cycling up sugarloaf

cormon

Hi lads ,

Just wondering if I could get some advice from the MTB crowd .I'm thinking about cycling up sugarloaf on thursday and need some info. I'm cycling about 5 months , 3 times a weeks rotating between 15/20k road cycles and forest/park spins on the northside .

1 ) how long to get up to the summit.

2) how much off the ascent has to be walked.

3) is there any pubs on the summit ?????? lol

Johnny Jukebox

1. About 30 - 40 minutes depending on your level of fitness

2. The upper half

3. No

Cycling up Sugarloaf is rather pointless. Cycling around it is much better fun as there is a network of trails that run around its base. There is one particularly good descent from the south facing slope down to Kilmacanogue - I rode it Sunday and its challenging.

Its not a forest/park spin - the climbs are tough, the descents challenging and theres a lot of loose rock and technical singletrack.

Enduro

What Johhny said....

and,

I hope you have someone to try out real mountain biking with. Mountain biking on actaul mountains is a real adventure sport. The chances of having a crash (and getting injured as a result) are relatively high, especially if you're not very experienced. for this reason, you really shouldn't go MTBing on your own. Its always good to have someone else their to help pick up the pieces / call the ambulance / bury the evidence.

The best way to get going cycling in places like the sugarloaf (where there are several good trails, none of which go to the top) is to join a club. MAD are running (free) intro MTB courses at the moment. That would be as good a place as any to start. In Ireland you need people to show you where the good trails are.

Civilian_Target

Enduro wrote:

I hope you have someone to try out real mountain biking with. Mountain biking on actaul mountains is a real adventure sport. The chances of having a crash (and getting injured as a result) are relatively high, especially if you're not very experienced. for this reason, you really shouldn't go MTBing on your own. Its always good to have someone else their to help pick up the pieces / call the ambulance / bury the evidence.

I did this in the Alps once. It scared several shades of **** out of me and I've never tried it since! I can cope with all manner of scary aqua sports but see being precariously balanced on two wheels on some rocks on the side of a steep mountain? That's ****ing scary!

Morgan

You can ride most of the way up - you'll need to scramble the last 70m or so though. It's a bit rough:

http://madmtb.fotopic.net/p21583644.html

Time to get to the summit? Depends how fast your'e going.

There's no pub - bring the hip flask.

Like Enduro says - there are several trails up there and it can be very exposed and treacherous. You'd need to know where you're going and be with a reliable group/rider.

Johnny Jukebox

Morgan wrote:

You can ride most of the way up - you'll need to scramble the last 70m or so though

Errr, dont think so Morgan. Robin maybe. Me and you, no.

Morgan

Approaching from the North it's fine - you can get within spitting distance of the rocky chute that leads to the summit.

Alkers

cormon wrote:

I'm cycling about 5 months , 3 times a weeks rotating between 15/20k road cycles and forest/park spins on the northside .

I'd think you'd be better off doing some actual mtbing before you attempt the sugarloaf!