I'm David. I'm 13, I live in Clonmel, and mountain biking is basically my whole thing.
Not like "oh yeah I ride bikes sometimes." Like — it's what I think about during school, it's what a few of us talk about at lunch, it's the thing I'm saving money for, it's the reason I'm up early on a Saturday when I'd normally sleep until noon. That kind of thing.
Most weekends I'm out with friends. We ride the trails out towards Faobam usually, or wherever we can get a lift to. Sometimes it's just messing around on local stuff after school. Doesn't matter. Any time on the bike is a good time.
Any time on the bike is a good time.
I made this site because I wanted somewhere to actually write about the rides properly. TikTok is great for clips but you can't really tell the story of a day out in 30 seconds. Here I can write a proper trip report, talk about what a trail is actually like, say what gear I think is worth it and what isn't.
I'm on a hardtail at the moment — full bike post here. Full sus is the goal. Saving is slow. The bike is fine for now and honestly riding a hardtail has probably made me better technically because you can't just bully your way through everything, you have to actually pick your lines.
I've ridden The Gap in Wicklow, Bike Park Ireland up in Rostrevor, and the Faobam trails more times than I can count — that's our local spot. I want to get to Ballyhoura properly at some point and eventually, eventually, get to somewhere like Leogang or Les Gets. That's the dream.
There's also a Jump of the Month competition — riders from any country submit their best jump clip, people vote, we crown a country champion every month. Worth a look.
Right, that's the intro done. Everything else on here is more interesting than this.
— David