Blessingbourne Trail Centre (Ireland)

Blessingbourne MTB trail centre has just opened in Fivemiletown Co. Tyrone Ireland. I was invited to come to the open day to have a go and give some feed back on the trail development.

The trail is designed to be an all weather trail. It is all gravel stones so weather shouldnt be an issue. Some natural trails we have here get very mucky and slippy in the winter. This has been designed with that in mind.

At the trail head there is a pump track with a outside loop and two central cross over sections for figure 8's. My bike wasnt ideal for the pump track but after a few goes I got the hang of it.

Chain Reaction Cycles had a fleet of Vitus Mountain bikes for the local school children to have a go on the track.

The banners at the trail head really added to the track. The TRAILBADGER.COM boys had their own tandem to take people around some of the track.

We took a lap of the trail taking it fairly easy at the start to get a look around see how the trail was constructed and what features lay ahead.

We took a lap of the trail taking it fairly easy at the start to get a look around see how the trail was constructed and what features lay ahead. The terrain is fairly flat so the majority of the work is done by the rider.

It still flows very well and I think that is the key to riding it fast making sure you carry speed through the corners. The first red section has some fairly wide log crossings. These are linked with a series of berms and a few rock drops after this there is a couple of table tops and then another bermed finish.


The trail then winds through the trees again and to the left there is another red section. This is a really fast series of flowing berms that you can really carry speed through. There is a few small bumps to double and then this brings you back to the start of the log crossings and rock drops. Another quick blast through this section and after this we followed the trail around to the right this time. The next section is another series of flowing corners that lead into small rock gardens and a series of table tops. After this there is an open section of bermed corners and small kicker jumps. The final section is a winding single track through the forest and back to the start. With a few km in the legs the pump track felt alot better the second time around.
The trail can be enjoyed by all the family and for the more experianced Mountain bikers to blast around at speed. We had a good day trying the trail and the pump track. Hopefully this is just the start of things to come with sustainable trail centres in the North of Ireland.