Slieve Bloom trail centre

xxyyzz

Anyone been up around the Slieve Blooms lately? How is the new trail centre coming along?

ec18

only just started marking the trails out I believe

xxyyzz

I thought Nial Davis was doing that nearly 2 months ago.

rizzodun

I heard not to be too excited about em based on the progress and plans so far.

That view may be subjective.

xxyyzz

rizzodun wrote: »

I heard not to be too excited about em based on the progress and plans so far.

That view may be subjective.

Yeah I heard that the first phase will be green/blue trails.

Lucena

From what I can see online, there was a call to tender put out at the end of 2017. So surely if work has started, it's being carried out by a private company which would probably have a defined time period to do the work? It's not like it's two hairy-arsed workers in a council van going out to smoke fags and drink tae all day.

Where are people getting their info on progress from? I had a quick look on Google and couldn't find anything. Ideally I'd love the trails to be ready for summer 2019, as I should be back in Ireland then.:)

ec18

I saw some updates on biking.ie's instagram/Facebook

xxyyzz

Lucena wrote: »

From what I can see online, there was a call to tender put out at the end of 2017. So surely if work has started, it's being carried out by a private company which would probably have a defined time period to do the work? It's not like it's two hairy-arsed workers in a council van going out to smoke fags and drink tae all day.

Where are people getting their info on progress from? I had a quick look on Google and couldn't find anything. Ideally I'd love the trails to be ready for summer 2019, as I should be back in Ireland then.:)

The tender was awarded to a wexford company, I think they were responsible for the ballinastoe trails. From biking.ie's social media it looks like Niall Davis was out marking trails for them and taking pictures of his fancy jeep. That's about all the info that was available. Initially Coillte said October this year was the target date for phase 1 completion.

booooonzo

Metro won the contract but it was a design and build contract so Niall was brought in by metro as the designer and their tender won.

It is green/blue trails and the area is highly subjected to environmental impacts.

I'm not sure on the timeline but I would imagine it is around 4-6 months for delivery.

Maybe the fires they had affected them but i'm not sure on that, could well still be on track.

xxyyzz

According to this post work is ongoing and they are aiming to have 35km of trails open by the end of the year
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2076535765713095&id=266591370040886

Lucena

I assume that means 35km that are actually useable, and not just a km here, 500m there?

xxyyzz

Yes, they intend to have a 35km loop up and running by the end of the year.

prunudo

Spotted this on Facebook, looks fun

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=564694587319131&id=139066222779824

comanche_cor

looks very scenic!

rizzodun

Comments say that's a climbing section.

Interested to see some of the actual trails..

prunudo

rizzodun wrote: »

Comments say that's a climbing section.

Interested to see some of the actual trails..

Oh thats a shame, was hoping it was downhill, although lacks of berms probably gives it away

rizzodun

jvan wrote: »

Oh thats a shame, was hoping it was downhill, although lacks of berms probably gives it away

That'd be terrible downhill, that left/right before the switchbacks would ruin the flow, hence why I checked the comments, I wanted to see if anyone had asked.

prunudo

rizzodun wrote: »

That'd be terrible downhill, that left/right before the switchbacks would ruin the flow, hence why I checked the comments, I wanted to see if anyone had asked.

Fair point

Nabidana

Where are the trails based?

prunudo

Nabidana wrote: »

Where are the trails based?

Near Kinnitty as far as I know.

xxyyzz

jvan wrote: »

Near Kinnitty as far as I know.

I believe there will be a loop starting at Kinnitty and then another loop on the Laois side at Bunreagh. The two loops will join together at a road crossing so you can do a figure "8" and do both loops or just one one loop. I'm not sure if the Laois side is in phase 1.

Within each loop there will be various options to lengthen or shorten the loop, at least that is the long term plan. I will have a look around to see if I can find the trail maps, they were up on the Offaly and Laois county council websites.

Edit:
http://www.offaly.ie/ePlan5/AppFileRefDetails/1687/0

Click on the View Scanned Files button, click agree and a list of documents are available. Look for the bike trail layout document.

prunudo

Looks like a good mix of trails when its up and running. Would be great if they added more variety to Ballinastoe.

Claude Burgundy

Its a positive start.

Good jib!

Any news on this?

xxyyzz

Paddy's days opening was the latest I heard. They are very dependent on the weather

LastFridayNight

Wow, can't believe they've finally started. I think Brian Cowen was Taoiseach when these were first proposed! I actually made making some trails there myself back in the day, near Glenbarrow. Options were limited as most of the Blooms are bog. So I am surprised they think they can get 100km in, but hats off to them if/when they do!

Top Dog

Posted on their Facebook page a few hours ago ...

On yer bike. A taster of the Slieve Bloom Mountain bike trail is opening for the Christmas Holidays. A looped section of the trail from Kinnitty Village will be open from Saturday next the 22nd December. Parking can be had in the village of Kinnitty and the trail can be accessed from the village at the entrance to the woods just past the Gaa pitch on the R422. The remainder of the first section of the trails will be ready for your enjoyment by March.

siochain

Any hear how long the loop is that’s been opened Over Xmas?

Top Dog

Also from Facebook -

Daithi de Forge It is only a couple of sections on the Offaly/ Kinnitty side. No more than a few kms yet.

iwillhtfu

Doesn't sound worth the trip at the minute

"Slieve Bloom Mountain Biking The Taster loop is roughly 4 km in total mostly climbing and around 1km of singletrack back down. Anyone traveling any distance for a look might like to wait a little longer until the first section is completed��*♀️��*♀️ Put in your diary for the Easter Break."

Good jib!

I was up there over Christmas (walking) and was surprised to see signs indicating that some of the MTB paths were open. A decent job seems to have been done from what I could see. I'll wait til they've finished the whole thing, but it's definitely encouraging that there's already some of it completed!

Top Dog

Good jib! wrote: »

I was up there over Christmas (walking) and was surprised to see signs indicating that some of the MTB paths were open. A decent job seems to have been done from what I could see. I'll wait til they've finished the whole thing, but it's definitely encouraging that there's already some of it completed!

Latest is that there's 4km open, but only 800m singletrack?


https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/arts-culture-entertainment/356023/first-section-of-slieve-bloom-bike-trail-opens-to-public.html

Top Dog

Coillte facebook page this time ...

Slieve Bloom MTB Trails

A short section of the new Slieve Bloom MTB trail will be open from Sat 22nd December. It is 4kms in total with approx. 800 metres of singletrack.

The trails will open fully at Easter 2019, but this short section is to cater for local demand over the Christmas break. All other sections remain closed as they are at various stages of construction - please stay off closed sections, as rutting them at this stage will make it more difficult to finish surfacing.

To access the trails which are open, drive to and park in Kinnitty village, Co. Offaly and cycle towards Kinnitty Castle/ Clonaslee. You will pick up the blue waymarkers along the road and turn into the forest just after the GAA pitch. Sections of doubletrack will take you into the trail system with a long road climb and singletrack descent. Follow the blue waymarkers throughout.

The descent is fast in sections, so as with all MTB trails, make sure you ride within your ability and always wear a helmet.

Happy trails!

Claude Burgundy

Any more updates ?

xxyyzz

I think they are aiming for opening around Easter.

Claude Burgundy

It now seems they are due to open on the June bank holiday weekend according to the facebook page.

prunudo

I wonder what the delay is?

iwillhtfu

jvan wrote: »

I wonder what the delay is?

These things will always over run, mainly weather dependant work. I can't help but notice the lack of hype around it which leads me to believe it will be disappointing. A mate was up the other day and walked up some of the closed sections for a look and he thought it looked decent but nothing obviously wild about it.

covey123

Heard a lot of the budget unexpectedly had to go towards ground work,bringing in extra stone because of soft/boggy ground even when dug down trying to find something solid

rizzodun

covey123 wrote: »

Heard a lot of the budget unexpectedly had to go towards ground work,bringing in extra stone because of soft/boggy ground even when dug down trying to find something solid

Heard this excuse before, it'd make you wonder how the UK and other countries managed it at all...

prunudo

rizzodun wrote: »

Heard this excuse before, it'd make you wonder how the UK and other countries managed it at all...

Probably build a boardwalk over the bog rather than trying to fill it in with stone to provide hard surface.

Good jib!

Is there a map of the full trail anywhere?

ec18

jvan wrote: »

Probably build a boardwalk over the bog rather than trying to fill it in with stone to provide hard surface.

They did that in ballinastoe on one of the sections on homerun, they removed it after a while because people kept falling into the bog. They do it in Derroura though and it's good

prunudo

ec18 wrote: »

They did that in ballinastoe on one of the sections on homerun, they removed it after a while because people kept falling into the bog. They do it in Derroura though and it's good

Red loop in Rostrevor has plenty of them too. Hopefully its just Chinese whispers, would hate to think Coillte are trying to reinvent the wheel.
Look forward to trying it out at some stage over the summer.

rizzodun

Or maybe perhaps at tender stage the contractors actually do a proper analysis of the land they're going into and then make a proper trail design that takes advantage of the ground and features.

Like I said, it'd make you wonder how every other country does it. Including the UK, more or less the same land types that we have here.

Tenzor07

From the snippets I've seen the design is in line with Ticknock and Ballinastoe etc. all narrow hardpack trails through the trees... I'm sure some of the routes will have amazing views like Derroura.

I see an eBike hire company have set up down that neck of the woods, so should be great for beginners and families to get out for a scoot around the trails on an electric bicycle and enjoy the fresh air and doing something different.

xxyyzz

jvan wrote: »

Probably build a boardwalk over the bog rather than trying to fill it in with stone to provide hard surface.

Beginners tend to fall over at the mere sight of a boardwalk. Also Coillte hate boardwalks for some reason.

prunudo

xxyyzz wrote: »

Beginners tend to fall over at the mere sight of a boardwalk. Also Coillte hate boardwalks for some reason.

I'd say the compo culture in this country has something to do with it.

Lemming

rizzodun wrote: »

Heard this excuse before, it'd make you wonder how the UK and other countries managed it at all...

jvan wrote: »

Probably build a boardwalk over the bog rather than trying to fill it in with stone to provide hard surface.

rizzodun wrote: »

Or maybe perhaps at tender stage the contractors actually do a proper analysis of the land they're going into and then make a proper trail design that takes advantage of the ground and features.

Like I said, it'd make you wonder how every other country does it. Including the UK, more or less the same land types that we have here.

Speaking of the UK - I can only speak for my neck of the woods - it varies from area to area and is heavily dependent on the groups involved be they conservation groupis/trusts, trail advocacy groups, land-managers, or councils, how well they communicate with one another, their experience, and more importantly whether or not the local council bother listening to any trail groups be they cyclist, walker or horsey folk. For example, my council is Sheffield, and Ride Sheffield are a very active advocacy group who have had a hand in a lot of trail building; some of it self-funded, some of it in conjunction with the council. Derbyshire council "next door" by contrast, are muppets who listen to no-one, say they'll not do something because it's bad and then do it and all whilst wasting taxpayers money. What makes the difference all the more stark is when all of the trail groups are pretty much united on something and Derbyshire council just do what they want to do anyway, which lasts until the next heavy rain making the problem worse ...

Regards difficult works, such as boggy ground or possible nature habitats for rare species, Ride Sheffield have done extensive research & planning, engaging with conservation groups/trusts, land-management, and the council to come up with lasting solutions that are also appropriate; i.e. not paving slabs or a dollop of concrete (and I've not encountered a board-walk feature yet either ... ). So again, your mileage between geographical regions may vary.

prunudo

From watching countryfile over the last couple of years, we are so far behind the UK where it comes to integrating human activities and wildlife diversity. Whether building walking/cycle paths, planting new woodland areas in urban settings or even creating ponds and wet areas to attract wildlife. So much more could be done here but as usual the politicians and powers that be are all talk and very little action.

nelly17

Its probably more down to the everymans rights (freedom to roam) that they have over there so there is a better appreciation of integration. Over here its ultimately up to the land owners call