Just outside Belfast city centre on the Malone road you will find the Shaw’s Bridge car park which is handy to explore the Lagan Tow path as well as Chain Reactions sponsored trail at Barnett Demesne, also known as the Mary Peters track, the reason I am here today.
The carpark has a great kids outdoor play area, which due to Covid-19 restrictions remains locked.
If you follow the path left along the bridge you will arrive in Belfast city centre, cycling along Stranmillis and Ormeau Embankments.
Follow the path right and you can choose the Tow path, leading you towards Lisburn or stay up high and follow the shared trail markers which begin just at the gates of the carpark.
We followed the green shared trail to the Trailhead where we met the rest of the group.
The trail is around 5kms long and not too technical with very little climbing. Most of the trails are wide and you instantly feel at ease on them. There are a few drops and rock gardens but all very achievable for beginners. We completed the trail at a leisurely 38 mins and ended up at the pump track. Now we’ve gone from safe to maniac!
We did try out some of the pump track on the easier right hand side which is a lot of fun.
The left hand side left us scratching our heads, unsure how anyone would attack these.
We thought a great photo opportunity would be to set one of our bikes ontop of the jump. We may as well have climbed Everest, the effort it took to get to the peak.
We decided to explore for a while and in usual style got ourselves a little lost. There is lots to explore and I would recommend this for beginners and advanced riders. I’m looking forward to my next visit where I plan to aimlessly explore the area.
So proud of our little Ladies MTB community, the guys we were chatting to couldn’t believe that we all regularly meet up and are from all over the country.
If you’ve been wanting to get out on your bike and don’t know where to go, then find a Facebook group, chat to some locals and just head on out. I’m so grateful for the connections I have made through this sport.
Girl gone Mountainbiking 