Just a heads up that the whole top section is in bits, unbelievable mud and mostly unrideable. The cliff top traverse is very treacherous and you could quickly find yourself falling outside your limits.
P.S. Don - I think you're only posting about Djouce just to prove to Richie that you weren't in Ballinastoe over the weekend!!
Jaysus, you do Ballinagoober once every 6 months and your vilified, my mistake was mentioning it here, next time I'll wear my MAD jersey and groucho tache.
My weekend was actually dead in the water re biking until late yesterday afternoon, a quick phone call salvaged things and myself and Cathal did a schlompy few hours in Djouce with no stops, it was deadly.
I was in Ballinastoe yesterday afternoon running a Kids Coaching Session with my fellow Coaches and Coach Wallace forced me to do a loop of the kip..
I don't know what does be going on in the minds of the users there but its like short cut heaven..everywhere you go, every little rocky obstacle or tricky corner ( and I use the term tricky loosely) has a chicken !! run or a straight line..the word I would use is pathetic !! I don't understand the straightlining of corners at all..after all, one of the best sensations in Cycling road or otherwise is going as fast around a corner as humanly possible.
and as for avoiding the obstacles..surely the point is to challenge yourself..
Anyay the place is in complete bits..which is a pity because with a little bit of maintainence and a few strategically placed boulders it could be turned in to a fine trail. Some of the locations are spectacular and it is in a good location.
And there are braking bumps everywhere, braking bumps on an xc loop !! on the straight , on the flat.
And you don't need 6" travel or full body armour , but you do need a coach and here I am
Richie
Richie i couldn't agree more with you about ballinastoe!
One thing is to build the track and here i have to say well done the track is fantastic!!!
Second thing is to maintain the track regulary as it does get some beating and a bit of shovel work here and there needs to be done sometimes.
If there is a digging day in ballinastoe please post it on line and lets shape it up!
All the cornering there is the best fun ever and going straight is just wrong because you miss out big time and it is not that challanging any more.
There doesnt need to be a digging day to sort it...If you ride it often and are unhappy with some part of it, bring tools and sort out what needs sorting..
I'd love to see the faces of the regular Ballinagoober riders if we went up there and started to dig up and close off their short-cuts - there'd be bloody murder!!
There was a guy up there yesterday riding the trails on a Trance with a full face lid on!!
Hold on lads, we can't touch it..its up to forestrys recreational guys to fix it. Camel, i've given you Members access so you can see other digging days and spins you might be interested in,
Richie