014 – Life Adventure Centre & How To Run A 24hr Race

Welcome to episode number fourteen. We are chatting with Martin McMullan who is the Director of the Life Adventure Centre which houses the Castlewellan Mountain Bike Trails. I wanted to mainly chat to Martin about the Mourne Psycle 24hr Mountain Bike Race which the centre has just held. But I also wanted to chat to Martin about the centre, what it does, who they cater to, what activities they provide and how the mountain bike trails have been received.

You’ll Learn

• What the Life Adventure Centre does
• How long they have been trading
• Who they cater towards
• What activities are available
• The events the Life Adventure Centre holds over the year
• How to run an 8hr and 24hr race
• What are the challenges organising an 8 and 24hr race
• How to recover after terrible storms and hundreds of fallen trees one week before the race start date
• How long it takes to organise such a race
• The type of mountain bikes the Life Adventure Centre rent
• Why electric mountain bikes are so popular at the centre
• How well the mountain bike trails have been received and how successful they have been
• How mountain biking has been growing through the centre

Martin and his crew are fantastic. They are so welcoming and always happy to see you. The complete Castlewellan Forest Park is set in a stunning area and to have over 20km of mountain bike trails is just amazing. Martin and his team are super enthusiastic and this comes across whenever you are chatting with them.

We chat in depth about the 8hr and 24hr races. We talk about why these races were started and if the 24hr race (which was run for the first time this years) was always in the future plans. We chat about the success of the races and how it helps Castlewellan in general. We also talk about how the Glyn O’Brien camp started out doing the race for a bit of fun and ended up in a competitive nail biting race (please see link at the bottom of the page for Glyn’s interview).

Martin talks about how they overcame having a large storm just before the race and having to clear hundreds of fallen trees. We also chat about what kind of level you need to be at before entering such a race and the different options for doing so. Martin also tells us why they are ordering more hire bikes including electric bikes and how successful mountain biking has become at the centre.

It was awesome talking with Martin regarding everything mountain biking around Castlewellan. The area is fantastic and has great facilities to boot. So please take an hour out of your time and have a listen. Who knows, you may even enter the 24hr race next year!

 

To Connect with the Life Adventure Centre

Website: onegreatadventure.com

Email: iwant@onegreatadventure.com

Tel: +44 (0)28 4377 0714

Facebook: LifeisOneGreatAdventure

Twitter: LifeAdventureCt

 

Resources in this Episode

www.cube.eu

www.mechmonkey.co.uk

www.newrymournedown.org

 

 

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Special thanks to Martin for being a guest on the podcast and for taking the time to get involved.

Thanks for Listening!

Join me next week for another MTB TRIBE Podcast show!