Wheelers MTB ride in the Mournes

Sunday 9^th January 2011

It’s 7.45am on a bitter cold Sunday morning, the sky still dark with only the icy roads glistening under the moon light.  I am asking myself what have I let myself in for, I can barely get round Drumcairne Forest Park never mind the Mourne’s, I should still be in bed but instead I’m in the Moy with my mountain bike and a bunch of eejits also known as the Wheelers.  After loading the bikes into the van we were off, destination Kilbroney Park and the Mourne Mountains.  Mountain biking in the Mourne’s was a first for the majority of the Wheelers and we were eagerly anticipating the prospect of testing our newly developed skills from Drumcairne Forest and Parkanaur, well some of us were!  After a quick coffee stop to wake a few weary heads we were at our destination.  If the coffee didn’t work, what we were about to undertake certainly would.

The plan was to do a long ride with a couple of epic climbs thrown in.  Epic is possibly one of the most over used word used today however these climbs truly were epic.  After only a couple of miles we faced the first of these savage climbs, all of a sudden the fire road ramped up to dizzy heights with gradients reaching 30%, it was times like these that I was grateful to have a granny ring.  Cathal on the other hand did not have such luxuries thanks to a mechanical issue preventing him to drop into the granny ring.  I don’t know how he got up that climb but he did.  The climb was hard, but the views helped spur us on and very soon none was cold.  After a quick breather at the top, we regrouped and navigated across a challenging, snowy trail.  It was at this stage that Paul illustrated how to fall off the bike gracefully; assume the drop and role technique.  I on the other hand got acquainted with the river for the first time; something which I got to know all too well by the end of the day!

Soon we reached the bottom of longest climb of the day, it went on further than the eye could see, everybody knew that they were in for a tough ride but I don’t think anybody could comprehend just how tough.  By this stage the path was covered in snow, perhaps an inch or two in places, making the climb even harder.  In terms of steepness, it was on par with the first climb only a lot, lot longer.  It was relentless.  I felt like I was climbing one of the legendary climbs from the Tour de France with breathtaking scenery all around us, all that was missing was the fervent fans.  We laboured to the summit of Tievedockaragh via Castle Bog, climbing 1000ft in 2miles. The combination of the sheer steepness and snow made traction impossible in places and many Wheelers unashamedly having to walk parts of the climb.  A special mention should be made to both Paul and Martin who powered up the climb so quickly that they were starting to get cold by the time everyone else had caught up with them at the top.  At the top I remember thinking there would need to be one mighty good downhill after that effort, I wasn’t disappointed.

As the saying goes, what goes up must come down.  This proved a little trickier than first anticipated thanks to the snow and ice.  Lead by the experienced mountain biker Joe; who seemed to know ever trail and bump in the Mourne’s, we made it down to the forest again in one piece with Robbie and James having their own battle as to who could fall off the most on the way down.  I managed to fall into a stream once again here but you’re not trying hard enough unless you fall off right?!

At the forest, we had to decide whether we wanted to carry on down the fire road or cut through the forest on one of the maintained downhill mountain bike trail.  After inspecting the forest trail I remember thinking you’d have to be mad to try that and fully intended on taking the fire road with the others.  Paul, however had other ideas and ask what it was like, I jokingly told him it was fine and that I would follow him down.  Just as I was about to go down the fire road Paul shouts that he’s going down the forest trail, I followed, it was a moment of weakness.  The first two drops nearly threw me over the handlebars, I remember thinking we’re both getting a night in hospital after this one.  There was no turning back now.  We were flying down the trail on our hard tails in full road lycra gear alongside guys in full faced helmets, body armour and downhill bikes.  But the thrill was incredible, I could taste the adrenaline.  Miraculously we make it to the end of the trail without even falling off; we were buzzing, and up for doing it again.  We met the others however and kept moving down the mountain.  We still had time for one more technical singletrack trail and had just about enough fuel in tank for it too.  This trail was tamer than the previous downhill trail but equally as fun, ironically it was here that both Paul and I took a tumble once again.

We had been on the bikes for 2 hours and 30 minutes by this stage so I was more than happy to hear it was back to the van from here.  One of the most surprising things of the day was just how much of a workout you get from mountain biking.  I was not the only one complaining of tired legs and arms when we were loading the bikes back into van!  All in all it was an extremely fun day out which I will be doing again, especially if this arctic winter hangs around.

Credits

Cathal – ‘The Grinder’, real men don’t use the granny ring eh!

James – ‘The Clipless King’, Drumcairne is going to be a walk in the park next time!

Joe – ‘The Garmin’, excellent route, we’d be lost, literally without you!

Martin – ‘The Machine’, dropping everyone on them climbs, what’s in them Jaffa Cakes!

Paul – ‘The Kamikaze Kid’, you will be the death of me sir!

Robbie – ‘The Crashing King’, there’s falling off and then there’s falling off in style!

“A true cyclist sometimes has to bite the dust before he can reach the stars. Win. Survive. Hang in there. It’s a race against oblivion, a race against time, a race against yourself: a career, a life. Can a man’s character be represented in the way he rides a bike?”

Laurent Fignon