SSEC 2014 Confirmed for Northern Ireland

NIMBA, in partnership with Outdoor Recreation NI (formerly CAAN), and supported by NITB and Down District Council, has secured Northern Ireland as the host nation of the Single Speed European Championship (SSEC) in 2014.

Attracting up to 400 competitors from across Europe and the globe, the event centres on a 40 km mountain bike race on bikes with no gears, over several laps of a marked course.  Importantly, it has the wider appeal of a festival weekend and the sharing of fun, friendship and culture, regardless of nationality, skill, age or fitness level; something we do well in Northern Ireland.  Many of the 2012 competitors brought families and friends with them to Floressas, France to enjoy the atmosphere, games, cycling and other activities that form the overall SSEC event.

A NIMBA delegation attended SSEC 2012 in April to make proposals for hosting one of the future events.  Following a multi-faceted bid process involving a number of European nations and the 2012 hosts, the host nations for 2013 and 2014 were selected.  Next year’s event will be in Catalonia, and Northern Ireland will take up the mantle in Spring 2014.

It is proposed that the 2014 race will utilise the new world-class mountain bike trails at Castlewellan, which are part of the wider Mournes MTB trail network currently under construction; work on the Mournes project started on 30 April, with the development expected to take around 12 months, so the trails should be nicely bedded in for SSEC 2014.

This is a significant event for mountain biking in Northern Ireland, and is an ideal opportunity to showcase our mountain biking credentials to many nations across Europe and indeed further afield.  SSEC 2014 will be an important building block in marketing Northern Ireland ultimately as a leading destination for mountain biking and NIMBA looks forward to contributing to its success.

Meeting to Discuss Magheramorne Project



Rick and Davy from NIMBA discuss the latest developments on the Maghermorne Quarry mountainbiking project with CAAN and representatives from the quarry owners Lafarge Cement UK, on 29 March.

Cycling Ulster Off-Road Commission Meeting, 2nd April

We were kindly afforded an opportunity to update attendees about the aims, objectives, discussions and progress of NIMBA at a Cycling Ulster Off-Road Commission meeting on 2 April in Lisburn's Premier Inn.  Great to see such a vibrant XC and DH race scene, a desire for a more coordinated approach to communications with each other as cyclists and clubs and with Forest Service in particular, and also to hear some nice ideas around how best we might use the Northern Ireland forest estate for club and youth development.  Lots to follow up on, and our thanks to meeting chairman Martin Grimley and all the other folks for welcoming us along.


A New Lease of Life for Craigavon Trails?

NIMBA contacted Craigavon Borough Council in mid-March to highlight the condition of the Craigavon Lakes mountain bike trails (which, as shown above, have fallen into shocking disrepair in places) and to offer advice, support and volunteer assistance in returning them to their best. 

Council officers were delighted with our approach, and are keen to see progress on the ground quickly.  The Council is now working with CAAN to facilitate a volunteer work party under CAAN's Volunteer Trail Ranger programme, which saw such tremendous progress made at Blessingbourne Estate in February.

Here's hoping Craigavon Borough Council can get all in place quickly to allow the work to go ahead shortly.  If you are interested in helping as a volunteer, contact us on volunteers@nimba.org.uk, or contact Diane at CAAN through http://www.countrysiderecreation.com/.

Update on NIMBA's Club Membership

Clubs interested in seeing the further development of world-class mountain biking trails in Northern Ireland continue to join NIMBA, with long-established clubs Dromara CC, VC Glendale, Causeway Coast Adventure Racing, Team Madigan, and the newly formed Mourne and Cooley MTB Club (Team MoCo) joining those already in the fold since last update: Carn Wheelers, Roe Valley Cycles, Donegal MTB Club, BOMB NI, Trailbadger, Phoenix CC and NTSR. 

The more clubs and individuals joining, the stronger the representative voice of Northern Ireland mountain biking as we lobby public, private and charity sectors for new trails and improved access across the country. 

Any clubs wishing to know more, please review this site and/or contact us on chairman@nimba.org.uk.

Strategy for Northern Ireland Mountain Biking

Bikers, clubs businesses...

NIMBA is currently working on a strategy for mountain biking trails in Northern Ireland.  This will include an analysis of current activity, proposals for development of trails across the country, and an action plan. 

The strategy will be presented to relevant organisations such as Forest Service, NI Tourist Board, Sport NI, CAAN, local authorities and others. 

Our membership data is key to informing the strategy, so join NIMBA now to make sure that YOUR views are considered. 

Spread the word by Facebook, Twitter, email, and even soap-box in the street!

Phytophthora – Greek for Plant Destroyer!

The Northern Ireland Mountain Biking Alliance (NIMBA) attended a stakeholder update meeting and workshop event at Greenmount College Campus on 14 March.  This was the fourth such event held since the first outbreaks of the plant disease Phytophthora (Fight Off Thora!) in Japanese larch woodlands in 2010. 

The session focused primarily on the strand of the disease called P. ramorum, best known under its USA name Sudden Oak Death http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_oak_death, which has devastated large areas of California, and is now causing grief over here! 

Attendance was circa 40 people from different government, industry and user groups; NIMBA was given a rip-roaring welcome by many in the room, with all saying it was great to have mountain biking represented at such an event.  It was a great chance to get the background from a scientific perspective, as there has been a lot of misinformation flying around about it all in recent months.

The meeting was organised by DARD’s Quality Assurance Branch, with FERA’s David Slawson, the UK’s leading expert on this disease, delivering an excellent presentation before we got into the discussion workshops.  We discussed and developed ideas around the following:

• Disease control – how to stop it coming into the country, and how to stop it spreading around
• Communication – how to reach the various disparate audiences (like mountain-bikers, for example) with the right messages about it
• Monitoring – how to ensure that the eyes and ears for tell-tale signs are maximised

Many Northern Ireland mountain bikers will have felt the effects of this disease already, with a number of our forests designated even MORE out of bounds than usual.  The clearing of Moneyscalp Forest, along with clearing operations in Glenarm, Glenariff, Tievenadarragh, Woodburn and Ballyboley Forests in recent months, has been met with some dismay and scepticism in biking circles.

Up until 2009, P. ramorum in the UK had been confined mostly to ornamental plants such as rhododendron, in trade and in historic gardens, and with only around 100 trees, mostly beech, affected. However in August of that year confirmation of the first infections in Japanese larch here changed the nature of the disease and the situations in which it occurred. In 2010, six public forests and three private sites were affected, resulting in the felling of over 300 hectares of trees.  This disease also affects bilberry, an important plant of heathland, as well as 'commercial' species like larch, so one can appreciate the alarm amongst the scientists.  The challenge here is communicating with us, the great unwashed, in what we need to do or not do in response!

Lots of other facts, figures, statistics and photographs were presented by David Slawson, too many for this post, but this was a worthwhile event to attend and we came away assured that there is definitely merit in mountain biking being represented at events like this.

Once the session was wrapped, it was good to have an opportunity to talk at some length with Forest Service senior executives Malcolm Beattie, Ian Irwin and John Joe O’Boyle, and to renew acquaintance with former Chief Executive and current DARD Deputy Secretary David Small, all of whom have been involved in discussions regarding the further development of mountain biking and other recreation in our forests.

See the notes at the bottom of this press release from August 2010 for more background info on P. Ramorum.  http://www.dardni.gov.uk/forestservice/index/forest-service-press-releases/press_releases-2010/press_releases-phytophthora-ramorum.htm

P. ramorum in Japanese larch

Update on Club Support and Membership

Building upon the strong support shown by many individual mountain bikers since launch in January, some of the country's best-known cycling clubs have also pledged their support by signing up as members of the NI Mountain Biking Alliance. 

This takes membership now to well over 600 riders in less than 6 weeks.  The bigger the membership, the stronger the voice of mountain bikers, so please continue to show your support.  Become a Member

Clubs, if we haven't come your way yet, you're on the list, but please do contact us or sign up directly.
 

Sport NI Consultation Response Submitted

The NI Mountain Biking Alliance has submitted a response on behalf of its members to the Sport NI "Consultation on the issues for the development of the new 10 year Outdoor Recreation Action Plan", which closed on 29 February.  http://www.sportni.net/about/Consultations.  This consultation has been running for some time, and has been supported by a number of excellent evening workshops across Northern Ireland in recent weeks, to allow anyone interested to review the proposals and have an input into the process.

The detailed 7 page response, from a mountain biking perspective, of course, focuses on:

• Creating a bold and ambitious vision for Northern Ireland's recreation provision
• Increased responsibility and accountability amongst government recreation providers
• Clarity of process and communication amongst stakeholders for the development of opportunities
• The impasse between landowners and recreation providers around access and liability
• A central cross-departmental driver of opportunities
• Innovative funding arrangements, including volunteer input, commercial input and benefit in kind 
• A study of best practice from other regions of the world that we aspire to emulate or better

When all the feedback is brought together, the Action Plan will be redrafted, and we hope to see the themes above dealt with where relevant.  Contact us on chairman@nimba.org.uk for more information, and we will release more information as it comes our way.

Volunteer Trail Rangers at Blessingbourne

The Northern Ireland Mountain Biking Alliance was out in force on 18 February at the first Volunteer Ranger day at Blessingbourne Estate in Fivemiletown. 

The full squad, satisfied after a day of great progress at Blessingbourne

The session was organised by CAAN with Dungannon Borough Council, who manage the trail network.  11 new members of the Alliance made up the volunteer squad, under the watchful eye of Architrail’s Phil Saxena, designer of world-renowned trails around the globe, including Olympic and World Cup race trails and of course those at Blessingbourne.

Many hands make light work, and the volunteer team got stuck in following some fantastic schooling and advice from Phil.  The team from the council were unstoppable with their enthusiasm and industry, and by the time we had returned from our lessons in a walk round the trails with Phil, they had made tremendous progress in the pump-track.  With everyone then focusing on the pump-track, it was quickly returned to its former glory, and loads of general repairs were undertaken around the trails.  More to do, but great progress made. 

A huge thanks to Phil Saxena, Diane Patterson from CAAN, all the volunteers, and the Dungannon Council staff – a great piece of team-work made it all a great success.

World-class trail designer Phil Saxena joins the Northern Ireland Mountain Biking Alliance

Facebook Photo Album 1

Facebook Photo Album 2

Meeting with Forest Service to Discuss Process

An ‘action shot’ from a very productive meeting on 7th February with Ian Irwin, Director of Forest Management at Forest Service NI and some representatives from the local mountain biking community.

The objective of the meeting was to confirm the precise process for planning, developing and maintaining sustainable trails in Northern Ireland’s forests, focusing on a ‘bottom up’ model utilising local knowledge, resources and support.

This was also the first opportunity to introduce the Northern Ireland Mountain Biking Alliance, an effort to unify and magnify the voice of mountain biking in Northern Ireland – bringing together bikers (of every type), clubs (cycling, MTB, adventure racing, etc), IMBA, businesses, voluntary organisations; anyone who is interested in seeing the further development of mountain biking trails and facilities in our part of the world.

If you’d like to add your voice (or the voice of your club) to the effort, or would simply like to know more, then get in touch with Rick on chairman@nimba.org.uk, or browse around this site.

We are making progress – add your voice, and together we'll see more trails in our local forests.

Rick McKee              
chairman@nimba.org.uk         
Phone: 07740 180836

Good Times Ahead for Northern Ireland Trails

A very positive meeting on 11 January at Parliament Buildings, Stormont Estate, is another step promising a bright future for mountain biking in Northern Ireland.

The Minister for Agriculture & Rural Development, Michelle O’Neill, hosted the meeting, with senior Forest Service executives and mountain biking representatives there to discuss plans for the development of trails in the Northern Ireland forest estate.

Flagship projects in the Mourne Mountains in County Down and at Davagh Forest near Cookstown in County Tyrone are already underway, but there is an acknowledged need to continue to explore opportunities for more facilities across the country that meet the demand for more progressive riding, for our already popular and still rapidly growing sport.

A number of models for trail provision are being discussed with Forest Service, based on those that have already been hugely successful in other parts of the world; a sound process, the right stakeholders, local engagement and community support will be vital elements in the growth of trails, so we will be working hard along with various partners to get all the pieces of the jigsaw in place, to allow projects to proceed.

We are genuinely excited about the future of trails in Northern Ireland’s forests, and we look forward to helping the local mountain biking community reach its goals. Knowing how other successful projects work across the world, we are also hugely encouraged to see a more cohesive and organised approach being adopted by the Northern Ireland mountain biking community in general, particularly in the last 12 months.

Strength of voice at a local level and good organisation are key elements, and if you think we might be able to assist in any way, please do get in touch; we’re here to help.

Further meetings with Forest Service are already in the diary, with the Minister remaining very interested in progress.  Keep an eye on the site for updates.

Rick McKee              
chairman@nimba.org.uk       

Phone: 07740 180836