Round five of the Irish Mountain Bike XC NPS takes place on Sunday June 6th in Ballycuggaran Woods outside Killaloe, Co. Clare, hosted by MBUL – the University of Limerick Mountain Bike Club.
Last used for an NPS in 2007, the 5 km track has been greatly developed to make it weatherproof – now incorporating rock gardens, mesh, board walk and substantial sections of benchcut singletrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqheuIwIHHQThe infamous Blue Bin of Despair climb makes a return, though the actual blue bin seems to have gone missing! Rewards for ascending the climb include roughly 2K of continuous singletrack and the spectacular view over Lough Derg.
For those interested in making it a weekend, the Ballyhoura mountain bike park is approximately 1 hours drive away.
Sign On:
All riders are requested to use the Online Registration facility.
Priority for sign-on on the day will be given to those who registered online so ensure to pre-register to avoid delays.
Sign-on will open at 9:30am and will be located at the forest car park.
http://www.irishxcmtb.com/2010/05/27/irish-xc-nps-round-5-mbul-preview/Sign-on closing times:
Under 8/10/12: sign-on closes at 10: 45 am sharp
U14/U16/Sport/Women: sign-on closes at 11:30 am sharp
Senior categories: sign-on closes at 1:00 pm sharp
Prize giving, showers and refreshments will be provided in the UL Activity Centre after the race. The Activity Centre is approximately 500m up the road from the forest entrance.
Accommodation:
For accommodation in the area check out
http://www.discoverireland.ie/Accommodation.aspx and search under Killaloe, Co. Clare.
Directions
Note: Ballina and Killaloe are the same town as such, just opposite sides of the river Shannon.
Coming from Dublin
The venue is about 2 hours from the Red Cow Roundabout, especially as several new sections of motorway have opened recently. When coming off the M7, go into Ballina, cross the bridge and take a right. Ballycuggaran woods are about 3km out the road, across from the car park at the lake.
Coming from Cork:
When approaching Limerick, take the M7/N7 around Limerick heading for Dublin. Keep going until you reach Birdhill – about 15km outside of Limerick. Take a left and head for Ballina. In Ballina, cross the bridge and take a right. Ballycuggaran woods are about 3km out the road, across from the car park at the lake.
Check GOOGLE MAPS for directions
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ballycuggaran+ireland&sll=41.87194,12.56738&sspn=21.076861,25.268555&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ballycuggaran,+County+Clare,+Ireland&ll=52.839069,-8.465567&spn=0.029864,0.049353&z=14Race Timetable
Under 8/10/12: Race Start > 11:00am
U14/ U16/ Sport/Women: Race Start > 12:00 midday
All other (Senior) categories: Race Start > 1:30pm
Riders are reminded that they should ride in their age related class. Exceptions are the ‘open’ Elite and Sports Classes. The Experts Class, while also an ‘open’ class, was introduced to provide a stepping stone from Sports to Elite level.
Sign-on Fee
Junior to Elite £20/€20
Under 16 £10 /€10
Under 14 & below Free
Further details/contact:
Darragh Maloney:
Tel: 085 1674176
Email: maloneydarragh@hotmail.com
