping to go back to Mullingar and complete it to Longford.

Is the Longford branch open and are you able to cycle it ?

poochiem

SCOL wrote: »

I done Dublin to Mullingar last week. I am hoping to go back to Mullingar and complete it to Longford.

Is the Longford branch open and are you able to cycle it ?

Did you camp in the site down at the lake or just wild along the canal? I've only been that far so can't say what the route is like to Longford.

SCOL

Wild camping just before hill of down. I got a soft wheel so decided so stop at that point.
Looking forward to finishing it hopefully in a few week time.

Red Kev

SCOL wrote: »

I done Dublin to Mullingar last week. I am hoping to go back to Mullingar and complete it to Longford.

Is the Longford branch open and are you able to cycle it ?

Tar cycle path all the way into Longford. Accessible from the bridge on the N63 beside Killashee. It brings you into the old canal docks, though there's little or nothing of them left now, it's all filled in.

You can wild camp essentially anywhere along the canals, did it a few times myself and never had an issue.

SCOL

It's very quiet as it was a Monday night I camped, maybe on the weekends there might be more people. I camped in a corner of a field beside the Canal sheltered from the wind the Train woke me early but I went back asleep the phone woke we at 8.30 !!! I probably would have sleept until about 10.00

I might bring the tent for the next leg to Longford and maybe make my back to Dublin.

Red Kev

It's only about 4 km extra to cycle to Cloondara and then into Longford, at least you can say you di the whole thing. Nice hard track along the canal to Cloondara as well.

There's a pub there for a pint, or keep going to Tarmonbarry where there's a couple of excellent pub grub places.

Thargor

Is the Royal Canal fully cycleable from Mulingar the way the Grand is from Tullamore? Is it harder/easier does anyone know? By easier I mean is more of it surfaced because I want to do it but don't think I could take the grass paths like the ones on the Grand again...

gzoladz

I did the Grand this year from Dublin to Ballinasloe via Shannon Harbour and the Royal last year from Dublin to Cloondara. Both are fully cycleable.

One recomendation is... There may be no need to stick 100% to the towpaths. There are parts where the surface is very poor and a small detour via a local village makes a nice change.

I put a fb page with reports of both trips and some interesting links, any question ask.

https://m.facebook.com/Rycgz