Royal Canal on a Road Bike

For all the misplaced fear about this short section one could be forgiven for thinking that folks were considering cycling along the edge of the Grand Canyon.😂.

To avoid this section if travelling west then simply hang a right in Castleknock after crossing the M50 , swing left down through Blanchardstown and Coolmine and re enter the canal at Clonsilla job done .

With so much access to GPS , sat nav etc it should be easy to navigate.🚴‍♀️

Good surface?

yup...and i have a regular bike

Thinking about doing this again only in reverse and from Athlone this time.

Has anyone camped along or near the canal at any point?

Can anyone advise as to the road surface on this Green way heading east from Clondara to Mullingar. Is it suitable for roadbikes as I've heard mixed reviews that it's compacted gravel and more suitable for MTB/ CX bikes.

Thanks.

Thanks, that looks like a decent spot. We stayed at Mary Lynches last time which was great, but its closed at the moment. They did a fine breakfast!

Looking at this spot maybe? https://goo.gl/maps/aRMiAL9QcD8W5BbB9 Little public green along by Loch Ennell.

How long for the return trip?

Did the Clondara to Mullingar spin over the weekend and I really enjoyed it. The scenery is lovely along the route and it was spotless however two criticisms I would have would be that more water fonts are available and some adequate signage.

On a 65 km run there is just one water font and again over that journey some of the route and access to go under bridges was overgrown and was barely discernable. It was only when you went wrong and went over the bridge and onto a main road that you realised you had to go back.

Apart from a 2km run across the bog near Abbeyshrule airstrip the surface itself is not so bad. I took the winter bike with heavier tyres and it did the trick, however I'd say the same surface could be a nightmare in or after a heavy downpour.

8/10 as far as I'm concerned and thoroughly enjoyed the day out.

Royal Canal Spin 13/08/2022

I've followed this thread for a while as I had planned to do the RC Greenway since last summer. With the great spell of weather I thought there was no better time than last Saturday. The forecast was for one of the hottest days of the years so seemed like a great opportunity. I had previously cycled Maynooth to Enfield last October so was familiar with that section/surface. My wife is from Roscommon so a group of three of us (sister in law and her husband) planned to tie in a trip by cycling from Templeogue to Elphin - taking in all of the Greenway from Maynooth to Cloondara. I had made a loose schedule to stop in Kilcock/ Killucan/Abbeyschrule/ Termonbarry. J - one of the group - is an expert mechanic so was confident we wouldn't have any issues. My wife was following three hours later in the car if there was anything more serious.

We set off at 7am in great conditions - 14c. Traveled to Maynooth via Phoneix Park and Leixlip and made Maynooth trailhead around 8.10am. Took a few kms for J and H to get use to the surface. A little bit of caution needed when moving from one side of track to the other with loose gravel in the middle but the group found their groove and we had good momentum so decided to skip the break in Kilcock and have breakfast/brunch in Enfield. we left the trail and went to Koffee Well for scones and coffee. We adjusted our schedule and planned to have a quick snack break in Mullingar and a more substantial meal in Abbeyschrule. At about 9.40 we left Enfield the stretch to Mullingar was lovely. Very peaceful surroundings, nice countryside and each lock or bridge broke up the cycle. Just when we got to the other side of Mullingar my tube blew. I got a brief fright that it was the tyre but thankfully on inspection it was just the tube. So much for our best laid plans but between the three of us we had left the pump and three cannisters at the front door and left without them, each thinking one of us had grabbed them!. After a brief panic we flagged down a cyclist the other side of canal who was traveling from Ballymahon to Mullingar and J cycled up to the next bridge with my tyre and got some air and went on our way, thanking our fellow cyclist.

We stopped at Lock 26 - Coolnahay Harbour to top up on water at a public font. This was a beautiful harbour and there is a lovely coffee stop there. We chatted to the owner for a few minutes. At this stage we had about 100k in the legs and were looking forward to a longer stop and food in Abbeyschrule. About 5 km outside Abbeyschrule we encountered the worse surface with a lot of potholes. Its also very isolated here but we came by the Airfield and looked for the Rustic Inn where we parked up the bikes and refueled there for about an hour. at 1pm with 120k complete. After some Chicken Maryland (for me) and a lot of water we left with the final 1/3 of the trip to do. We recognized a cyclist lifting his bike out of a van outside the pub and realized it was the cyclist who helped us at Mullingar. He had a puncture and couldn't get the tyre away from the rim so was rescued by local with a lift. J returned the favour and fixed his tyre. Good karma all round. We had a chat with him and went on our way at about 2.20. We powered on the remainder of the Greenway getting some good momentum. We could feel the heat (about 27c) when we slowed down but a slight cross breeze kept us cool. This section of the Greenway has some good spots and not so good surfaces with a few shared spaces where you meet the odd van. We finished the Greenway in Cloondara. J and H were on home territory now and the spin from Termonbarry home was very familiar. We stopped in the Centra in Termonarry at about 3.50 for icecream and then left at 4.15 for the last 25k home. After a good effort to Strokestown - I suffered a bit on the hill through the town (the first time all day) but by the time we reached outside Elphin I was seriously hanging for that bottle of beer so we powered on.

Arrived at our destination at @ 17:15 -

182.33 km total distance/ 6h:54m Moving time/ 26.4 kph Avg Speed/ 573 m Total Ascent/ 10h 14m elapsed time. Did the cycle on Genesis Equilibrium/28 wheels

Overall a fantastic experience - you just gotta accept the rough with the smooth regarding the surfaces. Some lovely harbours and piers along the way. A few additional water fonts along the way would be welcome.

Will do the reverse trip sometime in the future.

https://www.strava.com/activities/7632079373

Surprised to hear the surface wasn’t great in places, I was under the impression the whole length of the canal from Maynooth had a completed surface.

Great report all the same.