well 15 months later, i decide to do my first (and last) trail ride in ireland (plenty of DH runs and pushes up the hill, but no xc action). so, before the bikes are packed up for shipping this Wednesday, i finally got motivated enough for an xc spin. took the slicks off the spooky and put some vredestein tires i got on clearance, headed down the N11 into the wicklows, and met up w/ Kieran for a tour of Djouce Woods.
1st thing i noticed was my complete and utter lack of fitness...a long but gentle climb totally wore me out. the combination of 12hr work days and guinness/spuds diet has obliterated any fitness i once had...need to correct this asap. anyway, we did a leisurely spin through some managed forest, popped out to the wicklow way for a bit (a popular trail which takes about 3-4 days to complete if you hike the whole thing) and then back into the woods. came out to a very nice view of the powerscourt waterfall, which we took a fun, fast trail down to, first on fireroads, then s-track winding through beech trees. crossed the stream once again, and more climbing back to the cars, starting on double-track and then a nice singletrack. not many photos, but it was a good ride nonetheless. only got rained on once.
here are some pics:
pano from rest stop, overlooking maulin hill:
stream which feeds the waterfall:
waterfall, from above:
the wicklow way (fun, fast, rocky s-track):
view of sugarloaf:
1st thing i noticed was my complete and utter lack of fitness...a long but gentle climb totally wore me out. the combination of 12hr work days and guinness/spuds diet has obliterated any fitness i once had...need to correct this asap. anyway, we did a leisurely spin through some managed forest, popped out to the wicklow way for a bit (a popular trail which takes about 3-4 days to complete if you hike the whole thing) and then back into the woods. came out to a very nice view of the powerscourt waterfall, which we took a fun, fast trail down to, first on fireroads, then s-track winding through beech trees. crossed the stream once again, and more climbing back to the cars, starting on double-track and then a nice singletrack. not many photos, but it was a good ride nonetheless. only got rained on once.
here are some pics:
pano from rest stop, overlooking maulin hill:
stream which feeds the waterfall:
waterfall, from above:
the wicklow way (fun, fast, rocky s-track):
view of sugarloaf:
