Dree Hill Conquered with Zak Hanna Triumphant

Last year there were a few rumblings about Dromara CC not having a ‘real’ Hill Climb. In fact there may have been a suggestion that DCC riders had lost their ‘bottle’ to tackle the real hills. This year we can be in no doubt that Dromara CC members never step away from a challenge no matter how steep the hill.

Before we get started with the epic race up Dree Hill Id like to give a shout out to our sponsors of the Spot Prizes as well as the venue.  First off many thanks to the James King Pub who provided the venue, Tea, Coffee and Biscuits – I am sure we will start to make use of this venue more and more next year. Thanks to Chainreactioncycles for providing 5 goody bags and finally a huge thank you to Jen from Rejenerate who provided the free Sports Massage. Appoints always available for Dromara CC members so please support her businessQuick shout out to Lisa M for organising the troops at the start and Martin for taking the times at the end with Ronnie S, Gary G, Paul G & Kevin W helping with marshalling duties

Jack making this climb look easy

At the start line there were 16 fresh faced warriors ready to take on the mammoth Dree Hill which hits 17% gradient at parts of the climb and the middle section alone holds an 11% average gradient – not for the feint hearted. Not only did the competitors have that to worry about but the headwind was an extra bonus of suffering that really factored in the climbs.

There was only one man who felt the pressure of this climb and local lad Zak Hanna may have been up this hill a few times this year it is never the same when you are lining up against Barry Kellett who continues to amaze and young junior Matthew Gibson in great form and finally his Divis nemesis ;-). It didnt take Zak long to stamp his authority on this hill climb and 8min 57secs later he was at the car park. Barry Kellett should of had his KOM jersey on instead of the Vuelta Leaders jersey and finished in 9mins 26secs – an amazing time. Matthew Gibson took third with a time 9min 49sec (who said this lad was just a sprinter?). Im glad to say that every second counts well actually every 0.25 of a second counts to push Nathan from 4th to 5th.

In the ladies competition Jackie Wade produced a sterling effort to take 14th overall and the ladies hill climbing title (15mins 11 is an awesome time in those conditions). Colin McGready lost out on his wooden spoon with a superb ride but Neil Armstrong managed to hold out for a great climb (no doubt helped by his entourage cheering him up the hill)

Hands up who wants to go to Slieve Croob Summit next year

When deciding performance of the night it was hard to pick just one as everyone dug deep to complete this climb but I reckon Graeme D might have just scrapped it with a superb effort to make it to the top – it was barely a few months ago he wouldnt have imagined tackling Dree Hill and making it but when your legs are beat and you have stopped it this mental toughness that shone through to get back on and complete this ultimate of hill climbs. Chapeau Graeme.

I hope everyone had a great night and will be back in training for next years ultimate hill climb  when Eddie works his magic to get us up to the Slieve Croob summit.

Photos can be found on the below links:

George McNeill Photos – Thanks for coming George and taking these great shots.
Gavins Photos
Joshua/Rich C Photos

Full Results are here:

Next week is the last round of the Club League – Begney. See you there.