cycle route - Grand Canal

dub50

Does anyone know if the cycle route along the Grand Canal from say Davitt Road to Adamstown is finished / usuable? Remember reading before that South Dublin Co Co were working on same

ccull123

It sure is! I used it for a few months at the start of the year but there are about 6 separate sets of gates which require you to get off the bike. Big pain in the ass.nice track to cycle on though!

petethedrummer

It's at least 11 Gates to Adamstown. I used to get to get on at Inchicore and cycle to Wyeth. I got fed up opening gates so I stopped using it.

Great facility. Ruined by gates.

monument

petethedrummer wrote: »

It's at least 11 Gates to Adamstown. I used to get to get on at Inchicore and cycle to Wyeth. I got fed up opening gates so I stopped using it.

Great facility. Ruined by gates.

Yeah, it's 11 gates. And if you're going further on into parts of Adamstown or Lucan, it's plus two or more extra ones.

RacoonQueen

petethedrummer wrote: »

It's at least 11 Gates to Adamstown. I used to get to get on at Inchicore and cycle to Wyeth. I got fed up opening gates so I stopped using it.

Great facility. Ruined by gates.

Can't you go under a few of the bridges? I keep planning on doing this route but haven't quite got around to it yet. Don't like the idea of 11 non bike friendly gates...

monument

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Can't you go under a few of the bridges? I keep planning on doing this route but haven't quite got around to it yet. Don't like the idea of 11 non bike friendly gates...

As far as I'm aware there's only one place where going under a bridge skips a gate and you only end up skipping one gate and the path under the bridge isn't great.

inishfreeu2

i done the grand canal on the 4th of sept all the way to the shannon 36 locks was for the aadi.ie was fun...didnt like the dublin part with all the gates...opening and closing but it was a smooth surface : )

dewindygap

inishfreeu2 wrote: »

i done the grand canal on the 4th of sept all the way to the shannon 36 locks was for the aadi.ie was fun...didnt like the dublin part with all the gates...opening and closing but it was a smooth surface : )

Can you clarify please if the path is surfaced (tarmac) all the way to the Shannon and would it be suitable for a road bike ? Thanks

carthoris

dewindygap wrote: »

Can you clarify please if the path is surfaced (tarmac) all the way to the Shannon and would it be suitable for a road bike ? Thanks

The path is not surfaced all the way to Shannon. After Adamstown the tow path has no surface and is a rutted dirt track. It is not really suitable for a road bike.

inishfreeu2

sallins to robertstown is bad really bad, robertstown to thicknevin lock is tarmac and gravel but can be cycled, edenderry to daingean is rough in places and towpath is mainly grass, daingean to tullamore is all tarmac and a wonderful cycle to.....tullamore to rahan is a grassy towpath but rahan to the shannon 36th lock is bog and gravel and had to walk in places but it was an amazing cycle i wont forget 14 hrs in rain and sun and would gladly do it again...get in touch if u want to know more

a148pro

I live on that canal and have been meaning to put up a post about those fcuking gates for about a year now.

First of all, is there no alternative which allows cyclists access without having to dismount and still prevents the scobes from rallying robed mopeds on the route?

Secondly, how are you actually supposed to get through the gates? Is the best way to dismount and put her up on one wheel or should you go through with both on the ground and twisting the front wheel? I can't figure it out. I mean I jog on the canal and still find them a pain in the hole.

Thirdly, is there any hope of me learning some kind of MacAskill type trick that allows me to jump the fcker, preferably with some kind of rail grind / 360 involved?

petethedrummer

So I emailed some councillors from the Clondalkin region last night. One has got back to me already and feels the exact same way about the gates.

Anyone know of a good gating system that lets bikes in and keeps mopeds out?

teol

petethedrummer wrote: »

Anyone know of a good gating system that lets bikes in and keeps mopeds out?

In England they use "A-Frame" gates:



The narrow opening restricts moped handlebars.

There is something similiar at Islandbridge in Dublin

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Islandbridge%2FTurnstiles,+Dublin,+Ireland&hl=en&ll=53.348252,-6.308057&spn=0.000006,0.003449&sll=53.308704,-6.25695&sspn=0.117543,0.220757&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.348264,-6.307929&panoid=5tlsH7Al3qAaWTmy8xub8Q&cbp=12,5.9,,1,12.01

inishfreeu2

its great to see alot of people interested in the towpaths of the canals in ireland, they are so enjoyable and shame to think there is tosser...sorry...who like to ruin the beauty....or maybe its just typical ireland
moan over ha

RacoonQueen

a148pro wrote: »

Secondly, how are you actually supposed to get through the gates? Is the best way to dismount and put her up on one wheel or should you go through with both on the ground and twisting the front wheel? I can't figure it out. I mean I jog on the canal and still find them a pain in the hole.

I just get off and lift it over, easiest way IMO anything else just seems so nikity. Find them to be a pain even when running aswell...

tomasrojo

teol wrote: »

There is something similiar at Islandbridge in Dublin

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Islandbridge%2FTurnstiles,+Dublin,+Ireland&hl=en&ll=53.348252,-6.308057&spn=0.000006,0.003449&sll=53.308704,-6.25695&sspn=0.117543,0.220757&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.348264,-6.307929&panoid=5tlsH7Al3qAaWTmy8xub8Q&cbp=12,5.9,,1,12.01

I always had to take off my panniers trying to get through those gates.

Doctor Bob

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I just get off and lift it over

Not always possible.



http://dutchbikeshop.ie/blog

Aside from a gate-free path, I'm not sure what the solution is for non-standard bikes/trikes.

petethedrummer

It would be nice if we could just leave the gates off althogether. Maybe the anti social behaviour will subside (if it was ever that bad) if it is used regularly at all hours.

There's joy riding and boyracering going on all the time on the backroads around Grangecastle and they don't put up barriers.

tomasrojo

It's a mindset, I think. Putting a stop to hooligans gives them more satisfaction than serving cyclists, maybe.

petethedrummer

I don't know what it is.

I used to commute along the path before it was done up and there was never any trouble. The occasional homeless fella out drinking cans, the odd guy fishing and 1 burned out car over about a 6 month period. No gates then, plenty of opportunity for horses and mopeds and it didn't happen.

The odd scobe on a scooter is not the end of the world. Just put up some bollards to stop cars getting in.

tomasrojo

Yeah, making it practically unusable seems a high price to pay for stopping scooters and horses. As you say, you can stop cars while easily allowing trikes to pass. I don't think an aperture wider than a trike would be needed.

petethedrummer

I have to say I've had a good response from the councillors. 2 of them emailed me back and one of those just rang me there. They're both of the opinion that the gates are overkill.

If some of yis could take 5 minutes of time to email them it would be great.

http://corporateservices.southdublin.ie/index.php?option=com_contact&catid=152&Itemid=115

myself69

Doctor Bob wrote: »

Not always possible.



http://dutchbikeshop.ie/blog

Aside from a gate-free path, I'm not sure what the solution is for non-standard bikes/trikes.

I wouldn't be in favour of a gate-free path. Perhaps something like the following would be suitable for non-standard bikes.


(taken from this document http://archive.defra.gov.uk/rural/documents/countryside/prow/illegaluse-cs13.pdf)

monument

tomasrojo wrote: »

Yeah, making it practically unusable seems a high price to pay for stopping scooters and horses. As you say, you can stop cars while easily allowing trikes to pass. I don't think an aperture wider than a trike would be needed.

Seems a very high price to pay when it does not stop horses.

I cycled the route a few weeks back and, as I posed before, within 30mins I spotted at least five different groups of horses on the path. They spent a lot on the gates and then got cheap when it came to not putting in proper walls or fences along some stretches of the route.

For the record: None of them got in my way and the harm they were doing seemed mostly limited to natural littering of the path.

petethedrummer

Where did you see the horses? I've only ever seen 2. Tied up on the other side.

gussy81

hi all,

thinking up using the cycle corridor between adamstown and town.
any1 have any tips - is it good

also is it safe?

any regular users?

thanks in advance
gussy

carthoris

gussy81 wrote: »

thinking up using the cycle corridor between adamstown and town.

You mean the Grand Canal path ? There has been a lot of discussion on it in the past: http://www.boards.ie/search/?q=grand%2Bcanal&f=410

gussy81 wrote: »

any1 have any tips - is it good

also is it safe?

Good ? Depends what you are expecting. The surface is great, it is safe, but there are a large number of gates that you have to dismount to go through. This becomes very tedious after a few trips. The route covers maybe 30-40% of my commute and I rarely use it as I would rather stay on the road and make some progress.

There is a long stretch of road from Adamstown that runs parallel to the railway line that has a bus-lane the full length of it (all the way to Fonthill Road) and there is never a bus on it. That is far more enjoyable than the Grand Canal Path.

gussy81

cool thanks

is there any anti social behaviour on the canal route do u know?

monument

petethedrummer wrote: »

Where did you see the horses? I've only ever seen 2. Tied up on the other side.

Two on their own between the two gates before the Killeen Road, and Adamstown and the M50 -- under two of the road bridges (was raining), up one of the ramps and just a bit a away from a gate.

Between Adamstown and the M50, there's loads of places where there's now gaps in the greenery which was in place instead of a proper fence and there's some of the side barriers (weaker than the kissing gates) damaged.

connie_c

Ive also given up on this route for my occasional commute of inchicore to naas as the gates are a nightmare especially wearing cleats. Its also unusable in the evenings around 6.30 ish with people walking wearing ipod walking dogs etc. It would be fine for a leisurely spin but dangerous to do any pace.

nak

Not much anti-social behaviour, I use it everyday for part of my commute. Have heard of a few incidents in the afternoons, none in the mornings as it's quiet. I don't mind the gates, same as stopping at lights really. Nice to ride on a quiet route with no cars.