Royal canal info please.

feck sake lads

is it possible to cycle from longwood (near trim) to mullingar on the Royal Canal or even part way, i will be on my touring bike.
will be hopefully heading that way at the end of this month en route to athlone.

Redjeep!

I cycle quite often (most recently yesterday) from near the Genesis factory in Mullingar along the canal towards Enfield, about the furthest I normally get to is Furey's bar just west of Enfield. I always use a hardtail MTB with slicks and it's a nice spin.

It's possible to cycle all this way. There's quite a few locked gates that you'll need to lift your bike over, but they're mostly in the stretch from the Hill of Down to Furey's so I'd say you'd miss them.

You can cycle the other way from Genesis into (and through) Mullingar, but I've just never been that direction.

You need to get off for about 500 meters near Mary Lynch's and blast up the sliproad, but's usually quiet.

feck sake lads

ah fantastic thanks for that.dont really mind lifting the bike across the gates we are hoping to try out that stretch of canal then find a campsite in mullingar before heading to athlone the next day.
thanks again

Cookie_Monster

I was under the impression that the canal were designated walking routes, ie The Royal Canal Way and as such are off limits to bikers, no

IWAI site backs this up:

Q: Can I cycle the towpath from A to B?

The three main waterways in the republic have towpaths: the Royal Canal, the Grand Canal (including branches) and the Barrow Navigation. These three waterways are controlled by Waterways Ireland, the navigation authority, and cycling on towpaths is contrary to their byelaws.

http://www.iwai.ie/faq.php3?id=all

So no, you can't

Redjeep!

feck sake lads wrote: »

is it possible to cycle from longwood (near trim) to mullingar on the Royal Canal or even part way, i will be on my touring bike.
will be hopefully heading that way at the end of this month en route to athlone.

Ah now, Cookiemonster. I answered the question if it was possible, not if it was legal.....:D

Slightly more seriously, I actually thought the towpaths were being integrated into the Dublin-Galway cycle route.

DoesNotCompute

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I was under the impression that the canal were designated walking routes, ie The Royal Canal Way and as such are off limits to bikers, no

IWAI site backs this up:


http://www.iwai.ie/faq.php3?id=all

So no, you can't

You forgot this part:

The three main waterways in the republic have towpaths: the Royal Canal, the Grand Canal (including branches) and the Barrow Navigation. These three waterways are controlled by Waterways Ireland, the navigation authority, and cycling on towpaths is contrary to their byelaws. That said, many people do cycle on them, although that fact would be no defence if you were to cause an accident or injure someone
If you decide to cycle on the towpaths, it would be a good idea to give precedence to walkers, especially children: many stretches of towpath are popular promenades.

Cookie_Monster

DoesNotCompute wrote: »

You forgot this part:

no, I left it out purposely as it has nothing to do with the bye law. You are not allowed, just because some ignorant people do does not make it ok to do

feck sake lads

cookie monster i wont be breaking any land speed records honest:D:D
mind you according to John dunne author of Towpath tours a guide to cycling Ireland waterways .he reckons its ok .
anyway if it's hard going i'll hit the road.

Dizraeligears

Rode the Royal Canal on Saturday,from Richmond Harbour,Clondra to Ballymahon and back.There was a boat rally on so lots of boats and Waterways Ireland(+5 or 6 lorries) people on the locks between Clondra and Mosstown Harbour near Kenagh.
No one stopped us or told us we werent allowed to ride.after Kenagh the towpath goes through private land for a bit.We encountered a couple of bulls as well,even they didnt seem to mind.Saw a quad in a gateway at one point so expecting an irate farmer with a get off my land type attitude-not a bit of it-big cheery wave and a howiya lads!
Shortly after this we had to travel through someones garden which faces onto the canal.Werent sure whether to go on or not,but opened the gate and woman of the house comes out-howiya lads,lovely day etc...on we went.
Wasnt aware of the bye law tbh,and dont intend to get into a discussion on whether its right or wrong-think there are issues pertaining to discussing breaking the law on boards.
So if we do decide to do the next section,from Ballymahon to Ballynacarrigy and on to Mullingar,to see how much its doable,I wont be discussing it here!

petethedrummer

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

no, I left it out purposely as it has nothing to do with the bye law. You are not allowed, just because some ignorant people do does not make it ok to do

It's a bye law that should be broken.

feck sake lads

great info lads thanks a lot so does this mean i can cycle from longwood (near trim) to athlone. and is there places a fella could pitch his tent in some safety away from gaping eyes