Maynooth to Dublin, Ireland

I rolled out of Maynooth at 8:52 this morning, with less than a half day of riding left to finish off crossing Ireland. I began again on the Royal Canal Way, which was a bit more rugged of a stretch than it had been yesterday.

After seven kilometres along the canal I had to leave it and cycle along roads.

Partly this was because I had to make a small detour to stop at the Cherry Grove Hospital to get a rabies shot (a story I have told on my traveling blog, anedmontonian.blogspot.ca).

After about 40 minutes at the hospital, I carried on further into Dublin . . .

. . . along the River Liffey and past the Guiness Factory . . .

. . . to the Dublin Port.

I stopped at the Irish Ferries terminal. I will travel from here over to Wales tomorrow as a foot passenger, and I might carry on cycling in Wales some time in the future, so this was a logical place to end. 

From Maynooth to here was just 28 kilometres, and took me 84 minutes.

I watched a ferry set off across the Irish Sea . . .

. . . before cycling back into the city centre, where I checked into my hotel, dropped the bike, and headed for some lunch.    

Athlone to Maynooth, Ireland

This morning I carried on out of Athlone and onto the "Old Rail Trail," part of the EuroVelo Route 2 (eventually EuroVelo Route 2 will reach Galway, but for now it ends/begins here). 

Hard to complain about a cycling route like this!

The weather was splendid, the trail quiet, wind was negligible and mostly Ireland is really flat, so it was easy to make decent time and enjoy myself.

After 43 kilometres, near Mulnigar, the Old Rail Trail joins the Royal Canal Way. 

The quality of this greenway is not quite as good as the Old Rail Trail, but it still makes for some great cycling, and is probably even more scenic!

I stopped in Mullingar for a hot lunch, which really hit the spot!

I did sixty more kilometres along the canal in the afternoon. There was a tiny bit of rain, but mostly the weather stayed great and I loved the peaceful scenery. 

Tonight I am staying just outside of Dublin in Maynooth. In all my ride was 106 kilometres and took me 4:49. I arrived at the Glenroyal Hotel before 17:00.

This is a very nice hotel, and right on the cycle route. 

I had a couple of Guinness and dinner at the local pub just a couple blocks away.

Galway to Athlone, Ireland

I finished cycling across Canada last year, and at that point I was not sure I would ever feel the need to cycle long distances again. But, having basically done a long distance bike ride every summer for twenty years, it turned out as summer came around again, I felt the urge to do more riding.

I traveled to Central Asia in May, and on my way back to Canada I have stopped in Ireland to spend a couple of days riding across the Emerald Isle. I arrived in Dublin yesterday, and this morning I stopped by River Cycle bike shop to pick up a rental from Paul, the friendly owner.

For 100 euro cash Paul got me going for the three days including panniers, lock, helmet, etc. I rode the bike over to Dublin Heuston and caught the 11:30 train to Galway.

The train was full, but the ride relaxing enough. It was almost 14:00 when I reached Galway.

I rode further west from the station and out onto the Mutton Island causeway. 

This is by no means the westernmost point in Ireland, but as I looked west I could see far out into the Atlantic Ocean and it felt like a reasonable place to begin my journey from!

Galway looks like a cool place, but given my mid-afternoon start, I did not linger, and just took a couple of photos as I passed through.

Soon I was out of Galway and onto the back roads, weaving my way past fields and through villages on my way to Athlone. One day there will be a proper cycle route between Galway and Athlone, but with Google guiding me I did not have too much difficulty navigating, and you can see it was a scenic route and I could not have asked for better weather!

It was 90 kilometres from Galway to Athlone, and I arrived just after 19:00. It took me 4:26 ride time.

I was hosted perfectly in the Arch House Bed & Breakfast.

I made sure to enjoy a Guiness at Sean's Bar, which is over 1000 years old!