Royal Canal on a Road Bike

Thanks a million. Accommodation around Abbeyshrule was throwing me off a bit.

Is it open now or tomorrow? Post says the 21st.

It's actually not that bad, plenty of visibility and further away from the bulk of the traffic. I felt the same as you when I saw the photos, but it's better in person.

R

After 12 months since my last trip, Im heading for Clondara (maybe) at 7.30 on Saturday morning and Im wondering if;

1 The Deep Sinking is a)as dodgy as ever. b)Much improved. c) Other ?

2 The entire length of the towpath is now open?

3 The entire length of the towpath is now surfaced (except for the Deep Sinking) ?

4 Allowing an average time/speed of 15kph is still reasonable?

5 There is any other news (not involving Tr**p)?

Thanks for that SB.

Google maps appears to be treating the tow path from Confey slipway to Confey station as closed?

I managed a quick recce spin to Maynooth yesterday and report as follows;

From the 12th lock to Carton (?) Harbour remains unpaved

The Deep Sinking is pretty much as it was when I last did it. Having crashed/fallen the last 2 times I did it I walked the worst section this time and could not identify any significant improvement works. The key to cycling the DS remains confidence and speed IMO. Being 73, and hoping to make 74, has caused me to lose my nerve. What a shame! I loved ripping through the DS but I reluctantly accept that those days are gone.

Work is on-going at Carton Harbour but you can sneak through onto the newly surfaced path to Maynooth as we did while the diggers were working - be careful though.

My companion was an experienced cyclist, but a canal virgin, on a racing bike, and he had no problem with the unpaved surface and really enjoyed the spin and the peace and quiet.

Thankfully I haven’t met you “ripping” through the narrow Deep Sinking at speed, when walking the dog with the kids.

It’s a more beautiful section due to the way it’s been carved out of the bedrock, and is always popular with walkers and runners for that reason, and the always growing population beside it.

"Ripping it" is a relative term and an early morning activity, and certainly not something that can be done when there is traffic on the path. I think the only safe way to traverse the DS now is on foot and that means you have to spend time clearing your cleats in order to be able to resume cycling. I ended up diverting at the 12th lock, through Rosewod and Delwood estates, onto Clonsilla road and turned left at Clonsilla school and back onto the last section of the DS. This worked well.

Is Mary Lynch's closed for the foreseeable, or were you there at too early a time?

That's a pity. I was hoping to do a pub crawl by bike, and hoped to have a pint there.

And Moran's too!

Think O'Keeffes in Kilcock might be closed too?

12th Lock seems to be closed too. I've seen they are working on the building at the moment, but hadn't realised it was all closed down while the works were going on.