The Most Terrifying Mountain Bike Trail On Earth
Tue, Mar 24, 2009
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All images by Victor Lucas via Hans Rey
Dawn was breaking. The wheels of the bike crunched over the shale-covered surface of the path as the wind swirled beyond the overhanging ledge. Conditions were far from ideal: damp, misty and with more than the hangover of a storm in the air, they left little margin for error – an error that equated to a sheer 600 foot drop down to the waiting rocks and waves of the Atlantic. The riders had ventured out not knowing fully what to expect, but it was too late to turn back now.
When Hans Rey embarked on a road trip with fellow mountain biking star Steve Peat, the plan, as he told Environmental Graffiti, was “to ride all the cool biking trails and spots in Ireland and to visit a few pubs along the way.” Yet the Swiss trials rider and multiple World Champion had long had his sights on the Emerald Isle’s legendary Cliffs of Mohan and just knew he had to “ride that edge one day.”
The problem was that they hadn’t foreseen the Cliffs being quite such a tourist trap by day, nor that the weather would be as adverse as it was. So they postponed their plans until early the next morning, though not without misgivings. “We were well aware of stories of the dangerous upward drafts, strong winds that would sweep the cliffs, and as stories have it, pulled several people down over the years,” said Hans.
Daybreak came, and it wasn’t just the visibility that was a bit on the murky side. “Our heads were slightly foggy as well,” Hans explained, “from the Guinness the night before.” Still, they only had one shot at it, and weren’t about to be put off. “As we went out there, I quickly felt comfortable and in my zone. As a trials rider you learn to focus on your line, on what you want to do, not what you don’t want to do – in this case, fall to death.”
The guys’ confidence grew as they became more comfortable in their environment – and like a dog that smells no fear on you, their environment seemed to grow more accustomed to them. “Even though it was a stormy day, the winds were calm right on the edge of the cliffs. We got more and more daring. We rode ledges that were only about 4 inches wide and even jumped over 4 foot gaps.”
Yet however crazy this sounds to us, pros who are used to navigating over all kinds of obstacles – often without ever putting a foot down – know where the real perils lie. “The dangerous part riding the ledge was not to ride too close to the hillside, since we didn’t want to catch a pedal on the rocks and high-side down the cliff.” Obviously it takes superlative skill to pull off a stunt like this, and the riders completed their spectacular trail without mishap.
Of course, the local authorities knew nothing about what was going down on the Cliffs of Moher that cold Irish winter morning, and apparently they were none too pleased when they later found out. But since when have extreme sports guys cared about doing things by the book? “Just for the record, there were no parachutes in our backpacks, as some had speculated,” Hans concludes. “Mind over matter and the mercy of Mother Nature.”
With special thanks to Hans Rey for contributing his thoughts to this article, and to Victor Lucas for kind permission to use his stunning shots
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Uno de los lugares más peligrosos para practicar ciclismo de montaña Says:
March 27th, 2009 at 5:57 pm[...] Uno de los lugares más peligrosos para practicar ciclismo de montaña www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/most-terrifying-mount… por thombjork hace pocos segundos [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Holy shit… my stomach was getting queasy just looking at the photos. Good stuff!
March 25th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
this is really near to death.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Hey Hans,
That’s some great crazy riding. When Michelle and I walked that unmarked path a couple years ago she was clinging to the ground with a death grip every time a little breeze came by! Good to see you had fun. We loved Ireland ourselves. Best,
Toby (brother of Everest climber Trynt, of course)
March 26th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
OMG
CRAZYY!!!
April 10th, 2009 at 10:07 am
They faced Death and told her ” Not now bitch ” :)) Neat stuff dudes , stay safe
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 pm
They are called the Cliffes of Moher not Mohan * rolls yes* can’t even get the name right. And there is allways wind but it blows upwards from wind hitting the base of the cliffs and being directed up. During some bad storms boulders weighing several tons can be thrown up by the force of the wind! so he was more in danger ofbeing thrown away from the edge :P
May 16th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Cool post but another blog has stolen it:
http://www.chilloutpoint.com/places_and_nature/the-most-dangerous-bike-ride-trail.html
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
grrrrrr! this is incredible! :/
June 8th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Dude yeah its sliffs of Moher, and the band is Flogging Molly haha not Floggy. BUt dude that was some intense footage. those guys are some ballsy daredevils. awesome job
June 8th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Oh…My…Life! its scary just looking at the pictures! i HATE heights. i would backout of that challenge straight away!…x
June 21st, 2009 at 2:00 am
Helmets? really?
June 21st, 2009 at 7:04 pm
wow great
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:32 am
You got the name right at the end, but wrote “Cliffs of Mohan” at the start.
That’s some breath-taking skill. I find even standing near the cliff edge quite disturbing.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
!!!?!!!
I would absolutely NOT do this. All the accolades to those that do. I do not understand how absolutely noone has fallen at least once, just from over thinking it. My bikes have thrown be curveballs while riding slow on flat pavement on WIDE city streets. What a fantastic picture of a drooling death trap.
Just as neat is the info about the wind blowing upwards,not outwards,though I seriously doubt without the hand of God,that if I fell,I’d be blown back onto the ledge.
Did I forget to mention !!!?!!!
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Balls of steel, my friends! Thank God I don’t know you or I’d fear what death defying act you had up your sleeve next!
July 8th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Amazing Pictures!
July 9th, 2009 at 9:25 am
OMG that is just CRAZY
July 30th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
OMFG. These pics are SO BADLY shopped… first and fifth are the same.. fu´“ng boring.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Sou do Brasil! acessem ai http://www.reririders.com.br
I am a guy who walks Freeride in the interior of Brazil to enter our site http://www.reririders.com.br ai ja ta pumping 30 thousand hits! Thanks
September 11th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
hi I have donethis ride nearly 99 times.For me it is quite easy. some of my freinds were dead in this route. I rode with an elephant.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:19 am
very nice video but i like the music can you tell me the name?
October 7th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
and at the base of those clips? this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4093965tUVE
October 21st, 2009 at 9:40 am
Amazing, i would have a rope around me though to do that.
October 30th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Amazing Post bro! Love it very much :)
November 16th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Great pics, am amazing video.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 pm
As I recall, there’s absolutely nothing to keep you from falling over the edge. I’ve walked the one way path these guys are on. It’s not a long path – certainly wouldn’t take a bike out there. The problem I had with it is that there’s a natural tendency to lean away from the edge toward the cliff face. But, the cliff face is sloped such that it’s closer to your feet than your hands. If your feet catch, you’ll fall against the cliff face and your feet will slide out from under you and off you’ll go into the serf after a long scream.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
bikes are for fags,