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| My track: 186km over two days, elevation gain 440m |
The Royal Canal Greenway at 130km is the longest greenway in Ireland. As an off-road greenway it does cheat a bit in embracing existing roads and tracks alongside the canal that give access to farms and cottages, but none-the-less it is navigable by walkers and bikes for the whole length, and work is in progress to extend it to Dublin. Some of the surface is paved (asphalt) and some is compacted fine gravel, either is good for road bikes even with thin tyres like mine.
My goal was to ride the complete greenway from Maynooth to Cloondara where the canal meets the mighty Shannon river. You ask - why did I make this trip? Partly because the greenway exists, partly as a challenge, partly because that's what I do. Sure, I was in two minds up until the very last moment, what with very changeable weather forecast.
I started off from home and made my way via Naas, Sallins and Straffan to Maynooth which is the current trailhead. There Lidl supplied me with orange juice (with bits and not from concentrate) and fruit scone hard-tack to supplement my home brew cheese and pickle sandwich. Enough fuel for the first day. The weather forecast suggested the slight possibility of rain but in the event it rained several times enough to soak my rain coat and shorts on both days. Despite this I exceeded my expectations by getting to Mullingar where I found a suitable out of the way site to camp. I recognised the place from last year's Old Rail Trail post.
There I slept fitfully (it was cold and my tent was on a slope so I kept sliding down) where I figured I could complete the task in two days rather than the three I had planned. And I did. I re-booked my return train for later the next day, and got to Longford station about 20 minutes before the scheduled departure. In the event the train was about 15 minutes late.
The train took me to Drumcondra where the heavens opened whilst waiting for the next commuter service to Hazelhatch via the Phoenix Park tunnel. The station has nowhere to shelter. The train was packed: a soggy conglomerate of way too many bikes and way too many people standing in the lobby, but no one seemed to mind. From Hazelhatch I rode along the recently opened segment of the Grand Canal Greenway to Sallins (it continued to rain the whole way) where I was mercifully rescued by my wife.
Oh, and let me tell you about the angel at Halfords. The previous week I had noticed my chain had almost broken, and this probably accounted for the gear slipping and sometimes the chain coming off that I had recently experienced. So I took my bike to Halfords in Naas where a guy fitted a new chain. On returning home I took a test ride to the Wicklow Gap and back - lots of gradients. I found the chain was slipping on the highest gear, and some other gear ratios were not happening as they should. So I took the bike back to Halfords. This time a younger guy with bleached hair served me - possibly he was my angel. He identified excessive wear on the cassette which the other guy really ought to have alerted me to. He replaced the cassette and found the chain was too short, so replaced the chain (again) and did not charge me for the chain or any of his time. And he accompanied me to the door in order to watch as I did a quick test ride. He was courteous, technically astute, and generous. An angel indeed!
And all this the day before the excursion which is the subject of this post. The bike behaved itself witness to my angel's good work.
Nearing my destination the heaven's opened - at the next lock I spied a sign "Mac's Shack 800m" in Keenagh. It seemed more like 800 miles but I made it, sodden, and asked for sustenance. The waitress was suitably impressed by my endeavours and served me a very late and second well-earned breakfast (the first was two scones somewhat earlier). And when I was done the rain had stopped (for a while).
A foray needs a focal point, a goal. In this case it was to see where the canal entered the Shannon river.
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