Beaches and mellow rides are sure nice but Wicklow got some pretty rad trails to. The very awesome Ian at Fatbikeadventures.ie set me up with a new bike for all that single track awesomeness to come. A Rockymountain Blizzard with a huge 150 mm Wren up front. What a beast!
Wicklow county is full of trail and there are about four trail centers in the area. But first we hooked up with Oscar who visited me in the North back in March.
Glen of the Downs
Wayne and Oscar took me to one of their local trails. A beautiful little forest/mountain area called Glen of the Downs, i just love the names of stuff over here. Glen of the Downs are off course crazy beautiful. Pretty gnarly trails, climbs and descents in a good mix.
Most of the trails goes through old forest landscape quite opposite of what i have home. We had our coffee at the ruins of an old tea pavilion. Ireland is just packed with all these super cool ruins. Could´t have had our morning “fika” at a more stunning place.
Ballinstoe Trail center
If there is one thing we don´t have in Sweden it is trail centers. Well we got some bike parks but they´re basically ski resorts that offers cycling in the summer, mostly down hill. But in Ireland there are trail centers, miles of trails, with rental business and guided rides. Wayne took me to Ballinstoe Trail Center about a thirty minute drive from Wicklow town. I was pretty stoked to ride some groomed trails.
Ballinstoe has about 14 kilmeters of awesome trails, some transportation routes in between trails. But damn this shit is fun. Just pump and grind for kilometer after kilometer. We took an extra climb to check out Lough Tay, or Guinnesses Lake. Yup that Guinness. They own this lake and have their family mansion down there on the right in the picture.
After that it was all down hill. Long flowy trails that put that silly smile on your face as you just roll and pump your way down.
Since we did all of our riding in the mornings we got the Trail center all to our selves but when we got back to the start they´d opened up their rental service and we got a chat and some coffee. I love places like this. All about riding. Check out Biking.ie for more info. And if you ever go to Ireland this place is a must.
Our last ride was a piece of Wayns commute along the coast life of Wicklow. A bit over grown this time of year but boy it´s cool to ride the cliffs by the sea. Wicklow really is a dream for cyclists, not just fat, any kind. Well i would not go road riding here cos damn the roads are narrow and they drive on the bloody left side of the road. Savages! But for mountainbiking it is awesome. We rode almost every morning, still this was just a little taste of the stout. There are still loads of stuff to ride and i sure will return and bring the Roamer she´l love it there…
I can´t say how grateful i am to have friends like Emma and Wayne, they made our trip to Wicklow amazing and i can´t wait to get back. Thank you guys for having us. Love you both so much! See ya soon.
Bike life in Swedish Lapland 
Great photos buddy.. Looks like an awesome trip and bonus you had the family for the evenings
Yeah man. Thanks 🙂 One day I’ll turn up in Wales. Wanna do a road trip through the UK, Wales and Scottland.
Well when you decide to do it, you’re well come to come and stay with us in Glasgow and I can show you some great Scottish riding. Ben Lomond, the Cairngorms, Pitlochry, Glen Affric, the beaches of North Berwick. There is an embarrassment of riches to be had!😉
Sanny
Oh man, thank you, that sounds awesome. Scotland looks pretty damn awesome! Also if you wanna go proper ice riding. You know where to find me. /Olov