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Royal Canal on a Road Bike

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    #542
    Lordsnutchi
    Registered Users Posts: 35 ✭Lordsnutchi


    Does anyone know about the new cycle bridge being constructed off Newcomen bridge at North Strand?


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    #543
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    LOSDAVOS wrote: »
    Does anyone know about the new cycle bridge being constructed off Newcomen bridge at North Strand?

    https://irishcycle.com/2020/02/08/royal-canal-greenway-between-docklands-and-north-strand-road-to-open-in-may/comment-page-1/

    They've been at it a while. Haven't seen the progress since the lockdown. Used to see it regularly from the train..


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    #544
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,440 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    Mercian Pro wrote: »
    A perfect summary of what must have been obvious to Fingal for years. And we still are nowhere near the major battle when they eventually go for planning permission for the north bank scheme.
    must ask my folks if there's any talk in the neighbourhood recently about it. i suspect not - people's minds have been elsewhere of late.


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    #545
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Unless you're someone who takes an interest in these things and cycling or planning in particular. It's not widely known amongst the locals I know. What if anything is planned. It's very low key imo.


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    #546
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,440 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    my folks live in delwood. i've mentioned on boards several times that the nay sayers seem much more vocal than the people in favour; i could not give an easy breakdown of the numbers, but apparently there are people who are in favour, but they're keeping their heads down given some of the strident opposition to it.


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    #547
    wildlifeboy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,170 ✭✭✭wildlifeboy


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    my folks live in delwood. i've mentioned on boards several times that the nay sayers seem much more vocal than the people in favour; i could not give an easy breakdown of the numbers, but apparently there are people who are in favour, but they're keeping their heads down given some of the strident opposition to it.

    Theres some high profile lawyers who live there and will be impacted. they dont want it and they have clout.


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    #548
    bovis
    Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭bovis


    wildlifeboy wrote: »
    Theres some high profile lawyers who live there and will be impacted. they dont want it and they have clout.

    When I look at this photo (from a newspaper article by a journalist that supported opposing residents) I can make out the original backgardens of the delwood green houses as shown by original sheds and then I think I can see extended gardens that are almost double the original size. The claim that there isn't enough space for a greenway on the northern bank is a very dubious argument. Maybe I am wrong and I am not doing the delwood green residents justice in my assumption about their backgardens.


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    #549
    beggars_bush
    Registered Users Posts: 4,361 ✭✭✭beggars_bush


    Hurrache wrote: »
    It's like what I said on the Greenway holiday thread, I don't think the potential for tourism has really been appreciated. Plenty of farms along the way, all it'll take is a couple landowners to set aside a plot of land for camping for a fee, simple wash facilities, get local producers to provide food for packed lunches, breakfasts and so on, even local pubs get in on the act. Tour organisers can sort it, get to a certain point and they can even organise bike storage and transport while you stay at a hotel where they deliver your glad rags at a destination and get a train home.

    There's a huge amount of red tape in fairness, but wouldn't it be wonderful to traverse the country by bike?

    Yes
    But it'd be targeted at international visitors


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    #550
    KevRossi
    Registered Users Posts: 4,393 ✭✭✭KevRossi


    If you go onto the www.landdirect.ie website, it seems that the original gardens have been extended on around 19 or 20 of the properties that border the canal. How legal this was and how much of it is squatters rights can't be seen, but none of the available portfolios include the land.

    Could be a drawn out legal case, could be a lot of compo involved. IIRC the same issues arose when taking back land on the old Harcourt line for the Green Luas. Land that had effectively been squatted on by the great and the good of Ranelagh had to be bought off them for huge sums by the government.

    Most countries would have told them to hand it back, we're a bit different.


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    #551
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,440 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    wildlifeboy wrote: »
    Theres some high profile lawyers who live there and will be impacted. they dont want it and they have clout.
    i grew up playing on the road with their kids.
    a former mayor of fingal coco also.


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    #552
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    There was room for a comprise but I don't get the impression the residents were offered any, now they don't won't accept only. I don't really blame them.


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    #553
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,440 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    one of the main issues i heard about was the idea that each cul de sac would have an opening onto the greenway; many people felt that would invite crime into the area, as it would offer an escape route for burglars.
    a more realistic (in my eyes) concern was whether this would make the cul de sacs (culs de sac?) more attractive for fly parking for people going to coolmine railway station.

    and yes, mistakes seem to have been made in that in several aspects, the council seemed underprepared for questions (i am reporting this secondhand), but my issue is that the vocal residents are stonewalling the issue instead of trying to actually se if they can drive it in a proper direction.


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    #554
    Mercian Pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,274 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    beauf wrote: »
    There was room for a comprise but I don't get the impression the residents were offered any, now they don't won't accept only. I don't really blame them.


    I didn't really want to get into all this again at this stage as we are still a long way off knowing if Fingal are going to propose the north or south bank at the next consultation stage.


    However, I am intrigued to know what compromise you have in mind and why you think it wasn't offered to the residents.


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    #555
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    I know nothing. I just remember the lengthy debate on it last time. Which got pretty heated. Covered a lot of angles. That's just the impression I got. Could be completely wrong.


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    #556
    velo.2010
    Registered Users Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭velo.2010


    Mercian Pro wrote: »

    The archived page includes the text of the Greenway in a Day article but unfortunately the photos, map and video have vanished. I must see if there is any other way of republishing it online.

    What day and what time did you leave Dublin to do your trip? I ask because Irish Rail say no bikes on Commuter trains before 9.30am during weekdays. I guess it was the weekend?


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    #557
    Mercian Pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,274 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    velo.2010 wrote: »
    What day and what time did you leave Dublin to do your trip? I ask because Irish Rail say no bikes on Commuter trains before 9.30am during weekdays. I guess it was the weekend?

    It was a weekday alright and one of the reasons we started from Drumcondra at 7.00 was that we reckoned there would be less hassle getting bikes on than at Connolly. As mentioned in the article, there was no problem slotting 3 bikes into the two spaces.


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    #558
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    velo.2010 wrote: »
    What day and what time did you leave Dublin to do your trip? I ask because Irish Rail say no bikes on Commuter trains before 9.30am during weekdays. I guess it was the weekend?

    That's a recent rule. Perhaps in the last two years. They changed the wording of it a few times, and not consistently either.


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    #559
    KevRossi
    Registered Users Posts: 4,393 ✭✭✭KevRossi


    The 6.55 from Connolly is an Intercity service, not a commuter, so bikes are not an issue. I've taken bikes on that train a few times on weekdays and it was never an issue.

    It's first come first served with the bike racks, you need a reservation, but it doesn't guarantee you a spot if the train is full.


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    #560
    The Davestator
    Registered Users Posts: 3,398 ✭✭✭The Davestator


    Quick report on my trip last week.

    Got the 9:05 train from Dublin to Maynooth on Thursday (have previously cycled from the convention centre to Kilcock)

    Beautiful weather and relatively few around. Cycled from Maynooth to Ballymahon where I camped in Newcastle forest (a recommendation from this thread, so thank you) 3km outside of Ballymahon so easy to go into town and get 'supplies'!

    Did Ballymahon to Cloondara on Friday and into Longford for the 12 noon train back to Dublin.

    Really enjoyed it. Very doable in a day, but wanted an overnight.


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    #561
    velo.2010
    Registered Users Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭velo.2010


    KevRossi wrote: »
    The 6.55 from Connolly is an Intercity service, not a commuter, so bikes are not an issue. I've taken bikes on that train a few times on weekdays and it was never an issue.

    It's first come first served with the bike racks, you need a reservation, but it doesn't guarantee you a spot if the train is full.
    Your right! It goes to Sligo. I just plugged in Maynooth to Longford and read the terms regarding bikes, then saw that Longford was considered a 'Commuter' route.


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    #562
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    You'd be going (I assume) against the traffic
    so to speak so your train would likely be empty.


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    #563
    Mercian Pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,274 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    beauf wrote: »
    You'd be going (I assume) against the traffic
    so to speak so your train would likely be empty.

    That was certainly our experience and another reason (as well as the prevailing wind) for cycling west to east. Before that I had taken the train to Mullingar, cycled to Longford with an evening train back to Dublin. Finding and negotiating a space for the bike was a lot more problematic even though I had booked a space.


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    #564
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Its pretty dire system for sure.

    https://www.danube-cycle-path.com/radtramper-donau.html


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    #565
    Mercian Pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,274 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    Discovered that the full Greenway in a Day article is still available on the Club website at https://swordscc.com/2019/09/greenway-day

    Looks like we booked the two bike spaces for the trip to Longford but probably didn't need to as the early morning train was so quiet.


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    #566
    velo.2010
    Registered Users Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭velo.2010


    Cycled the Royal canal from Longford today. Got the early train and was on the route by 9.00am. My journey followed in much the same way as Mercian Pro's account from last year; took a photo at the same spot near the Shannon at Cloondara, went the wrong way down more than one towpath, and dodged the local wildlife.

    Stopped in Mullingar for MacDonalds and filled my bottles and pockets for the return to Maynooth (where I got the morning train) and headed for home. A surprising 161km for the day, which probably goes to show just how far I ended up going down a couple of those wrong paths!

    A grand out, but the route badly needs more signage, especially Longford to Mullingar. A bit more love and attention could see the route blossom into something special in the years to come.


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    #567
    a148pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,204 ✭✭✭a148pro


    What bike / tyre size as a matter of interest?


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    #568
    velo.2010
    Registered Users Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭velo.2010


    a148pro wrote: »
    What bike / tyre size as a matter of interest?

    Canyon CF SL with 25mm Conti GP4000. I think 28's would have been more suitable to deal with the buzz coming from the surface, particularly in the first half of the route.


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    #569
    Mercian Pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,274 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    velo.2010 wrote: »
    A grand out, but the route badly needs more signage, especially Longford to Mullingar. A bit more love and attention could see the route blossom into something special in the years to come.

    Glad you enjoyed it velo. Because I had previously taken those wrong turns and had to backtrack, the navigation when we did it was pretty straightforward. I was told at the time that new signage, a website and a publicity campaign were all going to happen in early 2020 but it looks like Covid 19 has set that back quite a bit.
    Incidentally, I found the 28mm 4 Seasons tyres on my bike coped better with the conditions than the 25mm tyres the others had


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    #570
    a148pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,204 ✭✭✭a148pro


    I take it it's grit surface minimum then? Apologies if this is rehearsed above. Parts of the grand certainly are grass track.


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    #571
    Mercian Pro
    Registered Users Posts: 2,274 ✭✭✭Mercian Pro


    a148pro wrote: »
    I take it it's grit surface minimum then? Apologies if this is rehearsed above. Parts of the grand certainly are grass track.

    Grit or tarmac all the way from the Shannon to Maynooth. We found the grit slowed us down about 2kph but that was with 25mm tyres and it was no big deal. A lot of the tarmac sections were originally upgraded as quiet local roads years ago and many now have restricted access for local property owners and walkers/cyclists of course.


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