I had a new baby girl two months ago, she kept me busy and i wanted to put some miles on the legs so the red line in Ballyhoura was the plan, with my friend Craig we started off on saturday morning, ripped up to the first trail where there was some new berms and a 2 inch jump all is well and fast, got to the brown turn off point and started on down the white,blue, red loop, everything seem to change where was a lot of rocks placed in your line, it seems were put there to slow you down, after a few peddle strikes and slamming the brakes on to avoid the rocks i hit a big one, not going fast or on a bent i just hit it and landing on my side, i lade there for a bit screaming in pain, then a rider came along, it was epic member Graham, he help me up and sent one of his friends on to tell Craig i fell, thanks Graham if you didn't help me i would still be there. Craig came back up the trail and sad are you ok, NO i'm not i cant walk where 10k from the car how am i going the get back. The only thing we could think of was to find a road, looking at the map in the phone we could see a farm road going down, i put the saddle down and the bike under me, free wheel down to the road, then craig got the car. We went back to Kildare and into Naas hospital, i went to Naas as i new there was something wrong and it was closest to home. There i got all the help i needed, but the bad news was that my hip was broke, a chunk out of my pelvis. The good news is the ball joint is ok and i can make a good recovery.
My point of telling you this is to see the danger Ballyhoura is putting there, i'm mountain biking for 20 years and never broke a bone in my life. i have a good bike that i'v being using the past 4 years, i was not going fast or doing anything stupid and only one hour into the trip i was not tired. i can only blame it on the way ballyhoura has put the rocks in the way, i can under stand if whey want to keep it safe by slowing you down but it would be safer if it flowed with the bike. Ballinastoe is more of a challenge and over time the natural flow of the trail for the bike has made the trail very good. I have often come back to the car park in ballinastoe after a trip to see smiles on the faces of riders and the car park of Ballyhoura blood and tears.
I hope to be back on the bike as soon as i can. Brian.
Sorry to hear of your spill Brian.I agree totally,these rocks are in stupid places.When i rode Ballyhoura for the first time in January this year,i questioned this with the coillte man at the car park,and he said they are there to stop motorbikes!How i dont know!
Sorry to hear the bad news but this was something I was meaning to mention too.
I travel down to the Ballyhoura's on a regular basis, every thrid week but of recent the amount of loose stones and rocks on the trails is Ridiculous. I do appreciate the guys that mention the âbouldersâ on the edge of the trails. However, at this stage I know the location of most of them so I can empathise with those that get caught out for the first few spins up in the Ballyhouraâs. But in recent monthâs weather itâs the dry weather or the amount of riders going off line and âkickingâ stones onto the tails is very very bad.
I used to kick the odd rock or stone off the trail but soon I got sick of doing this. Everyone needs to take ownership in my opnion and do the same just a couple of rocks or stones and this will for sure reduce the risk of unnecessary crashes and injury.
I was down there myself for the first time on Saturday. I did notice the placement of large rocks and piles of stones on the apexes of bends - like as if they're put there so you can't cut the corner/bend. Is this one of the rocks you hit? I found this made the course more challenging as you more or less HAD to stay on the trail. Overall I thought the place was really great.
Really sorry to hear of your accident. I'm not sure if we passed each other - I set off from the carpark around 11:45 on the redline. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
One thing I've been meaning to mention since I was down there in November is the boardwalk bits in Ballyhoura, they are ridiculous! Myself and Rob Davis both fell on them going really slow and cautious as we knew it was slippy and we would be fairly experienced riders but the front wheel just went and there's nothing you can do....
Most of the woodwork is on the easier loop too where you would have the less experinced riders and some of the bits are on the top of waterfalls and what not so if you fall you will drop a good bit into a pool of rocks and water, they are extremely dangerous and I don't know how they've been aloud have them this slippy for so long without being made fix it!
I'm sure there must have been a good few injuries on them by now as it hurt like hell when I fell on it, going really slow!
i lade there for a bit screaming in pain, then a rider came along, it was epic member Graham, he help me up and sent one of his friends on to tell Craig i fell, thanks Graham if you didn't help me i would still be there
Glad i could help a bit there Brian, those trails have a lot of big rocks on or around them thats for sure..Shocked to hear that it was a such a bad injury, but hope you'll be back on the bike in no time..
What Ballyhoura really need's are park rangers on bikes who are contactable through a phone number so if bikers run into problems that they will come up and provide 1st aid or arrange for an ambulance...Although you can call the emergency services who will do there best to get to you, once you get to the marked Waypoints which have numbers on them that you can give to Coilte to find out where you are..
Thanks for all the support. I Have to thank Craig he has a lot of experience in mountain rescue, i was in good hands from the start. To answer Banned_again's question, i'm always up for a challenge the Red line in Fortwilliam now that's a challenge and the 7 stains in scotland. plus all over Wicklow, but putting a pile of rocks in a corner?!?
More information on park rangers should be given, A friend brought his girlfriend to ballyhoura and she fell on the boards dislocating her shoulder. There are a number of points that will make ballyhoura safer and more fun, it has all you need for a great course. I think we should make our points to the Head of Ballyhoura.
Hey man
Sorry to hear about your accident sounds really nasty. I cycle Ballyhoura fairly regularly and know the section you are talking about quite well. For me, i quite like the technical nature of the trail as it takes quite a bit of concentration to read the flow of the trail and adjust your speed accordingly. I agree that some stones should maybe be moved, but as for other points raised such as slippery boardwalks, stones unearthed in middle of the trail, at the end of the day mountain biking has an inherent risk, its what attracts a lot of us to the sport. I would feel the Ballyhoura trails are quite safe compared to most natural tracks we all cycle. Certainly there is less risk of the unexpected. I have cycled and fallen off on the Ballyhoura trails quite a bit. But at the end of the day, if i have fallen its down to me misreading a corner or carrying too much speed for the surface. Luckily i have never hurt myself like you. Just my two cent. Hope you get well soon and sorry to hear about your bad experience. I am sure that any of the guys from coillte who look after Ballyhoura would be glad to hear your comments. I do definitely think that maps should be more freely available and shortcuts back to the trail centre more clearly designated. All the best man.
well if the riders such as Greg and Rob are clattering themselves on the boardwalks and hurting themselves in the process, then they are definitely unsafe.
There's been way too many bad reports I've heard offhand about that woodwork.
I think this would be worth bringing to Coillte's attention via the official channels.
I'll have a talk with my fellow MBI/Offroad Commission members to see what can be done.
Fergal Kilkenny
Cycling Ireland Offroad Commission MBI board member
note - those rocks on bends are typically 'trail anchors' to slow you/stop you from cutting corners, and thus have a specific purpose, versus rocks which dislodge and roll into the specified/designed path, which proper maintenance should be taking care of.
I haven't been to Ballyhoura yet but I went to Oughterard last year and I thought the placement of some of the big rocks along the track didn't make sense.
I don't mind rocks on the inside of the corners, as Fergal said they are there for a reason to stop people from cutting corners. It most cases they are not a threat anyway as you're more likely to run wide rather than hit the rock on the inside. What I don't understand are rocks placed on the outside and on the exit from a corner where you're most likely to crash, like in Oughterard. Or maybe it was me trying to ride it too fast....
stop moaning about a few rocks on the tracks !! Mother nature is far more devious than human trailbuilders and more likely to trick you..
I feel sorry for Brian breaking his hole , but for ****s sake lads..its meant to be sketchy and Ballyhoura gets thousands of visitors a month, with only a few incidents so far..
I don't like to see anybody get hurt, but come on lets not turn this into a whinge fest ! I fell over last night and landed on my handlebars and knocked the wind out of myself..it was my own fault for laughing at Smithers crashing and taking my eye off the track !
this is the price we pay for playing in the wilderness, whether its man made or otherwise !!
Richie
I rode Ballyhoura for the first time about 3 weeks ago and the most dangerous thing there is the boredom. The monotony of the singletrack sections is just unreal, left, right, left, right, choke point, fire road, new bit, left, right, left, right, choke point, fireroad...... you really have to make your own fun.
I saw loads of trail anchors in slightly wierd places that really break up the flow, in fairness, they are there to keep the speed down and they work, you'd have to be an energiser bunny to keep your speed in some of the sections.
I also rode Deroura about 6 weeks ago and I think it's worse, it has absolutley no redeaming features other than its existence, in other words it's great that there is a trail there but it's crap.
Ballinastoe is by far the best in terms of technical trail but they are all a pathetic, overplanned, diluted versions of mountainbiking where the health and safety statement is king.
That said... there were a few bits in Ballyhoura that I thought were ok but my overall impression was... "wow, that was long and boring"
Sorry to hear about the crash Brian, sounded like a bad one.
I had a new baby girl two months ago, she kept me busy and i wanted to put some miles on the legs so the red line in Ballyhoura was the plan, with my friend Craig we started off on saturday morning, ripped up to the first trail where there was some new berms and a 2 inch jump all is well and fast, got to the brown turn off point and started on down the white,blue, red loop, everything seem to change where was a lot of rocks placed in your line, it seems were put there to slow you down, after a few peddle strikes and slamming the brakes on to avoid the rocks i hit a big one, not going fast or on a bent i just hit it and landing on my side, i lade there for a bit screaming in pain, then a rider came along, it was epic member Graham, he help me up and sent one of his friends on to tell Craig i fell, thanks Graham if you didn't help me i would still be there. Craig came back up the trail and sad are you ok, NO i'm not i cant walk where 10k from the car how am i going the get back. The only thing we could think of was to find a road, looking at the map in the phone we could see a farm road going down, i put the saddle down and the bike under me, free wheel down to the road, then craig got the car. We went back to Kildare and into Naas hospital, i went to Naas as i new there was something wrong and it was closest to home. There i got all the help i needed, but the bad news was that my hip was broke, a chunk out of my pelvis. The good news is the ball joint is ok and i can make a good recovery.
My point of telling you this is to see the danger Ballyhoura is putting there, i'm mountain biking for 20 years and never broke a bone in my life. i have a good bike that i'v being using the past 4 years, i was not going fast or doing anything stupid and only one hour into the trip i was not tired. i can only blame it on the way ballyhoura has put the rocks in the way, i can under stand if whey want to keep it safe by slowing you down but it would be safer if it flowed with the bike. Ballinastoe is more of a challenge and over time the natural flow of the trail for the bike has made the trail very good. I have often come back to the car park in ballinastoe after a trip to see smiles on the faces of riders and the car park of Ballyhoura blood and tears.
I hope to be back on the bike as soon as i can. Brian.
Sorry to hear of your spill Brian.I agree totally,these rocks are in stupid places.When i rode Ballyhoura for the first time in January this year,i questioned this with the coillte man at the car park,and he said they are there to stop motorbikes!How i dont know!
Sorry to hear the bad news but this was something I was meaning to mention too.
I travel down to the Ballyhoura's on a regular basis, every thrid week but of recent the amount of loose stones and rocks on the trails is Ridiculous. I do appreciate the guys that mention the âbouldersâ on the edge of the trails. However, at this stage I know the location of most of them so I can empathise with those that get caught out for the first few spins up in the Ballyhouraâs. But in recent monthâs weather itâs the dry weather or the amount of riders going off line and âkickingâ stones onto the tails is very very bad.
I used to kick the odd rock or stone off the trail but soon I got sick of doing this. Everyone needs to take ownership in my opnion and do the same just a couple of rocks or stones and this will for sure reduce the risk of unnecessary crashes and injury.
I was down there myself for the first time on Saturday. I did notice the placement of large rocks and piles of stones on the apexes of bends - like as if they're put there so you can't cut the corner/bend. Is this one of the rocks you hit? I found this made the course more challenging as you more or less HAD to stay on the trail. Overall I thought the place was really great.
Really sorry to hear of your accident. I'm not sure if we passed each other - I set off from the carpark around 11:45 on the redline. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
One thing I've been meaning to mention since I was down there in November is the boardwalk bits in Ballyhoura, they are ridiculous! Myself and Rob Davis both fell on them going really slow and cautious as we knew it was slippy and we would be fairly experienced riders but the front wheel just went and there's nothing you can do....
Most of the woodwork is on the easier loop too where you would have the less experinced riders and some of the bits are on the top of waterfalls and what not so if you fall you will drop a good bit into a pool of rocks and water, they are extremely dangerous and I don't know how they've been aloud have them this slippy for so long without being made fix it!
I'm sure there must have been a good few injuries on them by now as it hurt like hell when I fell on it, going really slow!
i lade there for a bit screaming in pain, then a rider came along, it was epic member Graham, he help me up and sent one of his friends on to tell Craig i fell, thanks Graham if you didn't help me i would still be there
Glad i could help a bit there Brian, those trails have a lot of big rocks on or around them thats for sure..Shocked to hear that it was a such a bad injury, but hope you'll be back on the bike in no time..
What Ballyhoura really need's are park rangers on bikes who are contactable through a phone number so if bikers run into problems that they will come up and provide 1st aid or arrange for an ambulance...Although you can call the emergency services who will do there best to get to you, once you get to the marked Waypoints which have numbers on them that you can give to Coilte to find out where you are..
Thanks for all the support. I Have to thank Craig he has a lot of experience in mountain rescue, i was in good hands from the start. To answer Banned_again's question, i'm always up for a challenge the Red line in Fortwilliam now that's a challenge and the 7 stains in scotland. plus all over Wicklow, but putting a pile of rocks in a corner?!?
More information on park rangers should be given, A friend brought his girlfriend to ballyhoura and she fell on the boards dislocating her shoulder. There are a number of points that will make ballyhoura safer and more fun, it has all you need for a great course. I think we should make our points to the Head of Ballyhoura.
Hey man
Sorry to hear about your accident sounds really nasty. I cycle Ballyhoura fairly regularly and know the section you are talking about quite well. For me, i quite like the technical nature of the trail as it takes quite a bit of concentration to read the flow of the trail and adjust your speed accordingly. I agree that some stones should maybe be moved, but as for other points raised such as slippery boardwalks, stones unearthed in middle of the trail, at the end of the day mountain biking has an inherent risk, its what attracts a lot of us to the sport. I would feel the Ballyhoura trails are quite safe compared to most natural tracks we all cycle. Certainly there is less risk of the unexpected. I have cycled and fallen off on the Ballyhoura trails quite a bit. But at the end of the day, if i have fallen its down to me misreading a corner or carrying too much speed for the surface. Luckily i have never hurt myself like you. Just my two cent. Hope you get well soon and sorry to hear about your bad experience. I am sure that any of the guys from coillte who look after Ballyhoura would be glad to hear your comments. I do definitely think that maps should be more freely available and shortcuts back to the trail centre more clearly designated. All the best man.
well if the riders such as Greg and Rob are clattering themselves on the boardwalks and hurting themselves in the process, then they are definitely unsafe.
There's been way too many bad reports I've heard offhand about that woodwork.
I think this would be worth bringing to Coillte's attention via the official channels.
I'll have a talk with my fellow MBI/Offroad Commission members to see what can be done.
Fergal Kilkenny
Cycling Ireland Offroad Commission MBI board member
note - those rocks on bends are typically 'trail anchors' to slow you/stop you from cutting corners, and thus have a specific purpose, versus rocks which dislodge and roll into the specified/designed path, which proper maintenance should be taking care of.
I haven't been to Ballyhoura yet but I went to Oughterard last year and I thought the placement of some of the big rocks along the track didn't make sense.
I don't mind rocks on the inside of the corners, as Fergal said they are there for a reason to stop people from cutting corners. It most cases they are not a threat anyway as you're more likely to run wide rather than hit the rock on the inside. What I don't understand are rocks placed on the outside and on the exit from a corner where you're most likely to crash, like in Oughterard. Or maybe it was me trying to ride it too fast....
stop moaning about a few rocks on the tracks !! Mother nature is far more devious than human trailbuilders and more likely to trick you..
I feel sorry for Brian breaking his hole , but for ****s sake lads..its meant to be sketchy and Ballyhoura gets thousands of visitors a month, with only a few incidents so far..
I don't like to see anybody get hurt, but come on lets not turn this into a whinge fest ! I fell over last night and landed on my handlebars and knocked the wind out of myself..it was my own fault for laughing at Smithers crashing and taking my eye off the track !
this is the price we pay for playing in the wilderness, whether its man made or otherwise !!
Richie
I rode Ballyhoura for the first time about 3 weeks ago and the most dangerous thing there is the boredom. The monotony of the singletrack sections is just unreal, left, right, left, right, choke point, fire road, new bit, left, right, left, right, choke point, fireroad...... you really have to make your own fun.
I saw loads of trail anchors in slightly wierd places that really break up the flow, in fairness, they are there to keep the speed down and they work, you'd have to be an energiser bunny to keep your speed in some of the sections.
I also rode Deroura about 6 weeks ago and I think it's worse, it has absolutley no redeaming features other than its existence, in other words it's great that there is a trail there but it's crap.
Ballinastoe is by far the best in terms of technical trail but they are all a pathetic, overplanned, diluted versions of mountainbiking where the health and safety statement is king.
That said... there were a few bits in Ballyhoura that I thought were ok but my overall impression was... "wow, that was long and boring"
Sorry to hear about the crash Brian, sounded like a bad one.
I had a new baby girl two months ago, she kept me busy and i wanted to put some miles on the legs so the red line in Ballyhoura was the plan, with my friend Craig we started off on saturday morning, ripped up to the first trail where there was some new berms and a 2 inch jump all is well and fast, got to the brown turn off point and started on down the white,blue, red loop, everything seem to change where was a lot of rocks placed in your line, it seems were put there to slow you down, after a few peddle strikes and slamming the brakes on to avoid the rocks i hit a big one, not going fast or on a bent i just hit it and landing on my side, i lade there for a bit screaming in pain, then a rider came along, it was epic member Graham, he help me up and sent one of his friends on to tell Craig i fell, thanks Graham if you didn't help me i would still be there. Craig came back up the trail and sad are you ok, NO i'm not i cant walk where 10k from the car how am i going the get back. The only thing we could think of was to find a road, looking at the map in the phone we could see a farm road going down, i put the saddle down and the bike under me, free wheel down to the road, then craig got the car. We went back to Kildare and into Naas hospital, i went to Naas as i new there was something wrong and it was closest to home. There i got all the help i needed, but the bad news was that my hip was broke, a chunk out of my pelvis. The good news is the ball joint is ok and i can make a good recovery.
My point of telling you this is to see the danger Ballyhoura is putting there, i'm mountain biking for 20 years and never broke a bone in my life. i have a good bike that i'v being using the past 4 years, i was not going fast or doing anything stupid and only one hour into the trip i was not tired. i can only blame it on the way ballyhoura has put the rocks in the way, i can under stand if whey want to keep it safe by slowing you down but it would be safer if it flowed with the bike. Ballinastoe is more of a challenge and over time the natural flow of the trail for the bike has made the trail very good. I have often come back to the car park in ballinastoe after a trip to see smiles on the faces of riders and the car park of Ballyhoura blood and tears.
I hope to be back on the bike as soon as i can. Brian.
Sorry to hear of your spill Brian.I agree totally,these rocks are in stupid places.When i rode Ballyhoura for the first time in January this year,i questioned this with the coillte man at the car park,and he said they are there to stop motorbikes!How i dont know!
Sorry to hear the bad news but this was something I was meaning to mention too.
I travel down to the Ballyhoura's on a regular basis, every thrid week but of recent the amount of loose stones and rocks on the trails is Ridiculous. I do appreciate the guys that mention the âbouldersâ on the edge of the trails. However, at this stage I know the location of most of them so I can empathise with those that get caught out for the first few spins up in the Ballyhouraâs. But in recent monthâs weather itâs the dry weather or the amount of riders going off line and âkickingâ stones onto the tails is very very bad.
I used to kick the odd rock or stone off the trail but soon I got sick of doing this. Everyone needs to take ownership in my opnion and do the same just a couple of rocks or stones and this will for sure reduce the risk of unnecessary crashes and injury.
I was down there myself for the first time on Saturday. I did notice the placement of large rocks and piles of stones on the apexes of bends - like as if they're put there so you can't cut the corner/bend. Is this one of the rocks you hit? I found this made the course more challenging as you more or less HAD to stay on the trail. Overall I thought the place was really great.
Really sorry to hear of your accident. I'm not sure if we passed each other - I set off from the carpark around 11:45 on the redline. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
One thing I've been meaning to mention since I was down there in November is the boardwalk bits in Ballyhoura, they are ridiculous! Myself and Rob Davis both fell on them going really slow and cautious as we knew it was slippy and we would be fairly experienced riders but the front wheel just went and there's nothing you can do....
Most of the woodwork is on the easier loop too where you would have the less experinced riders and some of the bits are on the top of waterfalls and what not so if you fall you will drop a good bit into a pool of rocks and water, they are extremely dangerous and I don't know how they've been aloud have them this slippy for so long without being made fix it!
I'm sure there must have been a good few injuries on them by now as it hurt like hell when I fell on it, going really slow!
i lade there for a bit screaming in pain, then a rider came along, it was epic member Graham, he help me up and sent one of his friends on to tell Craig i fell, thanks Graham if you didn't help me i would still be there
Glad i could help a bit there Brian, those trails have a lot of big rocks on or around them thats for sure..Shocked to hear that it was a such a bad injury, but hope you'll be back on the bike in no time..
What Ballyhoura really need's are park rangers on bikes who are contactable through a phone number so if bikers run into problems that they will come up and provide 1st aid or arrange for an ambulance...Although you can call the emergency services who will do there best to get to you, once you get to the marked Waypoints which have numbers on them that you can give to Coilte to find out where you are..
Thanks for all the support. I Have to thank Craig he has a lot of experience in mountain rescue, i was in good hands from the start. To answer Banned_again's question, i'm always up for a challenge the Red line in Fortwilliam now that's a challenge and the 7 stains in scotland. plus all over Wicklow, but putting a pile of rocks in a corner?!?
More information on park rangers should be given, A friend brought his girlfriend to ballyhoura and she fell on the boards dislocating her shoulder. There are a number of points that will make ballyhoura safer and more fun, it has all you need for a great course. I think we should make our points to the Head of Ballyhoura.
Hey man
Sorry to hear about your accident sounds really nasty. I cycle Ballyhoura fairly regularly and know the section you are talking about quite well. For me, i quite like the technical nature of the trail as it takes quite a bit of concentration to read the flow of the trail and adjust your speed accordingly. I agree that some stones should maybe be moved, but as for other points raised such as slippery boardwalks, stones unearthed in middle of the trail, at the end of the day mountain biking has an inherent risk, its what attracts a lot of us to the sport. I would feel the Ballyhoura trails are quite safe compared to most natural tracks we all cycle. Certainly there is less risk of the unexpected. I have cycled and fallen off on the Ballyhoura trails quite a bit. But at the end of the day, if i have fallen its down to me misreading a corner or carrying too much speed for the surface. Luckily i have never hurt myself like you. Just my two cent. Hope you get well soon and sorry to hear about your bad experience. I am sure that any of the guys from coillte who look after Ballyhoura would be glad to hear your comments. I do definitely think that maps should be more freely available and shortcuts back to the trail centre more clearly designated. All the best man.
well if the riders such as Greg and Rob are clattering themselves on the boardwalks and hurting themselves in the process, then they are definitely unsafe.
There's been way too many bad reports I've heard offhand about that woodwork.
I think this would be worth bringing to Coillte's attention via the official channels.
I'll have a talk with my fellow MBI/Offroad Commission members to see what can be done.
Fergal Kilkenny
Cycling Ireland Offroad Commission MBI board member
note - those rocks on bends are typically 'trail anchors' to slow you/stop you from cutting corners, and thus have a specific purpose, versus rocks which dislodge and roll into the specified/designed path, which proper maintenance should be taking care of.
I haven't been to Ballyhoura yet but I went to Oughterard last year and I thought the placement of some of the big rocks along the track didn't make sense.
I don't mind rocks on the inside of the corners, as Fergal said they are there for a reason to stop people from cutting corners. It most cases they are not a threat anyway as you're more likely to run wide rather than hit the rock on the inside. What I don't understand are rocks placed on the outside and on the exit from a corner where you're most likely to crash, like in Oughterard. Or maybe it was me trying to ride it too fast....
stop moaning about a few rocks on the tracks !! Mother nature is far more devious than human trailbuilders and more likely to trick you..
I feel sorry for Brian breaking his hole , but for ****s sake lads..its meant to be sketchy and Ballyhoura gets thousands of visitors a month, with only a few incidents so far..
I don't like to see anybody get hurt, but come on lets not turn this into a whinge fest ! I fell over last night and landed on my handlebars and knocked the wind out of myself..it was my own fault for laughing at Smithers crashing and taking my eye off the track !
this is the price we pay for playing in the wilderness, whether its man made or otherwise !!
Richie
I rode Ballyhoura for the first time about 3 weeks ago and the most dangerous thing there is the boredom. The monotony of the singletrack sections is just unreal, left, right, left, right, choke point, fire road, new bit, left, right, left, right, choke point, fireroad...... you really have to make your own fun.
I saw loads of trail anchors in slightly wierd places that really break up the flow, in fairness, they are there to keep the speed down and they work, you'd have to be an energiser bunny to keep your speed in some of the sections.
I also rode Deroura about 6 weeks ago and I think it's worse, it has absolutley no redeaming features other than its existence, in other words it's great that there is a trail there but it's crap.
Ballinastoe is by far the best in terms of technical trail but they are all a pathetic, overplanned, diluted versions of mountainbiking where the health and safety statement is king.
That said... there were a few bits in Ballyhoura that I thought were ok but my overall impression was... "wow, that was long and boring"
Sorry to hear about the crash Brian, sounded like a bad one.