Have you ever wanted to try mountain biking in co. wicklow but dont know where to go?
As a beginner to the sport it can be confusing of where you can actually ride your bike in the wicklow mountains area. There are many coillte forrests that are out of bounds to mountain bikers and can only be used if a permit is required for various races and events. There is only one permitted public mountain bike trail in co. wicklow which is the very popular, ballinastoe mtb trails, located outside the village of roundwood and covers over 14kms of offroad singletrack for everyone to enjoy for free.
If you like funky fun singletrack trails, then ballinastoe trails is the best place. Forest road climbs lead you into tight twisty singletrack with loads of ups and downs, tight turns and technical rocky bits. The waymarked loop includes long climbs and descents over a wide variety of sometimes difficult terrain on trails that are only suitable for mountain bikes i.e. bikes with 26inch wheels, knobbly tyres and flat handlebars.
Roughly 9km of the waymarked loop is singletrack and these sections are narrow, sometimes steep trails of not more than 1m in width. On these sections, you will also experience variable surfaces including rocks, mud, roots, loose stones and gravel and they may become slippery in wet weather.
The remaining 5km of the waymarked loop are forest roads, which are wide gravel roads and tracks with variable surfaces including loose gravel and pot holes. You should expect to encounter vehicles at any time on these parts of the loop. The waymarked loop accesses high and sometimes exposed ground in remote situations and both bike and rider should be prepared for any eventuality. If you dont have a mountain bike with front suspension and in good working order thats needed for the ballinastoe mtb trails there are local biking companies that offer bike hire and beginner coaching sessions to help you to the next level.
We at TrackandTrail.ie are mobile adventure sports company specialising in mountain bike lessons and bike hire in the wicklow area so we deliver bikes to you!
This is a short film made by some young Mountain Bikers who are also doing a film course and decided to make a short documentary on Irish MTB and the growth of it.
Well worth a watch even for the non biker. I really think mountain biking could be Ireland’s next big tourist attraction if Scotland or Wales is anything to go by.
Anyway enjoy the show and if you like it drop them a positive comment on their Facebook page Here.
It’s very very early stages but we had to give you all a brief to something we have in the pipe line, in the very near future we will be launching the Track and Trail App which will work on pretty much all smart phones from iPhone , Android, Nokia Symbian and Windows Phone.
The application is tool to help those new to mountain biking or who might not be familiar with the official mountain bike trails or their surrounding areas.
The App uses the GPS in your phone to show you n the map where you are on the trail so you need never be lost or unsure where you are on the trails again. In addition to maps function the app also shows give you some background information on the trail before you arrive as well as so a directory of other useful things like places to grab a bit to eat or where you can find a bed for the night if you are planning on staying the weekend.
There are lots of other potential features we might add like the ability to ‘Check in’ to Facebook and Twitterwhen you’re taking five mid spin to make your friends sitting at home jealous.
We are really looking forward to letting you all try thins out for real and we would love to hear what kind of features and usability you guys would like to see added.
Well we couldn’t ask for a better start to the day with sun and no sign of any rain. We started our 2 day bronze gaisce hillwalk with transition year students from rockford manor secondary school at djouce woods carpark. We made our way up through the woods overlooking powerscourt waterfall and onto the open mountain of the wicklow way and up onto the spur of djouce mountain. Here we reached the highest point on the wicklow way, we were onto the boardwalks of white hill and down into the ballinastoe carpark where our support vehicle was waiting with some well deserved refreshments. From ballinastoe we made our way up over ballinafunshogue hill following the wicklow way and made our way down to lough dan hostel where the group was to spend their overnight stay and a well deserved rest after walking 16kms!
Day 2
On the morning of our second day the weather was misreable but it did,nt dampen the spirit of this group. We set off on our adventure following the wicklow way from lough dan and up onto paddock hill taking our lunch break at brushers gap where mountain meitheal have built a wonderful mountain hut to take shelter from the weather.
After lunch we ventured off over paddock hill and down into the glenmacnass valley over the river following the wicklow way and made our final leg of our walk down to the brockagh resource center where we stopped for tea and buscuits. Over the 2 days we walked over 25kms and completing the bronze gaisce hillwalk and couldn’t of asked for a better group.
Well done to the transition year students of rockford manor secondary school 2011!
We were up at Ticknock Today ( Friday 1st July) and noticed the the road barrier in the top car park that leads to the mast has been cut. We are not sure what has happened but it serves as a remiender that we should all be vigilant and not leave valuables in the the car unattented.
We will be at Ticknock from 10am on Saturday Morning offering the best value Mountain Bike Hire around. All bikes come with full equiptement including Helmets, Pads, Gloves and Tool Kits.
Well what a great day we had down at the Mountain Bike Demo Day at Ticknock MTB Trails. Companies such as Cyclesuperstore, Eurocycles, and OC Tuning were there to lend a hand with some of the latest mountain bikes on sale which were all free to demo. OC Tuning had their full workshop in motion, which you could avail of a free set up for your suspension forks, thats service!
All the latest bikes including, Lapierre, Giant, Ktm, Cube, and Solid to name a few where there for anyone interested in purchasing one of these amazing bikes in the near future. There was a great crowd that attended and the weather was good so it made it a good day overall.
Transition Year students from Colaiste Cois Life on their Multi Activity Adventure Day at the Hellfire Club in the Dublin Mountains, took part in some fun activities including, Mountain Biking, Orienteering, and Survival training skills with Track and Trail.
Transition Year students from Colaiste Cois Life in Lucan on their Multi Activity Adventure day with Track and Trail at Ticknock Woods in Dublin Mountains. Students got a chance to try some Mountain Biking skills on our new Lapierre Technic 400 off-road Mountain Bikes on Coilltes new MTB trails at Ticknock. After lunch students were put through their paces, learning the skills of map and compass work, were set out competing in various groups to tackle our Orienteering course.
Transition years kicked off their year with a fun day out in corkagh park in clondalkin. Here at Track and Trail we gave the students of Collinstown Park Community School an opportunity to get involved in various activities such as, Mountain Biking skills, Archery, Team Games, and Orienteering which gets them interacting with their new classmates and teachers for the coming year ahead.
'Had a great time on the Ergo outing. Interesting challenges and great to do some orienteering once again. The bad weather might have dampened our gear but not our moods. It was a great day out!'
John Corkery
www.ergogroup.ie
Click here to see more photos!