A dull, rainy day on the 29 th October seen a small, but eager group of 8 girls gather together for the first time to adventure out on a girly mountain bike day in Kilbroney forest park .

Helped along by Glyn (not a girl!) from www.firsttracksguiding.com we tackled a mixture of fire roads, single track and a few tricky bits from the car park in Kilbroney all the way to Leitrim Lodge and back again!

The day started with a few technical problems mostly after a bike check carried out in the aid of safety (thanks Glyn!). Straight in to a steep climb, knocking the wind out of everyone, the trail headed down a fun, fast single track, which was followed by another extremely tough climb. Undulating fire road led the rest of the way to the edge of the forest were a swift decision had to be made – continue on to Leitrim Lodge or turn round and head for home. Everyone decided to continue on, the rain had held off and spirits were still high!

The trail to Leitrim Lodge is quite tricky in places, over rocky single track on open hillside, but definitely worth it for the views alone. A fast, rocky, gently sloping decent led to the river crossing– and yes you guessed it someone ended up in it (but who? Only we girls and Glyn know that!).

Out of Leitrim lodge, and along the road, that’s when the rain and head wind struck! It was the hardest part of the day (riding on the road!) and we gladly diverted back into the cover of the forest, back along the undulating fire road and on to some sweet flowy descents and finally back to the car park a soggy but impressive 3hrs later!

The delicious sandwiches and goodies laid on by Glyn’s mum were devoured in seconds, and we huddled together for a group photo, but unfortunately the piccies were a bit blurred due to the torrential rain!

A big THANKS must go out to all the girls that took part (and even the ones that were interested but couldn’t make it), not to mention Glyn for ‘showing us the way’ and to Glyn's mum for the yummy food.

Despite the weather it was a brilliant day, new friends were made and lots of fun was had. No doubt you will see more of us girls out there pedaling away. So guys beware next time you’re out on a trail and you can hear the rattle of chain on chain stay rapidly coming up behind you, it could be one of us! How you gonna explain you were beat by a girl?

If you are interested or know any girls that are interested in taking part in the next girly MTB day (which is anticipated to be Saturday 26th November) make sure you get in touch on dhmich@btinternet.com and remember ITS NOT FOR GUYS!!