Mountainbiking Association of Dublin

Following on from the success of the National Trail Day, and the second installment in Kindlestown and Glen of the Downs last weekend, we’ll be running the third installment of the beginners course in Ticknock/Three Rock Co. Dublin, site of some of the best trails around. We’ll meet at the lower car park in Ticknock at 9.45am on Sunday and start riding at 10am. Once again, riders will be divided into groups based on ability (or enthusiasm) and let around the trails by awsome MAD folk.

Take a look at our beginners pages to see what you should wear and bring with you. If you have any questions, send an email to committee@madmtb.com or just ask in the forum.

• Map to Ticknock

To all MADMTB members:

On Sat 11th Oct at 10am, the club intend to do a walk-up from Ticknock carpark to the aerials/3Rock with litter bags and collect various litter to help improve the appearance of the place.

Some areas are quite messy with lots of cans/bottles etc that need to be removed.

We’ll meet at lower Ticknock carpark at 10am - hopefully that time will suit people - it leaves your afternoon free for whatever else you want to do.

It will take us no more than 2 hours if there’s a fair few of us.
I’ll arrange the bin-bags, ensure you bring some gardening gloves along and some warm clothing.

This will serve the purpose of making the place more presentable for ourselves and our fellow forest users and help build good relations with Coillte and the various users of 3Rock.

Please come along and give a hand-out if you can - thanks a lot!

Regards,

Fergal Kilkenny MADMTB Club Secretary

Ireland’s first ever Singlespeed National Championship takes place this month (18th October) in Clarenbridge, Co. Galway. The event (sponsored by Kearney Cycles in Galway) takes place in Kilcornan Wood. The course is mostly singletrack and is reported to be dry at present - should be nice and fast on the day. Read more on the event website:

www.singlespeedireland.com

Irish XC Mtb (www.irishxcmtb.com) are conducting a survey on the cross country racing scene in Ireland. This is your chance to express your opinion, whether you’re a sports rider or a seasoned Vet. Even if you don’t race at all your response is still important.

You can complete the survey here:

Irishxcmtb Survey

Following on from the success of the National Trail Day last weekend, with 55 new riders running amok in Ballinastoe Wood,  we’ll be running a number of beginners rides this month. The first takes place this weekend at Kindlestown, Co. Wicklow. We’ll meet at Kindlestown car park at 9.45am on Saturday and start riding at 10am. Once again, riders will be divided into groups based on ability (or enthusiasm) and let around the trail by awsome MAD folk.

Take a look at our beginners pages to see what you should wear and bring with you. If you have any questions, send an email to committee@madmtb.com or just ask in the forum.

• Driving directions to Kindlestown

National Trails Days will be held on Sunday 28th September 2008 with the objectives of:

• Promoting an awareness of the recreation trails (walking and biking) and allied outdoor recreation facilities that are currently available in Ireland
• Promoting an understanding of the need to manage and resource our trails and other facilities
• Promotion and awareness of the work of all key agencies in delivering trails and other facilities

The Mountainbike Association of Dublin (MADMTB) will be hosting the mountainbike session of the National Trails Day at Ballinastoe, Co. Wicklow on Sunday 28th September 2008 and will be guiding people around the various off-road trails and providing tips and information on how to get the best out of your mountainbiking experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday the 20th of September sees Cuchulainn Cycle Club host the ‘Da Cooley Thriller’ XC Marathon mountain bike race.

The race will start and finish in Carlingford and take in the tracks and trails in the local Cooley mountains.
The course will consist of one grand loop of 52k incorporating 14k surfaced road, 6k forest fire road and 32k of single track.

A shorter loop of 27k is available. Your route will take you along the Táin and the Puck Fáda trails (Highways to heaven !!) once the walking paths of Setanta and Cuchulainn himself.

Start/Finish Carlingford Sailing Club (South harbour)
Race Start 10.00 am
Sign-on 8.00am - 9.30am on race day
Race briefing 9.45am - attending the briefing is a must!
Prize giving 4.00pm – Carelingford Sailing Club

Questions/more info: please contact Johnny McCabe at 087-8105919

The Irish Marathon MTB Champs comes south of the border for 2008. IMBRC have laid out an interesting and challenging course, starting at Kippure House Estate, Co. Wicklow. Find full details on http://www.xcmarathon.com/

From the organisers of NPS #6 in Castlewellen:

Banbridge CC have been forced to cancel the final round of the Irish XC NPS, scheduled for Castlewellan Forest Pak, this Sunday (17th).  Extreme weather conditions that saw roads in the South Down area badly flooded by 4pm, forced the cancelation of the race for safety reasons.

Twelve hardy folk worked through the continuous downpour to tape out the course, however it soon became clear that the weather was going to cause a major problem. Organiser Andy Potts contacted the Irish Met Office for advice, the news not good, a weather warning for Saturday evening with more heavy rain forecast for Sunday. Many of the downhill parts of the course had turned into raging torrents.  Such was the flooding in the Castlewellan area, that the exit from the Forest Park was closed as the Banbridge Road was flooded, one unfortunate motorist finding their car covered by flood water on the main road!.

Banbridge CC applogise for the race cancellation and plan to run the event at Castlewellan before the end of September.

Good to see the race has been rescheduled - the course at Castlewellan is worth waiting for.