Mullingar - Athlone Rail Trail

TooObvious

I had the pleasure of cycling the Royal Canal from Ballymahon to Mullingar and then back to Moate on the Rail Trail at the weekend.

The Royal Canal section of my spin was wonderful, lovely views, never felt too remote but at the same time removed from civilisation and the surface was cool, primarily grit with some tarmac and grass verge up the middle thrown in.

The Rail Trail however, and bear in mind this is only my opinion, was horrible. Firstly it's a train track so of course it's very straight, on top of that because of the high sides and the straightness it appears to be going uphill all of the time! The surface is beautiful, not a sound out of the mudguards on the bike whilst on it, but the surface does not make up for the paucity of views or lack of interesting sites in the area.

So the Rail Trail is great for travelling to Athlone from Mullingar if you want to avoid traffic and are in a hurry on your bike - also would be very fast given the prevailing wind in the opposite direction! However for a Sunday spin, there are so many other nice small roads around the midlands with feck all cars on them which are a far better alternative.

So in closing, i highly recommend the midlands of cycling, great roads, but avoid the rail trail if you're after an interesting spin.