New Trails Accepted for Castlewellan and Rostrevor!??

[Speedfreak]

Reading the Mourne Observer now and have come across an article saying about this, can anyone let us know what's going to be happening? I'm guessing C/wellan will be XC and Rostrevor will be DH + XC?

Just to make sure I don't get anyone's hopes up here, I've read that this wil be starting in 2010 and will take about two financial years to complete...but the fact I'm reading this from a newspaper has got me all excited cus it's ACTUALLY going to happen...isn't it!!? lol

[rochey]

Are these going to be dedicated trails like the centres in Wales/Scotland etc or just ones that bikers are allowed on?

[Speedfreak]

It has said the move forward has been taken mainly from seeing the success of the trails down south, so I'm guessing they wil be much the same idea up here...as in dedicated sustained and well made MTB trails...for MTB's only...no walkers to give us stink and get in our way! :D :D

[rochey]

Sweet. No powerwalkers. No yorkshire poodle things on 20 metre leads. Its about time. We do have some cracking hills and mountains, there should be more places like that! I work all over Northern Ireland and some of the places I've seen would make outstanding riding. But roll on 2012.

[Speedfreak]

Haha, will be very very good! :) Rostrevor could easily be the heart of MTB in N Ireland I think, such an area for it!

[rochey]

You could nearly have a good day out on the bike anywhere down round that neck of the woods. But I think your right there. If they do it right and maintain it well, It would maybe open the eyes of the other councils and the forestry commission, maybe see more centres opening here. Would be a right wee money spinner that.

[Speedfreak]

From my experience of mtbing in N.I Rostrevor is the best place I've been to which has had had minimal work done to it, if there are proper trails there...I'll probably jizz myself when I ride them! lol

And I hope you're right about opening the eyes of the FS etc, I can't see this failing anyway, their are two of te most known councillers in my area backing it so I think that's a brilliant start!

[rochey]

I think it will put NI on the map for mountain biking. The only downside is everybody that ever rode a bike will be having a crack at them! But then the normal trails will be clear for the taking... Whats that old movie quote "If you build it, They will come", literally lol

[Speedfreak]

Haha I like that quote, means a lot to me lol

Yeah, and imagine the races that will held, and the tracks they will be held on! Sweetness! :) Can understand the problem with having inexperienced riders on the tracks at first, but in order for the sport to progress they will have to ride the tracks, but they will get better and so get better kit and generally bring mtbing forward. Potentially annoying for experienced mtber's at first, but it shouldn't be too bad...hopefully lol.

Edit-just realised, there will robably be tracks 'grades' in place for how difficult they are, so inexperienced riders may not be too bad problem as you think, so long as they stick to the ride grade of track lol

[rochey]

Yeah, although I have mate who won a bike in a raffle, mad as a hatter. No helmet gloves nothing. He seems to be ok.

[trailfox]

hold on now, slow down...

can anyone let us know what's going to be happening?
any CAAN/NTSR people out there?



Edit-just realised, there will robably be tracks 'grades' in place for how difficult they are, so inexperienced riders may not be too bad problem as you think, so long as they stick to the ride grade of track lol
lol, yea I brought my wee cousin to the camps course about a year ago and he got to the 1st fireroad pass pushing up from the bottom and he was ready to go back down, it was lashing though :D brought him again a few weeks ago and he did the whole run on his mantra 2, pretty cool to see his tech progression.. tbh the first time I did the old champs course I was bricking it in the top section. Now im excited sitting at the top!

For the record Id be more than happy to help with building!

-----------------------------------------
btw james, the jump on that run in castlewellan isnt that mossed over, still dont like the look of the landing though :o although it is pretty fun carving your way down through the bluebells after it!
Oh and Ive got a huck in altataggart that you/anyone on a big bike here may be interested in. would make a nice photograph :-) a good 10-15ft drop to 40ish degree run out with a 3ft gap.

[Speedfreak]

For those who havn't seen the article here you's go ;)




Mountain Bike Trail Planned for Castlewellan

DOWN District Council's Recration and Community Service's Committee has agreed to support plans for a mountain bike trail in Castlewellan Forest Park.

The request was accepted at this week's committee meeting, when member's were asked, in principle, to jointly fund the project along with Newry and Mourne Distrcit Council.

The scheme, which will see a trail being set-up in both Castlewellan and Rostrevor Forest Parks, has been described by Cllr Willie Clarke as a ''world class event''.

Down District Council will have to fund over £109,000 for project costs over the two financial years, beginning in 2010.

The attraction, which is described as the Mountain Bike MTB Mournes, will cost nearly £2m in total, with many Councillers hoping it will attract countless tourists to the area.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Carmel O' Boyle (SDLP) said: ''It's an opportunity to have an event spanning over the two councils and I'm happy to support it in principle''

Sinn Fein representatives also expressed their support for the proposal following the meeting.

Cllr Clarke stated: ''We only need to look at the recent programme of trail development in the South of Ireland to see the opportunities available to local economies on the back of a local trail development programme.
''That's why we need to back this initiative, which is a good way of improving our wonderful natural amenities''

After reading through it again, this is only a backing of the project that funds still have to be made for. None-the-less I have every confidence that this project will be successful and we will have some world class trails on our doorstep before you can say Trailfox keep that stuff quiet on here please lol ;)

It will be fixed up don't you worry :) Your drop sounds fun, but I'm not too sure where altataggart is lol.

[Conor]

Hurdle 1 of many successfully cleared!!!

[trailfox]

*cough* erm run? what run? i must be talking about my back yard.. heh heh.. yea, that was it. :-):o

thinking about it and here's some for them..
right, so the council own the FS (?).. so then that hurdle is cleared according to that article?
- So what other hurdles are there apart from money?
- Who will build trails? (I take it there's still no proffessional trail builders as of yet?)
- You think it will be one of those pay and play trails?
- if yes, how on earth do you enforce that?
- will there still be horrendous charges on race organisers if there is already a properly made trail (no more paying a ranger to have a nice walk about)?
- how about ns bridges with railings accross the fireroads instead of gaping/riding accross them in rostrevor?

still though.. sounds great! Maybe by the time I get my sx trail there'll be legal trails :-)

[MrNuts]

Never happen, too many workshy politians involved, all the cash will be swallowed up by their expenses

[JAC]

Re: National Stadium.

Nah I reckon it's ripe to happen, but won't be without it's disputes.People will be reluctant to take responsibility when it comes down to the signing off, maybe fears of legal consequences. When have we ever seen the politicians actually coming together on something without trying to score off each other?

[AndyB]

CAAN, in partnership with the councils and Forest service have had a trail planning consultant draw up designs for 2 major trail centres, Rostrevor and Castlewellan, it looks like the funding is in place and the maintenance/management issues seem to have been resolved. Forest service had some concerns about the impact of the trails on timber production, so asked Coillte, the Republic of Ireland's forestry company, to do an impact study. As far as I'm aware 2 senior Coillte foresters visited both sites within the last month, so we're just waiting for their report.
When the report is presented, a case will be made to the Minister and she will give the go ahead, hopefully!
I've spoken to quite a few of the people involved over the last few weeks and the feelings, generally are positive, but nothing is certain.
Fingers crossed
A.

[trailfox]

Now that just made my day :-)

see when you say trail centers.. do they mean the gravelled, all-weather, mini-fireroad type trails or will we still have our roots and rocks?

[tony07]

most likely gravel, more sustainable. After speaking to people in Innerleithen, they said the trails they built ie not suppose to be there are some of the best with everything natural. Moral of the story the new trails will be brilliant for a rip, but we should keep the old natural single track!!

[Mac]

Now that just made my day :-)

see when you say trail centers.. do they mean the gravelled, all-weather, mini-fireroad type trails or will we still have our roots and rocks?

From what I have seen the trails are to be as natural as possible with less of the endless gravel trails that we see in the likes of Kirroughtree etc.

All good news at the minute and it is great to see all the politicians we lobbied over the last few months supporting the development.

[Lwatson]

I think "legal" trails will be the worst thing to happen to Rostrevor, Rostrevor's "champs" track is one of my favourite DH tracks and IMO the best in the country, theres no way the likes of that would be made legal.

Theres nothing wrong with what we have up there at the minute, why fix whats not broken??

I think they will create ****e singletracky gravel trails purpose built for mtb's, then say that they've provided trails therefore we wont be allowed access to other parts of the forest.

Are they asking for feedback from the mtb community?? People who actually use the trails on a regular basis?


I reckon DHillers will loose out and the current DH trails will be replaced with these gravel trails that anyone can do.

[Rob]

kind of agree the naural is the best not this bench cut rubbish thats been proposed. after its been rode in it just fills up with water and is like riding down a river. Any of you that have rode in wales will know what i mean. its all slate n gravel that just fills up with water. If thats what they are building then it will destroy the good natural dh stuff...

[keyserni]

To be honest I think it will be all XC for legal reasons I doubt they'd bother with the DH stuff or if they go all out and have looked at places in Scotland then they will do the DH stuff properly.

[Conor]

I think "legal" trails will be the worst thing to happen to Rostrevor, Rostrevor's "champs" track is one of my favourite DH tracks and IMO the best in the country, theres no way the likes of that would be made legal.

Theres nothing wrong with what we have up there at the minute, why fix whats not broken??

I think they will create ****e singletracky gravel trails purpose built for mtb's, then say that they've provided trails therefore we wont be allowed access to other parts of the forest.

Are they asking for feedback from the mtb community?? People who actually use the trails on a regular basis?


I reckon DHillers will loose out and the current DH trails will be replaced with these gravel trails that anyone can do.


A few points: Representatives from almost all of the significant cycling groups in NI (with an odd exception or two) met with the trail driving body as well as meeting the trail designer/builder. There, the MTB Community gave their thoughts, opinions, desires, what sort of trails they would like to see. And this included several important DH people and race organisers.

You cannot have legal access to unofficial trails. End of. To many liability issues. The land managers have to address illegal access- by removing the risks and discouraging the user group from using the forest, or to provide an alternative facility that can be managed.

Because of the two above points, and the fact that the project drivers know the MTB scene in NI, the trails will be designed to meet ALL of our needs as closely as possible. From beginner XC riders to DH professionals.

[barry_kellett99]

kind of agree the naural is the best not this bench cut rubbish thats been proposed. after its been rode in it just fills up with water and is like riding down a river. Any of you that have rode in wales will know what i mean. its all slate n gravel that just fills up with water. If thats what they are building then it will destroy the good natural dh stuff...


I think "legal" trails will be the worst thing to happen to Rostrevor, Rostrevor's "champs" track is one of my favourite DH tracks and IMO the best in the country, theres no way the likes of that would be made legal.

Theres nothing wrong with what we have up there at the minute, why fix whats not broken??

I think they will create ****e singletracky gravel trails purpose built for mtb's, then say that they've provided trails therefore we wont be allowed access to other parts of the forest.

Are they asking for feedback from the mtb community?? People who actually use the trails on a regular basis?


I reckon DHillers will loose out and the current DH trails will be replaced with these gravel trails that anyone can do.



Completely disagree.

Rode Nant yr Arian, Coed Y brenin, Climachx last month. Brother stayed on and did the Marin Trail and Coed Llandegla which he reported to be good also. From experience, and with rain, the first set of trails I did were anything but like riding down a river.

Similarly the 7stanes stuff is well drained and managed. You can look at Mabie which is an excellent loop and most of it is not gravel based.
Similarly look at Drumlanrig. Earthy, rooty and technical. Yet neither are "natural" trails. A man went out and cut them out of the hill. Fact.


Ps - What is "Natural Down hill stuff"?
There is no such thing as a natural trail in my book. Trails don't just spring up and appear out of the ground by magic.


It really gets on my goat that people can't look to the positives in the possible situation. Maybe you wont like the trails. But surely you cant look past the possibility that it could be the beginning of something bigger and better? If you want your opinion heard, get involved and quit moaning on forums.


The people behind this need congratulating and recognition for the work they have done. They didnt sit about giving off about there being no legal trails or trails they didnt like, they got up and campaigned and drove the thing forward. If had a hat, I would take it off to them.


and relax

TFI Friday.

[grillpan]

Touche. Well said that man. Think they should install ski lifts as well!!!

[thetrailbuilder]

a place called fortwilliam exists, perfectly legal and brutal if you crash, have to wait and see what standard we get

[Bloom]

I think "legal" trails will be the worst thing to happen to Rostrevor, Rostrevor's "champs" track is one of my favourite DH tracks and IMO the best in the country, theres no way the likes of that would be made legal.




It really gets on my goat that people can't look to the positives in the possible situation. Maybe you wont like the trails. But surely you cant look past the possibility that it could be the beginning of something bigger and better? If you want your opinion heard, get involved and quit moaning on forums.

They didnt sit about giving off about there being no legal trails or trails they didnt like, they got up and campaigned and drove the thing forward. If had a hat, I would take it off to them.


I know where you're coming from Lwatson. I've ridden in a few places in Canada and I'm not ****ting you when I say Rostrevor is comparable with them. My fear, and it is purely selfish, is the trails I ride every week are going to be made unusable and I will be left with a gravel track to ride round. Now I've heard the plans that have been suggested and if they are all implemented then we should all be happy. Unfortunately for the DHers amongst us our style of trail will probably be the hardest for forest/council to accept. Does anyone involved know the forest/council opinion on the likes of the Champs course?

Barry, you have to appreciate that there is a large portion of people who do not want legal trails at the cost of the trails they ride week in week out. There are many people who hate trail centres and the sanitised riding that they provide. Despite all the moaning on here about lack of riding, there really is tons of good stuff out there and tons of good stuff waiting to be discovered. If new DH trails are going to be provided in Rostrevor, then they are going to have to be pretty damn good to be better than what is already there.

[ryan]

For once I completely agree with Barry. Well said that man.

[timH]

I think we can all agree that more trails is a good thing, even better when they're built for you! New trails don't necessarily mean the old stuff goes away. Glentress, arguably the busiest trail centre in the UK, still has plenty of locals trails which aren't signposted, are hidden to the unknowing, yet are still belter to ride.

On the face of it, this is a good news story for us all, it may well turn out just to be lip service, but let's wait till then to complain.

AndyB is sounding optimistic and he's been privy to a lot of the u-turns and frustration relating to FS/CAAN/funding schemes in the past, so I'll trust his opinion on this one for now.

[Bloom]

New trails don't necessarily mean the old stuff goes away. Glentress, arguably the busiest trail centre in the UK, still has plenty of locals trails which aren't signposted, are hidden to the unknowing, yet are still belter to ride.

I believe it is the intention to 'do away' with the old trails. Most the trails are very east to spot so would be easy to make unusable.

[TrixR4kidz]

I've seen the plans for these official trails, and I must admit they are looking good...

http://blog.delawareandlehigh.org/wp-content/lne-trail.jpg

[barry_kellett99]

Barry, you have to appreciate that there is a large portion of people who do not want legal trails at the cost of the trails they ride week in week out. There are many people who hate trail centres and the sanitised riding that they provide. Despite all the moaning on here about lack of riding, there really is tons of good stuff out there and tons of good stuff waiting to be discovered. If new DH trails are going to be provided in Rostrevor, then they are going to have to be pretty damn good to be better than what is already there.

I agree with what you're saying. I am not a sole lover of groomed stuff. I definitely agree that rostrevor is probably the best spot in the whole of Northern ireland for Moutain biking of all disciplines right now and I love riding there.

I was thinking along the same lines as TimH in that the old stuff will continue to exist but not be waymarked etc for obvious reason.

It would be a great shame though if the old stuff was nuked i agree, But after the dust settles, would it not be reasonable to expect the old stuff to "reappear" off the radar?

[marko]

a place called fortwilliam exists, perfectly legal and brutal if you crash, have to wait and see what standard we get

i kicked the crap out of that steel fence at fort william. remember the kid who had a broken leg and ankle at the Deergate?? (just below his knee his leg turned left, then his ankle turned left again and his foot pointed the wrong way!!!) amazing what hitting a pedal off a large rock at speed can do.

Have you read the reports off descent-world about the state of the Bill this year?? Meant to be a bike and body killer!Pot-holes everywhere and rocks the size of heads sticking out ready to destroy your wheels!

frankly i don't give a frick what the trails turn out like, 2 million spent on local forest is alot better than 2 million spent on politicans lunches, pornos, second houses, bathrooms, holidays, yogurts etc etc. Hell look at all the dh trails on the world cup circuit and they are all man-made!give me a fort william, champery or even a non-world cup standard track such as Inners, Molfre or Ae any day of the week!

I think alot of people suffer from Northern Ireland Syndrome! Moan about not having something, then when an investment comes along moan about the investment! Never happy and never support anything!
Peace Out!

[Rob]

Completely disagree.

Rode Nant yr Arian, Coed Y brenin, Climachx last month. Brother stayed on and did the Marin Trail and Coed Llandegla which he reported to be good also. From experience, and with rain, the first set of trails I did were anything but like riding down a river.

TFI Friday.

Well my locals from our caravan is the marin, langedegla and permanchoe and not a jump in either, trust me when its wet the bench cut stuff just sits in puddles of water, just ask the wife as she has to wash me gear when i come back:D now theres no mud as its all slate n gravel but i had to buy a front mudguard as the spray of the front wheel was so bad and waterproof socks as my left foot was soaked in seconds... give me a bit of slippy mud anyday:alcohol:

[thetrailbuilder]

that fence was a bad boy!!

[trailfox]

right OK im confused now, a few months ago we were really excited at just a hint that there's been some progress in legal, sustainable trails being built.. now half of us are complaining that legal, sustainable trails are being built. A while back when the FS smoothed out scalp steve made a good point in how there can be proggression in an aggreement/relationship between riders/FS/landowners. I think these plans are an excellent step forward and surely are what we've been asking for this past few years and by no means is it the be all and end all of sustainable trail building in NI.

like tim says, complain when the champs courses are destroyed, but until then be happy that the FS/Landowners have actually aggreed to letting us ride our bikes on their land on trails they are building for us.

I personally dont think that the exising trails will be destroyed, even if it is attempted the champs courses make pretty good use of existing features and there are next to no man-made/NS structures that Ive seen from riding them so theres not alot to be destroyed. Although I do aggree that if they are going to 'modify' the courses that national television takes an interest in and that is a work of trailbuilding excellence, they will definately have to consider the ideas and opinions of those that are and will be using it..
speaking of which.. who is this trail designer/builder, local guy?



frankly i don't give a frick what the trails turn out like, 2 million spent on local forest is alot better than 2 million spent on politicans lunches, pornos, second houses, bathrooms, holidays, yogurts etc etc. Hell look at all the dh trails on the world cup circuit and they are all man-made!give me a fort william, champery or even a non-world cup standard track such as Inners, Molfre or Ae any day of the week!

I think alot of people suffer from Northern Ireland Syndrome! Moan about not having something, then when an investment comes along moan about the investment! Never happy and never support anything!
Peace Out!
here here!

a little side question aswell, how far across the forest will this reach? Will Yellow Water be part of this?