Mountainbiking Association of Dublin

A great turn-out, dry sunny weather, and huge amounts of digging, drilling, cutting, clearing, raking, lopping, chopping, and palette-hauling resulted in brand new sections of single & double track, a mid-forest jump, a bomb-proof berm, and bridge you could drive a tank over!

Thanks to everyone who turned-up and got stuck-in, and I mean STUCK-IN, we got a huge amount done and should be proud of all the work.

Can’t wait to head-out there soon and test out the new trail & features, speaking of which, we’ll need to name the new trails & features, in keeping with the sci-fi naming theme of some of the existing sections, (Star Wars and Area 51).

I was thinking of ‘Aylienation’ for the new singletrack forest trail (also a nod to Mr Ayling for his great help & advice), ‘Roswell‘ for the new doubletrack , ‘Event Horizon’ for the new berm (ie; the gravitational periphery of a black hole, go too near the edge and meet your doom-Aggghhh!!) and ‘The Teleporter’ for the new bridge (ie; it magically transports you from Roswell into Aylienation), any other suggestions welcome, bear in mind also that there are other sections that have yet to be named…

There’s a bit more work to do up there, (not a whole lot though); some of the existing course (near the main car park) needs to be cleaned-up a little, the bomb-hole near the finish has also seen better days, due to the newly widened/surfaced fireroad on the muddy climb from the car park, we’ll likely need to re-plan this climb, we’ll try get this done in early January if possible, and there’s a few palettes left-over that are just crying to be made into jumps!
Thanks again and see ye out on the trails soon.

This Sunday we’ll be riding around Glendalough - to the summits of Scarr, Camaderry and maybe more. This will be a long ride (even longer if we get lost…) with a lot of climbing so it won’t be suitable for beginners. Bring plenty of food and be prepared for bad weather.

We’ll meet at the Glendalough visitors centre at 9.30am on Sunday.

Also don’t forget the IMBRC cross race in Tallaght on Saturday - go along for a race the like of which you’ve never seen.

There will also be an easier MTB spin in Ballinastoe on Saturday, meeting at the Ballinastoe car park at 10am. This will be suitable for everyone, beginners included.

Saturday - nice easy spin up in Ticknock/3rock courtesy of Fergal, Tom and Steve. Beginner/novice/newbie orientated. Meeting at 10am in Ticknock Forest Carpark.

Sunday - Yellow House 10am. Heading to the Leadmines. Everyone is welcome but the pace will be faster than Saturday just so you know!

Nigel
087 9335 403

poloholemint@gmail.com

More cyclocross news - will the madness never cease? Ireland’s second best mountainbiking club - the IMBRC - are running a CX race on November 18th in Tymon Park. This is one of the most accessible race venues around - just past the M50 at Tallaght. The skinny-wheeled freakshow is open to MTBs as well and the race only lasts about an hour so there’s no excuse not to have a go. I might even try it myself to see what it’s really about. Click below for more details.

Howdy all
Slade Valley seems to hold a special attraction for the MAD crowd, and still has plenty of development potential for race/spin circuit.

With this in mind, we are thinking of clearing a new section of trail (keenly spotted by Alan Ayling, trail finder/designer extraordinaire) up in Slade

This will serve several purposes:
1- Avoiding the c-sik section which is presently impassable (we may revive this section at some stage)
2- Adding an additional trail which could be further developed once the present felling pattern is completed
3- Reducing the amount of work needed next year if we decide to use Slade as a (NPS?) race venue
4- Enabling a complete circuit/loop for weekend or night spins

Alan has advised a section up near the aerials (see section below for description) which has development potential for a fast/flowy section.
We’ll also possibly be cleaning-up some existing sections that have gotten fairly messy over the past few months

With a reasonable amount of effort – we may be able to get this all done in the one day, which would be a great achievement.
We’d REALLY like to see as many beginners get involved as possible as you get a chance to help shape build a track that you and fellow riders
will likely be using quite often – thus when you hear other bikers praising the great trails up in Slade, you can proudly boast “hey, I helped build that!”.

OK – so when are we going to do this?
We’re thinking Saturday 25th Nov, with a 9am sharp start for an all-day session (or as long as you can spare), we’ll work til people have to head off
Bearing in mind we will very likely be having our MAD Club Champs the following weekend (2nd of Dec) according to the latest polls,
then that means we would have another option for a venue to hold our club champs.

There were some planks of wood/timber up there last week (also logs) which we may be able to use to ramp/bridge a certain section

So let me know if you can make Sat 25th – if you can only spare a few hours, or can only drop-by to throw a pack of jaffa cakes at us then no problem at all – ANY/ALL help would be much appreciated!!

In terms of tools required – here’s a list of options:
Loppers / shears, saw, rake, shovel/spade, mattock, hammer, hatchet
Most important tool are probably gonna be a rake and spade for clearing ground – if you have a mattock then that would be excellent

Don’t forget gardening gloves, boots, warm clothing and lunch and energy drink

Thanks a lot lads & ladies!!

The plan I had in mind was to use the section of open land to the north of the masts.
There is a sort of old vehicle track (double track type thing) heading roughly north across the open land, I reckon this dates from the time the trees in this area were felled a few years ago. With minimal clearance, this could be turned into a fast flowy mtb trail. About 2/3 of the way to the present tree-line you cross a sort of old ditch/bank type affair - the plan is to build a bit of a berm here to facilitate a 90 degree turn to the right - this would bring you back on a similar old track to a point on the sort of north/south path that pretty much divides the forest in two (turning R then past a fallen tree and then L would bring you onto the way down off the hill used by both MAD & IMBRC races this year).
What I’d like to do though, is cross the ditch & bank (bridge or ramp or something required) and keep going straight - this would link up with Damo Duggan’s “Area 51″ jumps trail. The latter option would take a bit more work, but not that much - a few lads for a few hours should see it done.

Calling all you creatures of the night!
Time for some more nocturnal nonsense courtesy of Irelands’ premier mountainbiking club!
Overcome your fear of the by dark bolting on those nightlights and coming out on the MAD night-ride.
We will be hitting the darkened depths of Ticknock forest /3 Rock this Wed night.
Meet at the Ticknock forest car park at 7:30pm sharp!

Hope to see ye there!

We want as many of you as possible to make it along to the club champs and AGM this year. The champs will take place in the morning and everyone will have a chance of winning - it’s not just about speed. We’ll have the AGM and prizegiving that evening. Vote for your preferred date below.

You guessed it - it’s another one of those wild and wacky night rides
Tonight our venue is Leadmines/Barnaslingan, which incorporates the technical EPIC club course, the chain-straining climb up Catty Gallaghers, the nerve-wracking descent off Cattys,and of course the shock-busting ‘off-the-rock’ drop in the forest.

All good clean fun, and fully Hoff-approved.

We’ll meet-up in Palmers Golden Ball Pub at 7:30 as this is a much safer place to park your car.

Don’t forget your road lights as we’ll be on the road for a brief bit from the pub to Barnaslingan car park.

Hope to see ye there!
-The Hoff

Yo,

Saturday - Easy spin in Salde Valley. 10am Slade Valley Carpark. Sean or myself will be in attendence.

Sunday - Kindlestown/Glen of the Downs and maybe the Sugar Loaf. People will need lifts from the really nice people who drive cars If you need a lift or can offer one please email me (not the whole group). We will meet out in Kindlestown Carpark at 11am. A mobile number would be handy for me trying to organise the lifts. First come first served

Monday - Long but easy spin. 10am Yellow House. 3rock, Fairy, Woccas, Masseys wood.

Any questions then email me (not the group) or call/text.

Nigel
poloholemint@gmail.com
0879335403

Hello,

This Saturday we’ve got a duo of fantastic options for everybody……….

Fergal and Steve will be heading on a spin over 3rock and Prince Willies (the first 2 mountains on the way to Wicklow)
This will likely be kept at a reasonable pace for experienced riders.
Yellow House at 10am.

For a more relaxed ride, head to the Hellfire Carpark for 10.00 for a tour du Hellfire et Masseys. I shall be in attendance, but I’m very glad to see the initiative taken by a few newer folk this week in organising this. Top job.
Hellfire was the location of the first of our introductory spins, hopefully the weather’ll be somewhat better this time ’round.

Hellfire Club Directions
From the Yellow House in Rathfarnham take Willbrook Road south
Continue along Ballyboden road until you reach the Ballyboden Roundabout
(you can also get to the roundabout from Grange Road to the east, or the Ballycullen exit of the M50)
Go straight through the roundabout and take the first right
Take the first left, up Stocking Lane
The Hellfire Car park is 2km along, on the right.

Details of Sunday have yet to be announced, but for anybody who’s interested, there’s the Corcagh Cross race.

Happy biking.
Sean
Email