Mountainbiking Association of Dublin

EPIC MTB presents round four of the 2008 XC NPS series in Djouce Woods on Sunday June 15th. Richie Byrne (EPIC Kingpin) writes:

Its an amazing course. The downhill sections are clean, technical lines with some amazing new additions.
The climbs to compliment the descents are savage. Serious amount of work has gone into the design and construction, in a huge effort to make everything rideable even in the wet.
Its a real mtb course. So start polishing your skills up.
We have designed it in such a way that the lap is something you really want to do, its not just an xc race, its a big sexy 25 to 45 minutes of offroad cycling.

There’s already talk of this being the best XC circuit of the year - the turnout is sure to be huge. See you all there.

This Saturday we’ll have the last day of our MTB Beginners Course. This time we’ll be venturing to Ballinastoe - the country’s first “official” mtb trail. The terrain will be quite different to the last two weeks - no roots and a lot more gravel, you might even think you’re in Wales. You can read more about the trail on the Coillte Outdoors site and even download a trail map.

The technical talk this week will be all about chains and how to fix them, presented by the elusive Mr. Sean Downey. Sean will also have vast stocks of 2008 club gear with him, for anyone who needs to collect it.

As usual we’ll meet at 9.45 and start riding at 10am. You can find directions here.

Anyone who wants to continue riding with the club after the beginners course should join-up without delay. Membership forms will be available on Saturday or you can download and fill-in one here. If you have any questions you should email the committee.

The third round of the 2008 Cross Country NPS takes place this Sunday in Magheramorne Quarry, near Larne Co. Antrim. This venue was used for the first time last year and we recieved some good reports. It’s part of the Magheramorne Works redevelopment which you can read about here www.magworks.info.

Sign-on is at the Blue Circle Sailing Club (directions). Full facilities will be available (toilets! showers!) and there should be sandwiches after the race too (sandwiches!). It’s a bit of a drive to get up there but should be well worth the effort - especially as the new MAD 2008 club gear will be on display for the first time (and hopefully on the podium too).

We had a great turn-out for the first day of the MAD Beginners Couse last weekend with 18 new people turning up in the rain. Nice to see such a good turn-out of ladies too. The forecast is good for this weekend so the trails should be a bit drier this time around.
The destination this week is Kindlestown. There’s a nice forest loop which everyone will by flying around by the end of the day. We may also head into Glen of the Downs for a quick spin. Here’s a map and driving directions.  Once again we’ll meet at 9.45 and hit the trails at 10.

I hope to see most of last week’s riders back again and if you missed that one you can still come along.

Folks,

Just been talking to Sean to discover he got taken out by a car while out on the bike today, but thankfully has nothing more serious than bruised ribs and a whole lotta cuts, grazes, bruises and interesting patterns.

I know from personal experience how quickly this can happen and how painful it can be, so be careful out there and keep those helmets no matter how short a trip you’re doing.

Just think we should all join in wishing him a speedy recovery cos hes had a long time off the bike already, and we were hoping to finally having him back on the bike at races rather than randomly flinging water bottles from the sidelines.

Paddy

Our first MTB beginners course of 2008 begins on May 10th. This will be an easy introduction to mountainbiking for first-timers or a chance for people to return to the sport. Please ensure your bike is in good working order and don’t forget your helmet. Check out our Beginners Page for more details on what to wear and bring.

If you have any questions, or if you just want to tell us you’re coming along, drop an email to the committee. The course is open to riders over 16 years of age. Riders under 18 must present a parental consent form to the club committee. Riders under 16 may attend on the condition that a parent also takes part and stays with the group at all times - please discuss this with the committee beforehand.

The first day will be around the Hellfire Club and Masseys Wood on Saturday May 10th. Meet at the Merry Ploughboy Pub at 9.45am, departure at 10am. We’ll aim to finish about 1pm or so.

Dates and locations

The Cycle Inn have invited Giant UK to come over to Ireland on the 1st of May. They are bringing the full range of Maestro suspension bikes in their line up. Mick Jordan is offering a free demo day for riders to avail of this unique opportunity to try out these bikes. Mick and the Giant guys will be setting up a demo day in Ballinastoe on the 1st, so call the Cycle Inn and ask for Mick to book your bike for a test ride.

Phone: (01) 4519202/207
Email: mike@thecycleinn.com

• The Cycle Inn
• Giant MTB range
• Maestro Suspension Technology

The final round of the 2008 K-Capital series took place yesterday in Castlewellen Co. Down. The race, hosted by XMTB, was a fitting end to the league with a top-class trail and excellent organisation.

MAD has done really well this season, winning three of the league categories - Ashling Corkery in Sport Women, Melanie Spath in Elite Women and Oisin Boydell in Expert Men. Ryan Sherlock rode strongly in every race with a fantastic TORQ-fuelled overall 4th place in Elite Men. Fergal J Kilkenny and Steve Scrivener racked up top-10 finishes in Masters and Experts respectively and have their sights set on the podium later this year.  (more…)

This past weekend saw fantastic success for club members Ryan Sherlock and Melanie Späth in Round 1 of the British NPS XC and Marathon races in Thetford, England. Melanie fended off almost everything Britain had to throw at her with superb 2nd places in quality fields on both days, just losing out to multiple British champs Jenny Copnall on Saturday and Sally Bigham on Sunday by a margin of less than 1 minute over 4 hours and 20 mins of racing in the 100km event. Ryan suffered a nasty crash in the XC race on Saturday while running in about 15th place after starting from the rear of the pack and retired early to prepare for Sunday’s 100km Marathon, where he took a fine 3rd place in 3:55:55 while riding under the Torq team banner.

Both riders document their escapades on blogs, which can be found here and here. Pictures of the XC race and Marathon are online here and here.

Congratulations to both riders from all in MAD and we look forward to seeing more success in the future!

Sean

Right folks, this weekend we’re changing the meeting point back to the spiritual home of MAD, The Yellow House pub, at 10am, unless otherwise stated (Directions are on the site somewhere, think of it like a test, if you can’t find it you’re not clever enough for the club!) :

Starting on Saturday with Shane (Stupidly Early) Lavelles spin around Djouce. Meeting at the lower car park at 8:30am. Call or text him on 0863195936

Later on Saturday we’ll be taking a spin around Three Rock and its surrounds for a few hours, taking in all those lovely trails we built last year and generally having a bit of craic. We should be back around 2pm(ish). This will not be suitable for total beginners, but any of you that have been on the normal club spins will be fine.

On Sunday we’re going on a long one, meeting at the same time and place, and heading off down the wicklow way towards Crone, Maulin and Djouce, maybe even sticking on a lap of the KCapital course for fun at the end. To come on this spin you’ll need a decent level of fitness as its a long way and will take quite a few hours (We should be home by 6). Bring plenty of water and food for this one. There are drop out points along the way so if you only want to come along for a bit then thats fine too.

See ye there
Paddy (086 6087046)