Major sponsorship boost for mountain bike trails

Major sponsorship boost for mountain bike trails

CASTLEWELLAN Mountain Bike Trails have announced a major sponsorship deal with the world’s largest online bike store, Chain Reaction Cycles.

The two year deal will also incorporate new trail centres in Rostrevor and Davagh Forest under the umbrella of MountainBikeNI.com, providing a boost for local tourism and the Northern Ireland economy.

The new £1.8m mountain bike trails in Castlewellan forest park and Kilbroney forest park are currently nearly completion.

Down Council Chairman Mickey Coogan Chain Reaction Cycles is world renowned as a mountain bike retailer and so their endorsement, expertise and significant marketing assistance offers an unparalleled opportunity for to reach mountain bikers and channel this key market towards local businesses.

The trails, which are to be managed by Down Council, will be opened in May and 13,000 people are expected to use the facility in the first year.

Chain Reaction Cycles Marketing Manager, Damien Duggan said it is an amazing time for mountain biking in Northern Ireland.

“These facilities will make mountain biking far more accessible than ever before with trails to suit all levels of rider the future is looking really great,” he said.

“We are incredibly excited about assisting with the promotion of these new trail centres and are looking forward to working with other local businesses via MountainBikeNI.com to place Northern Ireland firmly on the map as a world class mountain biking destination,” he said.

The Castlewellan trails are one of three local trail centres to benefit from the sponsorship deal, which will be promoted under the consumer brand of MountainBikeNI.com

Chris Scott from MountainBikeNI.com said: “Down District Council should be congratulated for embracing this pro-active consortium approach to marketing Northern Ireland’s new trail centres as one collective.

“This platform allows us to create a comprehensive guide for local mountain bikers whilst still enabling us to effectively promote Northern Ireland’s trail centres to a wider tourism market,” he said.

For further information on the trails visit www.MountainBikeNI.com