Rostrevor hosts largest ever Mountain Bike Festival

Over six hundred mountain bikers took part in the first ever Rostrevor Mountain Bike Festival last weekend which boasted a series of competitive events on the brand new cross-country and downhill mountain bike trails.

With accommodation providers booked out and local cafés, pubs and restaurants bustling over the bank holiday weekend, this was the largest ever festival of its type to take place in Northern Ireland and a great celebration of the new mountain bike trails which open to the public this Friday. 

Speaking during the festival, event organiser Glyn O’Brien commented, “This weekend’s festival was a great success with riders travelling from far and wide to take part. We had competitors over from England and Scotland as well as a number of clubs up from Dublin, Cork and Limerick. With hundreds of local riders also staying down there was an incredible atmosphere all weekend.”

With just under fifty kilometres of challenging mountain bike trails on offer including the first two official downhill trails in Ireland, participants were unanimous in declaring the trails in Rostrevor as amongst the best in the world. 

Chris Armstrong from MountainBikeNI.com explains, “Every rider was coming down off the mountain yesterday waxing lyrical about the new trails here in Rostrevor. With hundreds of riders taking part in the Cross-Country, Downhill and Enduro events and even more spectators lining the trails on all three days, Rostrevor was positively buzzing.”

Mr Armstrong continues, “The whole festival was a great reward to the support that Newry and Mourne District Council and trail sponsors Chain Reaction Cycles have offered throughout the development of these mountain bike trails.”

The Rostrevor Mountain Bike Trails powered by Chain Reaction Cycles have been funded by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Sport Northern Ireland, Down District Council and Newry and Mourne District Council with support from Forest Service of Northern Ireland and Outdoor Recreation Northern Ireland. Coupled with twenty five kilometres of purpose built trails in Castlewellan, these mountain bike facilities are expected to attract over twenty thousand visitors generating approximately £660,000 for the local economy each year.

Mr Armstrong added, “We now need to harness this excitement and will be working alongside Newry and Mourne District Council to market the Rostrevor Mountain Bike Trails together with trails in Castlewellan and indeed Davagh Forest in the Sperrins. Combining these three national mountain bike trail centres as one collective allows us to promote Northern Ireland as a ‘must-visit’ mountain bike destination to a wider tourism market.”

Visit www.MountainBikeNI.com for detailed route descriptions, interactive maps, latest news and events taking place on the Rostrevor Mountain Bike Trails.