Well there is method behind the madness...
When we started off mtb'ing it soon became obvious that referring to 'that track up the top of the hill, second on the left' wasn;t going to work. So we (me,Jim,DC) decided that we needed to come up with some names. And a theme.
So the theme that emerged was Led Zeppelin songs.More specifically the album led Zeppelin IV. Imagine, three grown men wandering around the mountain on Sunday mornings, finding singletrack and naming them after Led Zeppelin songs. Oh yes, those heady days of 2006, Celtic Tiger and all that.
So we started with a few that didn't really stick. Misty Mountain Top (Hop) – song 5 - was what was rechristened by Rudolf 'MiniDH'. Then we had the Stairway from Heaven, (ok so its Stairway to Heaven, song 4) which was the (now unrideable) track from the Windmills gate to Black Dog. Speaking of Black Dog – there you go - song 1 - and of course when it came to naming the section after that, well it was obvious – had to be song 2, RocknRoll! Then there's the Bevy of Lakes (When the Levee Breaks - song 8 - get it?). And finally a little known piece of track over near the river called 'Evermore'.
But of course there's only 8 songs on Led Zeppelin IV and much and all as we like 'Going to California' it just didn't really fit.
So where did the others come from?
Paradise: one of the first times we went down there someone, DC or Jim simply proclaimed 'Jaysus lads, This is Paradise'. So it stuck. We called it Paradise Lost for a while when the scramblers wrecked it.
Critical Mass: We were talking about the club one spin and someone (Barry) procalimed that we needed Critical Mass. And that was it.
The Dabbage Patch: named by DC due to everyones on going struggle to ride cleanly. A dab being mtb parlance for when you have to put your foot down for balance.
Tullys Gully: Tully's favourite o.t.h. place (over the handlebars), named by Rudolf?
Monsoon: Discovered by me, Barry and Brian Yeates on an exceptionally wet (monsoon like) summers evening
Lil Djouce: named by me as it reminded me of Djouce in Wicklow
Pete: Named by me – it's obvious I think
Selection Box: this was discovered by Barry and DC. It was a very cold, windy day around Christmas. When we came upon them they were huddled under a tree taking shelter with manic grins across their faces, so excited were they to find new singletrack. I remarked that they were like two chaps after opening their Selection Box. So it stuck.
A bit further afield, up in the Quarry we have Courtown. Named because it's full of beech
. And The Widowmaker christened by Ross, again no explanation required. Then we have the Heinous Climb of the 2 Gates – that one's obvious. Near there there's the Head of Aughnabrisky – named because the track goes around the head of th Aughnabrisky river.More recently then we have K2 and MiniK2 from Rudolf. For anyone that's attempted to ride up K2 you'll know why its called that.
Last of all then we have the 4Amigos. I named this because I laid out the route walking with my two lads and their friend. I told them I'd name it 3Amigos after them, but they insisted I should be included so it became 4Amigos. Happy days.
And here's a tune to wrap it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeJkDewhTEw&ob=av2n