My spin today...

Plastik · 12-04-2021 8:55pm

I reckon you would need to spend 5h in Djouce to cover it all off given there are a few now MIA. It'll take you the best part of 2h/1,000m to climb the red road four times to get the trails on that side alone, plus another 3h to cover off all the ones on the main side.

So I'd say 5h... 2,500m ... 45-55km.

Wailin · 12-04-2021 9:24pm

1500m to do all the trails on the carpark side?! Not a hope!

Plastik · 12-04-2021 9:47pm

Yep, I reckon you wouldn't have much change.

I'll report back .. someday.

Wailin · 12-04-2021 11:10pm

Good man, I'd be keen to know! Just to point out, the red road is 120m climb and is the highest point of djouce. Up that 4 times is just under 500m, not 1000m. But it feels like a 500m climb :pac:

Plastik · 12-04-2021 11:41pm

That's just the segment, sure you're already halfway up there

You start looping the red road to hit aylings, bru, stu, and once more for good fortune and you're clocking about 230m elevation per lap. Car park-Dutch Gold-top of the red road X3-car park clocked at about 950m last week on a wahoo bolt.

prunudo · 12-04-2021 11:45pm

Wailin wrote: »

Good man, I'd be keen to know! Just to point out, the red road is 120m climb and is the highest point of djouce. Up that 4 times is just under 500m, not 1000m. But it feels like a 500m climb :pac:

120m, is that all, as you say it feels more like 500! You get more climbing in Ballinastoe from the carpark to the top of zipper.

Wailin · 13-04-2021 12:29am

prunudo wrote: »

120m, is that all, as you say it feels more like 500! You get more climbing in Ballinastoe from the carpark to the top of zipper.

According to trailforks its 120m climb over 1.8k. Sorry, 130m.

xxyyzz · 13-04-2021 9:22am

My local forest has a steep new walking trail with 5 tight switchbacks, the first one being the worst and a 100ft drop on one side. I spent an hour sessioning it yesterday, mostly on the first corner and eventually cleaned it and went home. Sometimes time spent figuring out a feature or a section of trail is as satisfying as a good long spin IMHO. I probably don't do enough of it.

Peter T · 13-04-2021 9:34am

Something I've tried to focus on myself. Guilty of just hammering along the trails and making the same mistakes in the same places. My local trails have one notoriously rooty section which 9/10 of the time id end up washing out or putting a foot down. Like you, I spent an evening sessioning it and have no problem clearing it these days. It's one of the things I took away from a coaching day is to session sections to work out the lines etc. Then by the end you can piece together a nice clean run.

steamsey · 13-04-2021 9:35am

Yes - was XTC I was talking about but I incorrectly always thought XTC started further down. Hadn't been there in a good few months. I tend to avoid it when it's really wet so don't usually go there much in winter.

I was there for 4 hours roughly and could easily have spent another hour or two.

I hope they don'y wreck those trails too much - I did my first Enduro in Djouce back in 2012 I think and immediately loved the place.

Plastik · 13-04-2021 10:17am

XTC from the top, split into the Phantom & Benchcut when you crossed the fire road. You can still access both of those from between the timber stacks that are there at the moment.

Tenzor07 · 13-04-2021 11:01am

Shame that Coillte have to rip the place apart just for a few oul logs... they'd make more money charging €2 to use the carpark or the purchase of an annual forest pass for Djouce woods... Keeping the forest intact and allowing MTB clubs to maintain and build trails, would be far better for the environment too not destroying the ground with massive logging machines, they always leave the sites looking like the aftermath of a nuclear war....:mad:

Lemming · 13-04-2021 11:24am

steamsey wrote: »

I hope they don'y wreck those trails too much - I did my first Enduro in Djouce back in 2012 I think and immediately loved the place.

I suspect the trails will simply get trashed with zero fvcks given unless there is a working relationship with Coilte and they have agreed to keep damage to a minimum with a view to assisting with trail repair after the fact, although the cynic in me doubts that will be the case. Having seen the damage caused by logging activities where there has been agreement to preserve as much (with regards to official sanctioned trails) as possible here in Sheffield - and whilst the authorities have indeed been true to their word - the damage caused still requires not inconsiderable remedial work to sections of trail that get torn up, with trails out of commission for several months between logging and repair.

I suspect for any unsanctioned trails, it'll be a case of the community coming in after the loggers have cleared out to try and rectify whatever damage has been done at their own cost in time, equipment and materials.

bogmanfan · 13-04-2021 1:47pm

There was a good bit of felling in Trooperstown last year. Feared the worst when I went there on the bike after, but the trails were mostly perfect. It was like the workers had deliberately avoided damaging the trails wherever possible. Which is great, cause those trails are brilliant. Hopefully it's a new Coillte policy?

Tenzor07 · 13-04-2021 2:05pm

Lemming wrote: »

I suspect the trails will simply get trashed with zero fvcks given unless there is a working relationship with Coilte and they have agreed to keep damage to a minimum with a view to assisting with trail repair after the fact, although the cynic in me doubts that will be the case. Having seen the damage caused by logging activities where there has been agreement to preserve as much (with regards to official sanctioned trails) as possible here in Sheffield - and whilst the authorities have indeed been true to their word - the damage caused still requires not inconsiderable remedial work to sections of trail that get torn up, with trails out of commission for several months between logging and repair. I suspect for any unsanctioned trails, it'll be a case of the community coming in after the loggers have cleared out to try and rectify whatever damage has been done at their own cost in time, equipment and materials.

Yea I mean good points, though Coillte and the likes will sub contract out logging operations to another company, and you can bet the lad in the digger doesn't give a flying fig about trails, he's paid to cut the trees down and that's that...

Just a shame that the clear feeling and thinning methods means that all the branches they cut off are left on the forest floor, and they leave the place like a bomb site.

Tenzor07 · 13-04-2021 2:07pm

bogmanfan wrote: »

There was a good bit of felling in Trooperstown last year. Feared the worst when I went there on the bike after, but the trails were mostly perfect. It was like the workers had deliberately avoided damaging the trails wherever possible. Which is great, cause those trails are brilliant. Hopefully it's a new Coillte policy?

Not all of the trails, was some great trails they completely destroyed, I remember one had some large boulders in it that were a great feature, but the whole lot was torn up after the loggers came in..

bogmanfan · 13-04-2021 6:39pm

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Not all of the trails, was some great trails they completely destroyed, I remember one had some large boulders in it that were a great feature, but the whole lot was torn up after the loggers came in..

That one's been gone for a few years now, I think. I only got to ride it once

.

kenmc · 13-04-2021 7:31pm

2 loops of Ballinastoe, it's just barely inside my 20km from home. Great to be back there, seeing something new besides 3rock, handy and all as it is. 2hours, 27km, back at the desk by 1.30. buzzin

Wailin · 13-04-2021 9:17pm

I like ballinastoe as a change from 3 rock. So much less traffic there and nice sense of isolation. Trails are not as good though, apart from expressway. Plenty of natural stuff to break it up a bit too.

kenmc · 13-04-2021 9:33pm

Wailin wrote: »

I like ballinastoe as a change from 3 rock. So much less traffic there and nice sense of isolation. Trails are not as good though, apart from expressway. Plenty of natural stuff to break it up a bit too.

Yeah expressway is great fun, don't know the fire roads well enough to shortcut back up to it to do it again quickly.
Besides that though there's not as much fun trails as 3rock I think

Worked well for me as could meet a mate who lives deep in Wicklow to ride with, and neither of us had to break the travel restrictions!

Plastik · 13-04-2021 9:44pm

3 Rights. Turn right at the end of Expressway instead of following the Coillte markers, turn right at the junction with the next fire road, and keep right at the next fire road heading up the hill. That takes you straight back to the start.

Curiousness99 · 13-04-2021 9:44pm

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Coillte are clear-felling and thinning all the way from Glencullen to Djouce so many of the unofficial trails are now blocked or destroyed....

I think people returning to the hills will find a lot of their favorites now gone...

Not sure if it was covered already but felling going on in knockree as well, the top section is gone and some of the trails from the road down to the glencree river, I heard some bikers spoke to the contractors to ask them not to wreck the other trails, fingers crossed

prunudo · 13-04-2021 9:45pm

kenmc wrote: »

Yeah expressway is great fun, don't know the fire roads well enough to shortcut back up to it to do it again quickly.
Besides that though there's not as much fun trails as 3rock I think

Worked well for me as could meet a mate who lives deep in Wicklow to ride with, and neither of us had to break the travel restrictions!

Unfortunately there is no real easy way to get laps of expressway in. I think there's a way to push up but not sure if its worth the hassle compared to pedalling back up the fireroad.

Wailin · 13-04-2021 11:45pm

Plastik wrote: »

3 Rights. Turn right at the end of Expressway instead of following the Coillte markers, turn right at the junction with the next fire road, and keep right at the next fire road heading up the hill. That takes you straight back to the start.

Never knew that, great tip! I see that it passes the exit from indriya.

prunudo · 14-04-2021 7:23am

Plastik wrote: »

3 Rights. Turn right at the end of Expressway instead of following the Coillte markers, turn right at the junction with the next fire road, and keep right at the next fire road heading up the hill. That takes you straight back to the start.

Never knew that either, thanks for that.

youllbemine · 14-04-2021 10:33am

Clear felling taking place in Ravensdale, Co. Louth at the minute too. It looks like Hidden Agenda is destroyed and a section of the old DH track may be obliterated too if they keep working across the hill.

I counted 35 rings on the biggest logs of timber.

Got me thinking about the longevity of these trails. The countless hours that the trail fairies have put in over the lifetime of the trail and how in a matter of days that work can be undone.

Also made me realise that it's better to spread trails out across a hill instead of concentrating them in one section as they are more likely to be destroyed in one go. There are three or four trails (Smooth Criminal, Down and Down, Red Alert) in Ravensdale that could be taken out at once aswell as ELC and Born Slippy (which is one of the the best trails in Ireland)

Such a shame to see the destruction that the practice of clear felling causes.

prunudo · 18-04-2021 4:00pm

Plastik wrote: »

3 Rights. Turn right at the end of Expressway instead of following the Coillte markers, turn right at the junction with the next fire road, and keep right at the next fire road heading up the hill. That takes you straight back to the start.

Used this option today, well handy, thanks for sharing.
On a side note, never seen Ballinastoe so busy, even with the inner car park open, people were still parked along the road. Gardai issuing tickets to bad parking.

ec18 · 19-04-2021 9:50am

Up at ticknock yesterday great to be out but it was jammers, was hoping Ballinastoe might have been quieter for next week :-(

There was a sign at the side of the ticknock road saying locals access. anyone know anything about it?

prunudo · 19-04-2021 12:50pm

ec18 wrote: »

Up at ticknock yesterday great to be out but it was jammers, was hoping Ballinastoe might have been quieter for next week :-(

There was a sign at the side of the ticknock road saying locals access. anyone know anything about it?

Just on Ballinastoe, while the car parking was busy, it wasn't an issue on the trails, I suspect maybe with covid, people aren't car pooling anymore or maybe there were a lot of walkers too. Don't get me wrong, there were bikes around but I've seen it worse for trail congestion.

comanche_cor · 19-04-2021 1:27pm

ec18 wrote: »

Up at ticknock yesterday great to be out but it was jammers

Yeah I did GAP and Ticknock - both busy and great to see. First time in the GAP and was well impressed by the setup.

Ticknock was odd however, once off the coilte trails it was very quiet - didn't bump into a soul off the trail center stuff!

Was a shame to see sullys gully blocked off but can understand why.

Seems like they are building some great trails over towards the GAP, not sure if Coilte or GAP building them.

My spin today...

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