Injured mountain biker airlifted to hospital from Slieve Bloom Mountains

A mountain biker who suffered a bad fall was rescued from the Slieve Bloom mountains this week.

The cyclist was airlifted from the mountains by an Irish Air Corp army helicopter on Wednesday August 26.

Another mountain biker who came upon the injured person posted dramatic photos of his mangled bike, and the army helicopter.

Former army trainer George Reddin from Mountmellick congratulated paramedics and the helicopter crew for a "difficult landing and rescue".

He also noted that the cyclist was lucky to be wearing a helmet.

"Came upon a badly injured MTB cyclist on the Slieve Bloom Mountains today. A big well done to the Paramedics and Air Corp helicopter crew for today's difficult landing and rescue. The gentleman was stabilised and remained conscious, (lucky he was wearing a helmet) hope he makes a full recovery," he said.

The Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trails are being built by Coillte across the Laois and Offaly mountains, and will have 80km of interconnected trails when fully completed. Sections are open starting from Baunreagh near Mountrath in Laois which is a more challenging trail (red) and Kinnitty in Offaly, an easier blue trail.

Coillte urge safety and caution on the red trail on their website here.

"This is a challenging trail throughout as the trails vary from fast and flowing to tight, technical and rocky, with numerous difficult sections along the route. The trail constantly twists and turns and rises up and down. This trail tests all a riders skills and abilities and is not for novice riders (red grade trail).

Over half of the loop is singletrack and these sections are narrow, sometimes steep and up to 800mm in width, with variable surfaces including rock, roots, mud, loose stones and gravel that may become slippery when wet. The singletrack also crosses walking trails and forest roads at a number of points so watch out for walkers here. The remainder of the loop is on forest roads and you should expect to encounter vehicles and other forest users at any time on these parts of the loop.

The trail is quite exposed on the upper slopes and can be very windy in poor weather. Please make sure your mountain bike is in good working order and that you have an appropriate level of fitness and skill level to undertake these trails. All riders should be appropriately dressed and wear a helmet at all times. Please ride with consideration for the many other forest users and control your speed."