Ballyhoura

Daegerty

Does anyone actually pay the 5 euros per day to park there?

I couldn't believe when I saw the price of it, in the midddle of nowhere and all the other little entrances to the forest cleverly blocked off (except ofr one or two where i'd park)

uberwolf

we did the time we were there. Not much to ask for a facility of that quality IMO.

C3PO

Daegerty wrote: »

Does anyone actually pay the 5 euros per day to park there?

I couldn't believe when I saw the price of it, in the midddle of nowhere and all the other little entrances to the forest cleverly blocked off (except ofr one or two where i'd park)

With an attitude like that it's a wonder we have any facilities in Ireland at all! Do you really think that €5 for a days riding on fantastic trails is bad value? I suppose you think that all the trails in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains were built by the "Trail Fairies" too?

andysheehan2003

here here rpl1,
a great facility in ballyhoura and well worth every cent!!! i have the yearly pass for 35 euro and that gets you into all coillte forests.
we need to support these facilites by paying for the trails, with this years pass now a swipe card hopefully the likes of the op will piss off somewhere else....

cantalach

The entitlement mindset strikes again...

Nisio

yup; paid up, wish there was something like it near me

Rapidmike

Let's see
3 odd million on 90 odd km of trails ..
Hot showers
picnic area
dedicated employees who all through the shi... Winter
cleared downed trees and filled washed out trails
and what do they ask
35€for a yearly pass to all coillte forests
or 5 € a day !!!!!!!!!
Any day your free come to Limerick on a trail building day
and we 'll show you why
IT'S FUC........ cheap !!!!!!

C3PO

Rode Ballyhoura for the 1st time for the Marathon Champs last year and was gobsmacked by the whole set-up! Particularly the obvious signs of ongoing trail maintenance, puts Ballinastoe to shame! Fair dues to all parties involved!

Ah_go_on

Fantastic facility and I don't mind paying the fiver myself.
Bear this in mind though: Coillte is a state agency funded by the tax payer and the chief executive takes a salary of approx half a million per annum.

I'd rather not pay the fiver and see him earning a little less than the Taoiseach.

Sorry for involving Politics in my beloved MTB;)

Timmaay

Hmmm, if only we had a carpark as such in Ballinastoe or Djouce woods, at the minute parking outside either of them is a bit of a no no with the amount of break-ins!

You can get an annual pass for ballyhoura for 30quid also I think, great value if you go there often!

thebouldwhacker

I buy the pass every year to support it, the guys who work there (not the bike rental guys) are basically on C.E. schemes, its their livelihood. I have never once been afraid to let my car there for hours as there is security (the only reason I have not gone to the above mentioned trails) , only once have I not had a hot shower, and always if you report a bad bit of trail they'll take note of it and do something about it.
€35 odd euro a year is nothing compared to how much one pays to enter road events on a one off basis.
I agree with the political broadcast above however not paying the money just means they will close it and will get pay rises and bonuses for implementing cost saving steps.
So yes I always pay, I also try and spend a few quid in the shop run by the rental guys, its all part of the service and should be supported.

Captain Havoc

I also paid 35 for the year and I didn't realise it's for all coillte parks. Much preferred Ballyhoura to the turbo trainer over the winter.

easygoing39

@ Daegerty..youre not a jewish cavan man by any chance???Luckily there's people in Irish mountaining biking who give up their time to build trails and keep them maintained.I'm proud to be one of the "trail fairies",oh er mrs,that sounds a bit gay!!LOL And when I park in Ballyhoura I too pay the fiver,its f -all for all the trails,plus other facilitys there.Christ,a pint costs more than that in a nightclub!!Stop being a tightwad mate,and look at what youre getting!

Lemag

Just echoing what everyone else has said here about €5 being great value for a fantastic facility.

That the OP hasn't returned to pass further comment on his own thread speaks for itself :rolleyes:

michael196

@ daegerty


yes it is 5 euro or 35 for the year.....that is the cost ..

but what is the value of Ballyhoura to you ?

how valuable is it to you ? as a first class mtb facility, where there will always be a crowd out.


'' you can know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing''



excellent facility, happy to have shower facilites and hot drinks available, especialy for those who have to travel to get to Ballyhoura, fantastic value at 5 euro and 35 euro. looking forward to returning in summer and autumn.

michael196

Daegerty wrote: »

Does anyone actually pay the 5 euros per day to park there?

I couldn't believe when I saw the price of it, in the midddle of nowhere and all the other little entrances to the forest cleverly blocked off (except ofr one or two where i'd park)

did u realise there is multiple MTB trails starting out from the car park ?

it not just a forest carpark, it is for Mountain biking ( MTB ).. and hill walking , and cross country runners and mountain runners...


lets expand ur horizon here...... say u decided to go mountain biking for a day trip in Sligo, u drive 2 - 3 hours, the 4-5 hours on beautiful scenic technical MTB trails already majically built for you for 'free' , fello MTB out there to challange urself against....

u feel like something hot to drink afterwards and u stink of sweat afterwards, u dont want to cool down in sweaty clothes risking getting a cold, or sitting into ur car in mucky clothes and u would love a place to change ur clothes.

a fiver gives u all that.


do you ever cross into the next vally ? over the hill, see whats there .....

langdang

There is entrance fee for other Coillte sites too - Curraghchase, possibly Gougane Barra. These are not mountain bike sites and wouldn't have the same facilities and upkeep as the ballyhoura trails. So the Ballyhoura is good value on this count alone, AND the yearly pass will also get you into the other pay-on-entry Coillte sites without paying an extra cent as far as I know.

Don't know about ye lot, but I like to find my car as I left it when I come back from a cycle! Considering there was a problem back along with theft from walkers/cyclists cars parked up in different spots around the hills(can't find link but remember some arrests after a series of thefts), I'm quite happy to have the peace of mind of leaving it in a proper car park.

Fi H

€4 into Donadea forest park and theres hardly even trees in there for ballyhoura sounds good to me. Was there once ages ago and loved the fact you could have a shower and wash your bike down at the end - happy days!

Tenzor07

Is this guy for real? A fiver is nothing in comparison to piece of mind, knowing that your car is relatively safe while you go off for the day on the trails...

If you ever go up the mountains around Dublin/Wicklow at the weekend you'll see plenty of marked and unmarked Garda cars dealing with the Scum breaking into cars all the time, so if a few Euro means that a watchman keeps an eye on things then I would gladly pay!!

julio_iglayzis

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Is this guy for real? A fiver is nothing in comparison to piece of mind, knowing that your car is relatively safe while you go off for the day on the trails...

If you ever go up the mountains around Dublin/Wicklow at the weekend you'll see plenty of marked and unmarked Garda cars dealing with the Scum breaking into cars all the time, so if a few Euro means that a watchman keeps an eye on things then I would gladly pay!!

+1
It's nice getting back to your car after a day's mountain biking knowing that it won't have smashed windows/be on fire/have mysteriously disappeared.

Ballyhoura is a fantastic facility, the trails are great and the people working there are sound. The five euro parking price is more than reasonable.

studiorat

It's free to use the Ballyhoura Trails.

You pay for the car-parking. My bet is it's only a matter of time before there's parking meters in Ticknock.

Arrive back an hour late because you got a puncture or were just having too much fun and you'll have a clamp on the car.
€120 nice...

Morgan

Ah_go_on wrote: »

Coillte is a state agency funded by the tax payer

Coillte made a €4.2 million profit in 2009 so I don't think they need much state funding.

studiorat wrote: »

So what are you paying for?

I'd think of it as a contribution towards maintaining the trails and facilities (although my point above might weaken that argument )

studiorat

Morgan wrote: »

I'd think of it as a contribution towards maintaining the trails and facilities (although my point above might weaken that argument )

Sorry Morgan, I edited that. It seems the use of the trails is actually free.

jjhone076

I need to do a report for PE about Bally Total Fitness, how good is their availability and quality of their centers?

Tenzor07

studiorat wrote: »

You pay for the car-parking. My bet is it's only a matter of time before there's parking meters in Ticknock.

Anyone notice all the nice new road markings painted up around Ticknock? Double yellow lines just at the entrance and roads outside, marked parking spaces and a new one way system....Though if they try and install paid parking meters then they could fall victim to "Burning Tyre disease"

Morgan

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Anyone notice all the nice new road markings painted up around Ticknock? Double yellow lines just at the entrance and roads outside, marked parking spaces and a new one way system....Though if they try and install paid parking meters then they could fall victim to "Burning Tyre disease"

Yeah, it was very disorienting last time I was up there - thought I was in Liffey Valley car park.

The double yellows out on the road are due to complaints from locals about their access being blocked. There's no real reason for mtbers to be parking up there though - riding up the hill is a nice warm-up before a spin.

langdang

jjhone076 wrote: »

I need to do a report for PE about Bally Total Fitness, how good is their availability and quality of their centers?

Short report - "they're closed" http://www.totalfitness.ie/
Also - this thread has nothing to do with totalfitness.
EDIT - Ah jaysus, did I just reply to a spammer

Tenzor07

Morgan wrote: »

The double yellows out on the road are due to complaints from locals about their access being blocked.

Those locals, esp. up just at the entrance to Ticknock, guard that cul-de-sac very zealously, i'd pity anyone who mistakenly tryed to park up there!

Icyseanfitz

id gladly pay a 100 a year if it would increase the chance of other proper mtb trail centers opening up in ireland, i havnt even been to ballyhoura yet and i know its a top class center, ballyhoura is a shining example of what can be done with our forests to generate money and keep people happy, and its also a great way to introduce people to mtbing

kakee

Daegerty wrote: »

Does anyone actually pay the 5 euros per day to park there?
I couldn't believe when I saw the price of it, in the midddle of nowhere and all the other little entrances to the forest cleverly blocked off (except ofr one or two where i'd park)

No. 1 Paying for the car park means your car is safe as there are workers and cctv cameras up there.

No. 2 Paying for the car park means you can use the faclities there which are a godsend on a wet, cold, dark winters' day (just a headsup- a shower costs €2, id say you didn't realise this or you would have bitched about it too).

No 3 Paying for the car park means that the trails are maintained, they don't just build or fix themselves.

No. 4 Paying for the car park means that you won't have any gimps arsing around there.

No. 5 Paying for the car park means that new signposts can be erected in the various areas so even more people can some and enjoy the trails too.

No. 6 Paying for the car park means that you are helping to encourage Coilte to develop more facalities around the country as they can see how popular and worthwhile it is to build mountain bike trails.


p.s By the way there are plenty of other open, unsecure car parks in the area if you wish to take your chances from those.

Lemag

If the OP has come back to read this thread then I'd say that he/she 'gets it' now. Is there any further point to this thread?..

Ricky91t

Morgan wrote: »

Coillte made a €4.2 million profit in 2009 so I don't think they need much state funding.


I'd think of it as a contribution towards maintaining the trails and facilities (although my point above might weaken that argument )

Although they may have made a profit, there has been talk of the government selling Coillte.

It would be great to see them getting more funding so more places like Ballyhoura could be opened.

Ah_go_on

Ricky91t wrote: »

Although they may have made a profit, there has been talk of the government selling Coillte.

It would be great to see them getting more funding so more places like Ballyhoura could be opened.

Have a good think about that, If Coillte is sold God knows what will happen our beloved trails:mad: Sign here if you want to keep them: http://www.woodlandleague.org/

kakee

Ah_go_on wrote: »

Have a good think about that, If Coillte is sold God knows what will happen our beloved trails:mad: Sign here if you want to keep them: http://www.woodlandleague.org/

Done. You might consider starting a seperate thread for this one

Icyseanfitz

if coilte is sold i cant see mtbers stopping their sport just because they arnt allowed into a specific area, well id speak for myself here anyway, but yeah trail centers need to be taken care of and built in this country a lot more

PIKOMAN

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Anyone notice all the nice new road markings painted up around Ticknock? Double yellow lines just at the entrance and roads outside, marked parking spaces and a new one way system....Though if they try and install paid parking meters then they could fall victim to "Burning Tyre disease"

.

It does seem like an awful lot of paint for a rural road. I guess if there was increased opening hours of the ticknock area itself that would eliminate the need for people having to park on the road. Currently the gate appears to be locked and unlocked at random.

I think paying 4 guys, 2-3 days wages to paint a few lines because of 3/4 wealthy homes needless complaining of people parking on a public road is a disgrace.

Daniel S

If you go to the second shower from the left, it's free I think it's that one, its the one that turns to the right as you go in.:pac:

ravendude

OP, you should be ashamed of yourself. Your kind typify everything thats wrong with this country.
What galls me is the assumption by the OP that nobody else bothers to pay either.
Clearly the honour system will never work with some people, as it assumes people have a little bit of honour.

It really, really annoyed me reading this post, sorry to drag it out.

Outkast_IRE

I did the brown trail on friday, excellent facility overall the trail was excellent, i bought the annual pass as i visit a coillte woods most weekends and think its a real bargain for access to some great facilities and parts of the country.

Thinking of trying to do the white loop as well next time im down which is hopefully only a few weeks away.

kala85

Can u rent a mountain bike down there and how much does it cost

Outkast_IRE

yes you can from these guys http://www.trailriders.ie/

however if you have no experience whatsoever of riding trails you will probably find it tough going, even nerve wracking in places, you should go but if possible get out on a bike and practice somewhere local a small bit first . and possibly do the shorter green trail .
Check out the videos on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeMm1Keqsko

kala85

It would be my first time to do it. Would it be busy during the week and how difficult is it ?

Outkast_IRE

kala85 wrote: »

It would be my first time to do it. Would it be busy during the week and how difficult is it ?

The youtube videos of ballyhoura will give you a good idea, if its your first time the green loop or trail is what you would want to do, the brown loop is fine too but is much , much longer so if you feel fit enough go for the brown but it is 17km vs 7km for the green. you could always do the green a couple of times to build confidence.

I would aim to go midweek and arrive early if you want it at its quietest. i got there at 10am last fri and there was only 2 other cars there. when i left around 12 there was about a dozen but some of those were probably walkers etc.

What will drain a lot of people is the climbs on the fire roads, next time i go i will probably walk with the bike on the climbs up the fireroads and save my energy so i can blaze along the trails better.

Watch the entire youtube video i posted thats the green trail the shortest of them and it encompasses a bit of everything , watch it fully and you will have a better idea of what its like.
You can go at whatever pace suits you , nobody will care as long as you move to the side of the trail if you need to stop for a while people are generally very friendly and helpfull

carrielou

@kala85 first time i went up and i hadnt cycled in years I stayed up there 4 hours, excellent fun........... http://www.ballyhourabikehire.com/ also hires bikes and have heard they give excellent advice, ask for Joe. even heard of him goin out with newbies to give them a hand.......... so much fun and i am old and unfit

belle2e

ballyhoura isnt a patch on cratloe woods,cratloe is free 2

Toblerone1978

belle2e wrote: »

ballyhoura isnt a patch on cratloe woods,cratloe is free 2

If you don't think it's worth, don't pay and don't use - couldn't be simpler.


I was down there on Thursday last week and they were putting in a barrier, similar to a carpark barrier, whereby people must pay to enter the carpark. Apparently there will be a card giving to those who pay for the annual pass.

I don't know when they plan to actual start using them - I was back on Fri morning and it was still a drive in.

I only started MTBing about a month go and I couldn't get over how tough it is and I would do a reasonable amount of road cycling - I probably just under estimiated it. But its buckets of fun!

Captain Havoc

I have a €35 annual pass (I've probably mentioned it 20 times already in this thread). I think it's great value for money. Cratloe isn't a MTB trail. Toblerone, did you buy a mountain bike or are you still in the experimental stage? I'll probably be in Ballyhoura tomorrow.

sleepyholland

I'm thinking of organising a stag trip to Ballyhoura in September. Can any of you regulars or locals offer a couple of nuggets of wisdom?

Could you recommend a bike rental company to cater for 12-15 people?

Our group will range from complete novices to experienced road cyclists - little MTB experience. Would you suggest a guide or just figure it out ourselves?

I've looked at the forest cabins and considered camping but am concerned about providing a semblance of night-life. Would you suggest staying in a town nearby such as Kilfinane? Of course we could base ourselves further afield? Can you wild camp nearby?

All local knowledge welcome.

glennbhoy

Have you heard of google

http://www.ballyhouramtb.com/bike-rental/2.html

Very easy to figure out

sleepyholland

glennbhoy wrote: »

Have you heard of google
http://www.ballyhouramtb.com/bike-rental/2.html
Very easy to figure out

Have you heard of reading posts properly before repling like an asshole?

I have researched it quite well and am fully aware that their are multiple bike rental options and various accommodation options.

That's why I specifically asked for regulars or locals for local knowledge

It obvious some of the lads on here know the locality so they might offer some good advice from their personal experience that can't be found by googling or from a smartarse post like your's.

Outkast_IRE

If it was me i would stay in mallow and drive out, mallow is less than 30 mins away and its a good size town with many pubs etc.