Royal Canal on a Road Bike

TooObvious

North of Ballymahon to Mullingar on the Royal Canal is no problem on a road bike

KevRossi

All of the route from Ballymahon - Mullingar - Athlone is on a purpose built Greenway, some is tar, some is Limestone sand.

Took this route before from Athlone to Ballymahon, it's got a couple of hills but is quieter than the often fast and busy N55.

https://www.google.ie/maps/dir/53.4231609,-7.9347204/Ballymahon,+Co.+Longford/53.5751281,-7.7634958/@53.5752714,-7.7634882,16z/data=!4m15!4m14!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-7.8833933!2d53.5056835!3s0x485c35c72fc7d139:0xed35ee3d90028eb0!1m5!1m1!1s0x485dcb652dd74433:0xa00c7a997317610!2m2!1d-7.7645964!2d53.5643632!1m0!3e1

Food and drink available near the route in Ballymahon, (pub in Abbeyshrule), Ballinacarrigy, Mullingar (or Ballinea if not going into Miullingar) and Moate.

blueballfc

From royal instagram page looks like greenway between ferrans and kilcock is open again

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXFx2bBiwl

and good progress from Cloncurry
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXELTRpS7L/

mr spuckler

KevRossi wrote: »

All of the route from Ballymahon - Mullingar - Athlone is on a purpose built Greenway, some is tar, some is Limestone sand.

Took this route before from Athlone to Ballymahon, it's got a couple of hills but is quieter than the often fast and busy N55.

https://www.google.ie/maps/dir/53.4231609,-7.9347204/Ballymahon,+Co.+Longford/53.5751281,-7.7634958/@53.5752714,-7.7634882,16z/data=!4m15!4m14!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-7.8833933!2d53.5056835!3s0x485c35c72fc7d139:0xed35ee3d90028eb0!1m5!1m1!1s0x485dcb652dd74433:0xa00c7a997317610!2m2!1d-7.7645964!2d53.5643632!1m0!3e1

Food and drink available near the route in Ballymahon, (pub in Abbeyshrule), Ballinacarrigy, Mullingar (or Ballinea if not going into Miullingar) and Moate.

thanks. if I manage to get out this weekend it'll be early on Saturday morning, hopefully before traffic would get in any way busy. if it feels busier than I expect I might hit those back roads alright.

Mercian Pro

blueballfc wrote: »

From royal instagram page looks like greenway between ferrans and kilcock is open again

and good progress from Cloncurry

Was in touch with the Grand Canal Greenway FB page and they are still being told by Waterways Ireland that it will be June before Cloncurry to Ferrans is open. At Moyvalley they seem to be waiting for the steel ramp to be delivered and fitted before finishing off the paving.

Looking forward to both being finished and hopefully doing Dublin - Cloondara - Longford before too long.

devonp

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Was in touch with the Grand Canal Greenway FB page and they are still being told by Waterways Ireland that it will be June before Cloncurry to Ferrans is open. At Moyvalley they seem to be waiting for the steel ramp to be delivered and fitted before finishing off the paving.

Looking forward to both being finished and hopefully doing Dublin - Cloondara - Longford before too long.

^ on my bucket list as well

Thargor

When a section is closed can you still access it or is it properly fenced off?

mloc123

Thargor wrote: »

When a section is closed can you still access it or is it properly fenced off?

When the section from Kilcock was fenced off... I managed to climb around, not easily but possible

devonp

morning spin with herself to Ferran's lock from Confey, barrier after Goff bridge now gone but the gravel is fairly chunky after for a while (presume its a first dressing?)
we took a bit of the rd because the grass/track is rough:D!!
brought the new Boardman CXR8.9 but didn't get to try it out as it was in use:D


great day, nice and warm

Mercian Pro

positron wrote: »

......
Headed south from there, and looked up how to get Royal Canal way and decided to go to Enfeild via Dunsany, Batterjohn (lol, have to look up the etymology, must be interesting), Summerhill, Baconstown etc - lovely roads most of the way.

Grabbed some lunch at Supervalue there and got on the Royal Canal way heading towards Dublin. First couple of kilometers were pristine brand new tarmac and I was thinking this is amazing... when cyclist coming the other way waved me down and said it's blocked further up (Thanks Richard). But being the stubborn person that I am I kept thinking "but someone on boards said they have done the whole way". I went ahead and slipped past the barricades that clearly said "Entry strictly prohibited" and of course there was 2 inch size boulders where the path is getting built.



At this stage I had to take an important phone call so I walked for about 2-3kms while on phone, and then struggled to ride on it for 3-4k, it might be doable with MTBs but definitely not advisable on road bikes, but no one is supposed to be on it anyway. Work is in progress, and it will be beautiful when finished - it goes thru some nice wooded areas etc. At the far end of the roadworks it was blocked up proper like fort knox. Had to jump over the lowest section pulling the bike over the fence etc. A few k down further I see Richard, who like a sane person, followed the warnings and instructions, took the road and got there much quicker than me - although he said the road was very narrow and had a few close passes. Rest of the Royal Canal was a mix of nice paved surface to loose grit to just grass where you have to try and stick to a 6 inch wide track... It was beautiful - Kilkock & Maynooth looked fantastic, but there were also stretches were it was a bit featureless and boring.

As I got to Coolmine, after riding a section of "deep sinking", narrow tracks and exposed tree roots where going was a bit tough (for me), and also because the path ahead from Coolmine said no bikes, I went back on the road and headed to Blanchardstown.....

Interesting part-post from another thread on the current condition of the Cloncurry to Ferrans section. Nice photo too of the stretch through the woodland.

KevRossi

Took the train to Sligo yesterday.

Section from Ferrans to Cloncurry has rough core as far as the house in the photo a few posts up, then tar to the next bridge and limestone sand to Enfield. Looks like it needs gravel and then tar to finish it off.

Hard to see at Moyvalley, but foundation posts are in there for the ramp.

I would think that it will definitely be open some time in June.

munsterbear

Hoping to cycle from Lucan to Athlone, stay the night and cycle back the next day.

Is the only dodgy patch the hard core bit near Leixlip? Was grand today on MTB. But wouldn't take road bike on it.

Does the canal meet the Mullingar greenway or do you do section on road?

devonp

did Leixlip to Fuery's today on the new bike, a Boardman CXR 8.9(so not technically a road bike), all grand until Ferrans Lock where its grass track until Cloncurry Bridge ( i stayed on the south side) other side has some butter smooth looking tarmac from that house back to the bridge , from the house going east is being worked on looks like course gravel ) a bit of that also west of Goff bridge(intel) maybe 500m ?

did miss the suspension of the hardtail MTB on the rough stuff but the CXR def lighter


https://www.strava.com/activities/2310759172

mr spuckler

I managed to follow through on my planned cycle and did the canal section from the N55 north of Ballymahon as far as Mullingar on Saturday morning, around 32km iirc.
foggy at first, especially on the road from Athlone to Ballymahon! equally so on the canal itself but that burned off after a while and made for a really enjoyable and relaxing cycle. my lack of fitness was the main inhibitor tbh...

I met a couple of people in cruisers knocking along as well as 2 fellas in a barge waiting for a lock to fill plus loads of dog walkers, a couple camping etc. everyone very friendly only served to lighten my mood further.
slight gripe about signage as it directed me straight on at one point on the right hand side of the canal, which required an about turn maybe 500m later, to go back and cross onto the left side.

then onto the old rail trail from Mullingar back to Athlone for 101.5km, a cracking morning out tbh.

mr spuckler

munsterbear wrote: »

Hoping to cycle from Lucan to Athlone, stay the night and cycle back the next day.

Is the only dodgy patch the hard core bit near Leixlip? Was grand today on MTB. But wouldn't take road bike on it.

Does the canal meet the Mullingar greenway or do you do section on road?

others will have more current updates on the sections before Moyvalley, from above you definitely can't cycle all the way from Maynooth to Moyvalley as yet anyway.

at Mullingar you can follow the canal in a loop right around the town to the west side where it then joins with the old rail trail to Athlone. there's good signage there tbh so should be fine. I think on that loop around Mullingar there's one point where you've to come up a ramp and cross a main road then back down the ramp on the other side but that's basically your only challenge other than fitness!

Mercian Pro

Even though Ferrans Lock to Cloncurry Bridge still has a bit to go, the section that was closed between Kilcock and Ferrans is open again.
https://www.facebook.com/1549278628668036/posts/2231305783798647?sfns=mo

cletus

So has anybody got any idea how close we actually are to cycling from Dublin to Galway on that route?

mloc123

cletus wrote: »

So has anybody got any idea how close we actually are to cycling from Dublin to Galway on that route?

To Galway? Years away...

Mercian Pro

cletus wrote: »

So has anybody got any idea how close we actually are to cycling from Dublin to Galway on that route?

The Royal Canal Greenway will run from Dublin to Cloondara on the Shannon and will hopefully be completed either by the end of next year or sometime in 2021. The main areas yet to be upgraded are in Dublin and Fingal.



From Mullingar the Old Rail Trail runs along a disused rail line to Athlone. From there to Galway has been a bit of a battlefield with threats of CPOs ensuring hardline opposition from the IFA. A proposal to make use of a network of quiet local roads is currently being considered afaik.

cletus

Thanks for the replies, and sorry to be retreading old ground here, but many of the place names mentioned don't mean anything to me, particularly around Dublin.

Having trawled back through the thread, and having a look at

https://royalcanalgreenway.ie/home/currentstatus/

would it be safe to say I could cycle from Enfield to Athlone?

mloc123

cletus wrote: »

would it be safe to say I could cycle from Enfield to Athlone?

Yes, fully complete. Either crushed sand or tarmac the entire way.

KevRossi

cletus wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, and sorry to be retreading old ground here, but many of the place names mentioned don't mean anything to me, particularly around Dublin.

Having trawled back through the thread, and having a look at

https://royalcanalgreenway.ie/home/currentstatus/

would it be safe to say I could cycle from Enfield to Athlone?

You can cycle on tar and crushed sand from Maynooth to Enfield with one quick diversion shown here. (Or jump on somewhere before Maynooth if you wish as there is a path some of the way.)

https://www.google.ie/maps/dir/53.4202893,-6.7124372/53.4188632,-6.7918293/@53.4240796,-6.7800213,13z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e1

Also another short diversion near Furey's Pub, shown here.

https://www.google.ie/maps/dir/53.4192194,-6.8986376/53.4295395,-6.9165828/@53.4235009,-6.9192203,15z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e1

I'd recommend doing it, it's a great cycle.

mr spuckler

cletus wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, and sorry to be retreading old ground here, but many of the place names mentioned don't mean anything to me, particularly around Dublin.

Having trawled back through the thread, and having a look at

https://royalcanalgreenway.ie/home/currentstatus/

would it be safe to say I could cycle from Enfield to Athlone?

I cycled Athlone to Dublin last September, following the greenways as much as possible. Athlone to Furey's at Moyvalley was fully doable even at that stage and the connection to Maynooth is nearly complete per the above. as KevRossi said it's a great spin and even though the scenery isn't dramatic like a coastal greenway there's a different type of beauty to the canals, combined with the sheer pleasure of being away from motor traffic!

devonp

they've put down some very course gravel along the Ryewater aqueduct and beyond to just near Louisa bridge, hopefully its a temp fix for the ever-enlarging potholes(were still easily avoidable), won't be too comfy or manageable with a road bike but plenty of grass margin just in case:)

Mercian Pro

https://www.facebook.com/1549278628668036/posts/2240173939578498/

Just the paving to be finished now hopefully.

Mercian Pro

Good to see that Roderick O'Gorman, the only local Councillor to support the current proposals fot the Greenway at the Deep Sinking, has topped the poll in Fingal with almost twice the quota. Pity the Greens didn't run a second candidate in some constituencies.

munsterbear

Hoping to cycle Dublin to Athlone in June, stay night or two and then back. As much as possible on canal path and the Mullingar Athlone route.

Can get on canal near Lucan/Leixlip.

So hopefully not too many diversions.

Best to use mountain bike or road bike?

loudymacloud

Road bike is fine, i have done that route a few times on a road bike, no issues at all.

munsterbear

loudymacloud wrote:

Road bike is fine, i have done that route a few times on a road bike, no issues at all.

Nice one. Quest Wales next weekend, then I can start plotting route. Will be nice challenge to read through posts to know where to go.

Unless anyone has a gpx route they'd like to share.....

loudymacloud

munsterbear wrote: »

Nice one. Quest Wales next weekend, then I can start plotting route. Will be nice challenge to read through posts to know where to go.

Unless anyone has a gpx route they'd like to share.....

Planning the same trip myself again soon enough. Usually hop on the canal in leixlip or maynooth, but this time round going to start in the city centre, i think i can go from the North Wall as far as Castleknock along the canal, someone correct me if i am wrong. hop on to the road to leixlip and canal/greenway all the way to Athlone.

Barring two small detours on the road after Kilcock and just before Furey's Pub