Mountainbiking Association of Dublin

It looks like things have been a bit quiet in the club for the last few weeks, with many of us away, cycling in exotic locations. However, there are a couple of rides planned for this weekend which you should know about.

Saturday Club Ride
Taking place at Leadmines. Meet at the Barnaslingan car park at 10am. As usual, if you’re driving, park at Palmers pub and ride up the hill. This will suit regular riders and anyone who’s attended our recent beginners rides who want to keep it going.

Dr. Rob’s Introduction to Mountainbiking
Real life doctor and closet MAD member Rob Higgins of UCD cycling club is leading a beginners-level ride around Kilmashogue and Three Rock. All are welcome. Meet either at UCD Sports Centre before 10.30 or at the car park at the end of Kilmashogue Lane at about 11.15.

We hope to resume normal service shortly, with regular Saturday and Sunday rides (as soon as everyone is back, and the pains in my legs go away). It’s also time to get your night lights charged (or bought) since the night-riding season has well and truly begun.

Have a great weekend.

Afternoon all,

Saturday will be my last MAD spin for the guts of a year so I’m organising a spin to Kindelstown, Glen of the Downs and The Sugarloaf. We will meet at 10 - 10.15am at Kindelstown carpark and start with a couple of laps before heading on to Glen of the Downs and then to The Sugarloaf for some fun. This is suitable for all levels and it would be great to see a big crowd out! There are opt-out points after each destination so there’s no problem if you need to leave early etc. We will be finished in K’town at 1130; GOTD at 1; Sugarloaf at 230. If you can offer a lift then e-mail the group :)Bring the usual gear - food, water, minitool, pump, tubes, HELMET. A rain/wind-proof jacket would be handy for The Sugarloaf.

On Saturday night Tom has kindly organised the MAD-Lash Part Deux. We’re meeting in Hogan’s pub at 8pm. Who knows where this will lead…

Hopefully there will be a spin on Sunday too so keep an eye on your mails and the website.

If you have a question then contact us at committee AT madmtb DOT com

Nigel
0879335403

Saturday - All,

Sat spin is back following the beginners course, this is the fun spin of the weekend and involves 3 - 4 hours of a cycling with a few breaks and taking in a variety of trails.

As for the spin:-

Meeting the Yellow House, Rathfarnham @ 10am http://www.madmtb.com/club_rides.html
Heading to :- Masseys - HF - Maybe Cruagh - Masseys - YH
Duration 3 -4 hours
Rem:- http://www.madmtb.com/begin_code.html

Again this spin is not set around savagery but more of a social spin! set for all levels. New members please take your application http://www.madmtb.com/docs/2007_MAD_Member_Registration.doc form to join mad for collection after the spin!

See you there!

Martin Lynch

Sunday - Taylor’s Threerock pub at 10am. Destination to be decided on the day. Likely to be fastish and long (4-5 hours). It’s not suitable for beginners, but if you think you are up to it then contact the committee first.

Nigel
0879335403
committee AT madmtb DOT com

After the first 3 weeks have been raining, dull and raining respectively, we’ll do a little sundance this weekend in the hope that the current fine weather lasts.

This Saturday we will be visiting the Mecca of MTBing, Three Rock.
We’ll meet at Ticknock Carpark at 10am and ride for about 2.5 hours.
Directions here
Parking available at the carpark, or at Taylors pub down the road.

This week’s Tech Talk will be on chains, specifically breaking and rejoining them.
As usual, you’ll require a helmet, gloves, rainjacket, food, water, spare tube, pump and a tool which fits all of the various parts of your bike (remembering things like spanners for bolts on wheels etc)

As ever, queries can be directed to committee AT madmtb.com

Sean

Crossing the midway mark with much gusto, this weeks Beginner Course will take place in the Leadmines off the Enniskerry Road.
Directions here
We strongly advise parking at Palmers Pub and cycling out (10mins max), parking is very limited at Barnasligan Lane and the area gets easily congested with a few cars, which annoys the locals.
Even better still, you could cycle out there and leave the car at home….

We’ll meet at Barnasligan Car Park at 10am (rain, hail, sun or even shine!) and roll on from there, for about 2 hours.

As usual, you’ll require a helmet, rainjacket, food, water, spare tube, pump and tool.
If you’re under 16 years of age, you’ll need a parent to sign this form.

We haven’t yet decided what the TechTalk will cover, so we’re very open to canvassing! Post a comment or send an email if you know of anything that you’d like covered. So far we’ve showed you how to set up your bike and fix a puncture.

As always, queries can be directed to committee@madmtb.com or a direct reply to this post.

See you all Saturday,
Sean

Afternoon folks,

Loads happening this weekend - hill-running, beginner’s biking, intermediate biking and awesome/savage biking!

Friday - Myself and Cait are gonna continue our preparations for Annacurragh by hitting the hills for some mountain running. Meet at 7pm at the entrance to Ticknock Carpark. Everyone is welcome.

Saturday - Beginners Course #2
With a great turnout of 22 riders, many of them taking their first steps into the world of mountainbiking, we are pleased to announce details of this week’s adventure….

The MAD MTB Beginners Course continues this on Saturday, August 11th. We’ll meet up in the Kindlestown car park at 10am (directions below). Sean will show you how to repair a puncture before starting - something which everyone will eventually need to know how to do. Depending on the numbers who turn up we’ll divide into smaller groups and have an easy ride around Kindlestown for about two hours.

Helmets are compulsory on these rides (Ask Fidelma why!!!) - no exceptions under any circumstances. Check here for a list of what else to bring.If you’re under 16 you must have a parent/guardian sign this form and bring it along on the day. There is no cost for attending these rides but anyone continuing to ride with MAD afterwards must join the club (€20, +€35 Cycling Ireland membership).

Most people will need to drive to this venue so lifts will probably be required by some - use the website or mailing list to organise this amongst yourselves.

Directions available here

Sunday - There will be two Sunday spins this week - one easy and one hard. Both of the spins are meeting at Taylor’s Threerock Pub at 10am.

1)RachelC will be taking the easier spin to Cloon and back via the Wicklow Way. If you are interested then e-mail her at “rachelcinnsealach AT googlemail DOT com” or call/text on 087 2561906. Rachel would be grateful if one or two of the more experienced members could lend a hand.

2)The harder spin will be heading further afield after some fun on Madjestic and the other trails in Ticknock. Hopefully we’ll get as far as Djouce after Ticknock. Contact me on 0879335403 or poloholemint AT gmail DOT com for more details.

Any queries can be directed to committee AT madmtb DOT com

Nigel

The MAD MTB Beginners Course kicks off on Saturday August 4th. We’ll meet up in the Hellfire Club car park at 10am (directions below). Paddy will show you how to check your bike over before the ride and how to set it up properly. Depending on the numbers who turn up we’ll divide into smaller groups and have an easy ride around Masseys Wood for about two hours.

**** EDIT ****
For those driving up to the Hellfire carpark on saturday morning please note that the carpark there is closed for the foreseeable future (apparantly there was some anti social activities happening … probably the usual devil worshiping, sacraficing of small animals and all that lark!).

Anyway, as a result of this there is very limited car space at the entrance to the carpark so you have two options.

(Also, to make sure there is no confusion, we’re still meeting at the Hellfire carpark for 10am.)

First, when you pass the Hellfire carpark on your right, continue along the road another 100 metres or so and there is a small area on the left where you can also park (there’s a small pedestrain gate into Masseys Woods there).

Second (and probably the safest option), following the directions below, after the Ballyboden roundabout continue straight on up the hill (i.e. don’t turn right) and you will pass a pub on your left hand side (The Merry Ploughboy), with a large carpark on the right. There’ll be loads of space to park here, and its near the top of the hill (road wise) so won’t involve too much extra cycling. If you decide to park here, be there, ready to go by 9:30 and i’ll meet ye there and we’ll cycle up.
**** EDIT ****

Helmets are compulsory on these rides - no exceptions under any circumstances. Check here for a list of what else to bring.

If you’re under 16 you must have a parent/guardian sign this form and bring it along on the day. There is no cost for attending these rides but anyone continuing to ride with MAD afterwards must join the club (€20, +€35 Cycling Ireland membership).

Map Link

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.

Hello all,
We are back to the regular weekends of no official racing, but we have a few things in mind for those of you with the racing bug!

Saturday - Morgan’s Saturday spin. Meeting at Taylor’s Threerock Pub at 10am. We are going to spin up to the Bluelight pub and do a timed climb from there all the way to the top of Fairy Castle. Steve suggested that we set up a section on the website with records of certain trails and this is the first one. We will follow that with laps of the club course in preparation for the National Championships next weekend.

Sunday - Regular Sunday spin. Meeting at the Yellow House Pub at 10am. We’re going for a nice long spin starting with a timed run of the Kilmashogue Hillclimb! Ryan has set the bar for us - 13mins 30secs. Destination after the climb is yet to be confirmed but expect the spin to last 3-5 hours
Alternate Sunday Spin. Shane Lavelle and Ciaran Clissman are taking a spin down in Glendalough. Meeting at Glendalough Visitor’s Carpark at 9am. Contact Shane with any questions on 0863195936.

Any other queries, contact the committee at committee AT madmtb DOT com

Nigel
0879335403

Tally-Ho old chaps!

There will be a gentlemanly pursuit of bicycling extremity up 3 rock on Tuesday evening, wot wot!

Pipe-smoking of Old Holdburn is allowed on the ascents but not on the descents.
Loose-pants must be tucked into knee-length socks.

Snuff-snorting and tweed jackets are acceptable, as are large moustaches and monocles.

Skinny moustaches and seedy leering (per image below) will not be permitted.

Meet at Taylors pub at 7pm, ~7:15 at Ticknock.

We might try include one of the three routes I have in mind for the DIXIE dash to see what you other bounders think, wot say you?

Note:
This will be an awesome-paced paced spin with a hard technical climb & fast rocky descending, thus not suitable for beginners, oh, and bring your full suss for full fun!
Fergal
087-792-7730

During the month of August MAD will run another introductory mountainbiking course. This is for anyone who wants to take up the sport or who was involved in the past and wants to get back into it. Each week we’ll lead you around a new area, providing advice and support. There will also be a demonstration on the basics of bike maintenance.

Between now and the start of August we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have on bikes and equipment. We’d also be interested in hearing which maintenance/repair tasks you’d like to learn about. Just send an email to the address below.

Check out the beginners pages for details of what you’ll need to bring. If you have any questions or just want to let us know you’re interested, email committee@madmtb.com.

We’ll provide an update with full details each week, including directions. The general plan is as follows.