Cycling along the Royal Canal to Mullingar?

RedTea

Does anyone know if it is possible to cycle to mullingar along the royal canal? What is the path/road like? possible to do without a mountain bike?

thanks

mikemac

Not a very helpful post but I've seen cyclists being stoned by scumbags at Broombrige. They do the same to trains.

Someone else will post details of the route but be careful is all I'll say

311

I've gotten from phibsboro to just past lucan on that route. I once took a hybrid ,but it's not recommended .The forks will take a hammering.
I use a fixed frame mountain bike ,hardrock rigid is grand.

Don't know any further ,always wanted to try it though:)

ruprect

micmclo wrote:

Not a very helpful post but I've seen cyclists being stoned by scumbags at Broombrige.

I had scumbags throw stones at me in town, on the way from croke park to o'connell street, couldnt believe it.

Civilian_Target

It's not possible AFAIK.

I've cycled it as far a Maynooth, and without a good mountain bike I wouldn't even advise that - its very bumpy, and pretty narrow in parts!

I know from my boatng days that futher down the Royal Canal is plagued by large, low and impassible bridges, and I'd imagine that applies to cyclists as well...

Titiritero

Civilian_Target wrote:

It's not possible AFAIK.

I've cycled it as far a Maynooth, and without a good mountain bike I wouldn't even advise that - its very bumpy, and pretty narrow in parts!

It's doable and I did the whole thing, all the way to the Shannon beside Longford, in October'05. I did it with a hybrid, no suspension fork, and 2 small panniers, in 2 days (total of 153km).

Of course you would be more comfortable with a mtb, although the suspension is not needed. About the path, the surface changes a lot from bridge to bridge (usually the landmarks where the surface changes), from excellent tarmac to high grass that makes it tough going. Waterways Ireland is responsible for the towpaths, and depending on when was the last time they passed, it could be a perfect recently cut grass or a 10 cms high weeds maze that will slow you down. Nevertheless, the whole thing is cyclable.

I really like the Royal Canal, as it's wilder and more close to nature than the Grand Canal. I heard terrible things about Broomsbridge, but if you plan to go to Mullingar, that's 90km of mostly off-road cycling, you won't be going faster than 13-16 km/h, so you'll need to start early, and by that time knackers are still in bed after a few egg-throwing, inmigrant bullying or traffic cone inmersion games the night before...

Great ride if you want traffic free, slowly pace touring. What I found most annoying is the excessive number of fences, many of them locked, that cross the path. In some of them the passage for pedestrians was too narrow and had to lift the bike over the fence, with panniers included, and after 30 or more it gets a bit tiring... (by the way, the paths are State owned, so don't be afraid to cross any gates you find on the way. Most are to keep motorists away or to prevent cattle from going to the neighbour's field)

daymobrew

micmclo wrote:

Not a very helpful post but I've seen cyclists being stoned by scumbags at Broombrige. They do the same to trains.

For a whole summer (2005 I think) I cycled to/from work via the canal towpath between Ashtown and Phibsborough, passing Broombridge.
The most threatening thing I encountered were swans on the canal bank - they'd swipe at you as you cycled by.
I was offered a drink one evening.
Another time I had to squeeze by two burnt out cars lodged under the bridge just east of Broombridge station where the train line swings across the canal and towpath.
I frequently get off the morning train at Broombridge and jog eastwards to work. Never any hassle and it's nice a quiet.

One time on the train a nice large rock struck the side of the front carriage courtesy of the in-bred offspring of Ratoath Estate. The toughened laminated glass did its job.

The towpath surface west of Ashtown is crap so I hit the road from there to Carpenterstown.

311

Ratoath estate is a respectable estate ,people that hang around the canal come from all places ,blackhorse ,finglas ,cabra .It doesn't take a tax payer to enjoy a quiet spot.

RainyDay

daymobrew wrote:

The most threatening thing I encountered were swans on the canal bank - they'd swipe at you as you cycled by.
I was offered a drink one evening.

One of these?

Capt'n Midnight

many years ago I tried the Grand canal, on the roads and only on the banks when there were no roads. Towpath wasn't there just very soft earth, wheels sinking in a few inches, then I got a flat so packed it in and detoured by road.

Civilian_Target

daymobrew wrote:

The towpath surface west of Ashtown is crap so I hit the road from there to Carpenterstown.

Going over the M50 bridge too is a surefire recipie for a puncture...

daymobrew

Civilian_Target wrote:

Going over the M50 bridge too is a surefire recipie for a puncture...

If I see glass there I give a roads cleaning guy a call. He cleans the stuff up within a few hours. He gave me his mobile number a year or so back (I was calling FCC so often to report glass). He probably regrets the move.

Drapper

I've cycled from Castleknock to Maynooth and because of the impact development had on the canal banks I had to go around Maynotth and join the far side to get to Kilcock! in winter MTB Bike is perfect! Never ventured to Mulingar but I will this summer! Its a nice spin for 2 or more, don't do it on your own!!

btw there is qa lovely coffee shop in Kilcock to stop for lunch! :-) just beside the bridge!

D

Shaymoboy

I cycled the the canal route from city centre to sallins last summer. It was a really hot day and there were youngster drinking by the canal shouting abuse at me near the inchiccore end. Rather than that it was every enjoyable. The trick is to start early in the morning.

johnnoelc

Hi,
I am thinking about moving out to Kilcock and cycling in as far as Maynooth along the canal path-Can anybody advise if this is doable currently as a common commute as far as Maynooth train station?

columbus_66

it's no problem unless you have skinny racing tyres.

Sean02

In 20 years commuting Leixlip to Broombridge I have witnessed unbelievable anti social behavior against Trains and train station property at broombridge in particular. However in all that time I have never had any problem, As far as comuting on towpath its mostly depends on your set-up i.e. weight tyres and most of all weather. I have cycled total lenght of Royal and Grand on old Pegeot road bike fitted wih Hybrid tyres. This is fine for Grand but Royal in winter will test your fittness.However a hybrid is a more sensible choice. Again on the Royal expect to puncture unless your the religous kind. Kilcock to Maynooth is a narrow rut but ok, best try it out some evening take about 15mins.. LAST WORD OF WARNING FOR THE 100TH TIME .BE EXTREEMLY CAREFULL ON CASTLENOCK TO WESTMANSTOWN SECTION. There is a stony section her that can take you straight into the canal..

zindicato

guys look at the start date of this thread.

Sean02

See that Zind just shows how blind the Government and cycling pressure groups are towards this wonderfull resourse . Any other european country would give thier right hand to have a royal and grand canal at the disposal of thier traffic plan.

Drapper

Sean02 wrote: »

LAST WORD OF WARNING FOR THE 100TH TIME .BE EXTREEMLY CAREFULL ON CASTLENOCK TO WESTMANSTOWN SECTION. There is a stony section her that can take you straight into the canal..

there is a new path there, when was the last time you cycled it? if you talking about catleknock to clonsila there is a few stones but its about 2 meters wide!

Sean02

Thats great news Drapper. It's a year since I emigrated. Are you telling me they have a new path from Clonsilla to Castlenock ?. As you know the first section Clonsilla ( Callaghan Bridge) to Porterstown (Keenan Br.) is mostly wide, level and safe.The next section to Coolmine (Kirkpatrick Br.) where the Diswellstown Road passes over the deep cutting is where the rocky danger spot was. The following section to Castleknock Station (Granard Br.) needed spacial caution in wet weather. As I said many times over the years all these sections could be major cycle commute routes into City never mind safe tourist way to west of Ireland. I would love to see some photos of the new path if anyone can post same.

8kvscdpglqnyr4

I posted on this almost a year ago:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71070998

Muahahaha

Any updates on the path in the last few years ? Is just short of Kinnegad about as far as you can still go ? Also is it possible to bring a bike back on the train from Mullingar ?

Cookie_Monster

most of the paths are national walking routes (Grand Canal Way and Royal Canal Way) and as such closed to bikes etc

Muahahaha

Are the walking paths different to the tow paths ? There seems to be people on here who have done it in the last few years, be good to hear how the paths are this year, any upgrades like this one approved last year ?
http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/business/major-boost-as-300k-royal-canal-cycle-way-project-sanctioned-1-5526474