All across the World people will don green today to celebrate a man driving snakes out of the Emerald Isle. We’re celebrating the best of Irish mountain biking.
We take a look at the very best of what the Republic and Northern Ireland have done for mountain biking over the years and what they offer the mountain biker today.
Trail centres.
Northern Ireland’s trail centres all lie within a 90 minute drive of the capital city Belfast and make great use of the lay of the land. Whether you want something more gravity-orientated at places like Rostrevor, or quick laps of the woods at Davagh or a spin round a country estate at Castlewellan, there really is something for everyone.
Photo by Martin Kennedy.
Emerald Enduro.
Photo by Trev Worsey.The Emerald Enduro and it’s hosting of the Enduro World Series put the Republic and the Wicklow Mountains on the map. Far from the dizzy heights of Colorado or Chile, what Wicklow has in spades is amazing trails and even better fans. Riders are bombarded with trackside encouragement from the most committed of fans.
Glyn O’Brien.
Photo by Martin Kennedy.Not only has Glyn O’Brien stood on the Red Bull Rampage podium and raced World Cups, he now manages a race team, organises a national enduro series and runs coaching days, all whilst being a fireman. It’s highly likely that Glyn never sleeps…
Chain Reaction Cycles.
Starting as a small family-run bike shop in Ballyclare, it’s fair to say that times have been kind to Chain Reaction Cycles. For better or worse, depending on your viewpoint, they revolutionised the way we buy riding kit. On top of that, they’ve been title sponsor to Nigel Page’s race team since what seems like forever.
Ben Reid.
Probably the best bike handler to come out of Northern Ireland, Ben Reid set about marching his way into the top 20 at World Cup level with a style some can only dream of. Feet up, flat out and sideways was the only way Ben knew how. Since the racing days he’s run his own team, and since hanging up his racing boots, he’s taken to managing the team full time.
Vitus Bikes.
Another company bringing fantastic bikes direct to the consumer at seemingly ridiculously low prices, Pete had yet to find a bike that really spoke his language until he swung a leg over the Vitus Escarpe VRX last year as his long term test beast. Vitus are also title sponsors of the Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup in Northern Ireland, supporting racing on home turf.
Greg Callaghan.
Photo courtesy of Enduro World Series.Young master Callaghan sent the Emerald Enduro berserk on two occasions by winning his home enduro despite the stiffest of competition. Greg has since backed that up with overall podiums, a win in Madeira, throwing away the race in Tasmania and generally keeping things at the sharp end at whatever race he turns up at.
Nukeproof.
We would be remiss not to mention Team Wideopenmag’s sponsor Nukeproof. Based in Northern Ireland, Nukeproof have been pivotal to our race team’s successes over the last few years. It’s always great to have team sponsors with amazing, race-winning kit, and we thank Nukeproof for rolling with us for this long.
Red Bull Foxhunt.
Photo courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool.Trading places between Rostrevor and Cave Hill above Belfast, the gents’ edition of the Red Bull Foxhunt has become a permanent fixture in Northern Ireland since its inception. The only official mass start event in the whole of Ireland has the added bonus of some seriously fast humans as the fox, last year there were even two.
Kelan Grant.
He may have only spent a year with us at Team Wideopenmag but Kelan’s addition to the team very quickly saw our flag waved at the sharp end of any race he rocked up at. Kelan won the Ard Rock Enduro, the Red Bull Foxhunt the Irish Enduro Champs title, a silver at the Vitus Enduro Cup and came 14th at the Mega, while killing it on the Enduro World Series stage.
We were more than stoked when he got his first factory ride with CRC-PayPal.
