Posted by Ronan on Aug 10, 2010 in a bit of fun, comment, ireland, Limerick | 0 comments
I did something daft this weekend. I headed off to the Ballyhoura mountain bike trails with a guy who just completed the ring of Kerry on a bicycle (Iano), a guy who also completed the ring of Kerry by bicycle and THEN proceeded to cycle home (which is Galway btw!) and another guy who does Ironmen competitions. My 16k (back and forth) commute pales in comparison to what these guys do! Needless to say they were all fitter than I and very used to cycling. The only other person who hadn’t done an ironman or a ring of Kerry was the ironman’s girlfriend but she was super fit nonetheless – she was to pass me out on several occasions 
We arrived nice and early and got very cool rented Cube bikes from the centre for 40 yoyos. We were joined by another keen mountain biker who had done the Ballyhoura trails before so he was our lead and suggested we take the White trail – just 35km. The bikes were top class, very new, well serviced and well up to the task at hand – I therefore can’t blame the bike on nearly keeling over on some of the hills. I was wrecked after about 20km! Cycling up mountains is tougher than you’d think!
Apart from some steep climbs, the white trail is amazing! Some very fast parts, dark and spooky forests, long wooded boardwalks and fantastic views. The climbs might be tough but the downhill sections are just amazing and make up for the hard work getting up the hills. Speeding down a narrow track avoiding rocks really gets the adrenalin going
Because the scenery is so spectacular you might be lured into looking around but this is the biggest mistake you’ll make – it will only result in a crash – which will hurt! I came off a few times the worst when the pedal caught a rock and sent me flying! The other thing that will hurt like mad will be your ass! So here is my top-tip for mountain biking – wear shorts with (extra) padding!!
I’ll definitely be going back again – once my ass has recovered!
Iano brought his super-duper GPS watch which produces a map of of the trail.. (very cool). Note the steep climbs!
