I’ve written before about the thrill of riding new trails as I am lucky enough to travel with work and take a bike with me to various places.

This week I am in Dublin, and Nanny (the Chi-Ti beast) is with me. Went out to Ticknock last night, but with a desire to piece together the off-piste trails.

Met Kevin (are you on here Kevin?) on the way up to masts, and he gracefully agreed to show this fat old knacker how to piece together the trails with wonderfully inconsistent names 🙂 (Stage 1, Stage 1.5, red tractor, blue tractor, satellite, Loam Neeson etc etc)

On the first one (stage 1.5 I think), I had a spectacular OTB on a muddy drop that left me missing my left shoe, legs tangled in the bike and face down, pointing downhill, lying in the peat bog. There after followed a huge amount of whooping, screaming and crashes left and right as I banged my pedals off stumps and rocks, slid of roots and generally minced pathetically my way around. But with a big smile on my face!

Things I learned from Kevin:
1) “this one is loamy and a wee bit techy” = “this is a knee deep peat bog that never dries out and has oddly angled roots all the way through it” 🥳
2) “You really should keep left over this drop” = “if you go right, its a 2m drop straight into a hole filled with rocks” 😂

Brilliant fun, haven’t crashed so much in years, still shedding peat out of my orifices. cheers Kev!

highly recommend off piste at ticknock, but deffo take a guide 🙂

Did you strava it by any chance?

Glad you enjoyed it. Ticknock is my local hill. Great trails there and further in to Wicklow. From Ticknock you can also drop in to the Gap http://www.thegap.ie trail center if you fancy some well build, short but great runs. Loam Neeson is my least favorite trail up there this time of year. Just a zero flow mud fest. Good summer trail though. “Red Tractor” or “Shizelle” as it’s “officially” named by the builder is prob my favourite trail up there.

If anyone is over Dublin direction and wants a tour of the trails drop me a line.

Did you strava it by any chance?

I’d say every trail there is on Strava. Prob on trailforks too

I did the official route of Ticknock (aka 3 Rock) in the summer. Great fun but very short at about 50 mins. Didn’t have time to get the Trailforks out.

I hate crashing by the way, doesn’t constitute fun in my book!

Loam Neeson

Genius!

holy thread resurrection, batman

Aye, all the trails are on Trailforks (and strava), just a lot of very inconsistent naming going on 🙂

Been back a few times since, great fun, and The Gap is a good addition (though an odd set up re payment/form filling etc).

Anyway, when I go over to Dublin with my bike the only issue to solve now is the hideous road climb from Sandyford up to the trail head. You think if I stick my thumb out one of the drivers heading up with a bike would stop and give me a lift? 😉

we are staying in Skerries for Christmas. been deliberating over taking the bike? Wicklow or Rostrevor might just be a bit far for me to get away with – Ticknock looks perfect.