Dromara CC Newsletter

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This is just a quick report on what all those Dromara CC members have been out and about doing. Also an opportunity to update you on what is coming up and what has just been. Where to start…..Lets start with the Mountain Bikers for a change and congratulate Peter Davison on getting selected again for the Ulster Development Squad. We asked him how round 2 had been for him

The British National Cross Country series took place the weekend of 14th May in Dalby Forest, Yorkshire. The Ulster XC squad left on Friday night arriving at the forest on Saturday with plenty of time to walk the course and get a practice in. We arrived just on time for the rain to start. This helped to dampen down the dust and make the track grippier. The course was less technical than the previous round in Plymouth but it was quick. A World Cup XC  round was held here in 2011 however some of the more challenging features were taken out for the weekend’s race.  Practice went well and I was enjoying course. After a leisurely evening spent in the hot tub, I was ready to get on the bike and race on Sunday afternoon.

Unfortunately things didn’t quite go to plan. My chain came off on the first lap which meant I got caught behind slower riders. I managed to get through them by the start of the second lap. I made up a few positions and was feeling confident. Then my chain came off again after a rocky gully. I continued on and, just before the finish of the lap I managed to roll the tyre off the rim. Without any spare wheels I had to abandon the race. It was a disappointing way to end the day.

Thanks to team manager Simon Curry and coach Gareth McKee for bringing me to the race. Thanks also to Dromara CC for their ongoing support.

Onwards and upwards for Peter and hopefully he will get selected again for Round 3. Peter isnt the only MTBer showing off their skills as several DCC members headed to Bigwood for Round 2 of the Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup with Paul McLean taknign 4th in the Hard Tail Category.

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The roadies have been finding a bit of form of late and producing a steady stream of results. First off is Matthew Armstrong who has managed to get selected for the Ulster Junior Squad for this weekends Ras Donegal – http://www.cyclingulster.com/cycling-ulster-announce-ras-donegal-squad/ We all at Dromara CC wish him good fortune and safe riding for the weekend. His news didn’t stop there as Dromara CC members had a real go at the County Down National 10m TT Championships at Warrenpoint. Matthew took top junior in a time of 22mins with Gavin Magowan producing a great time of 22mins and 5 seconds to become the A2 Vets Champion. Quite a result for Dromara CC considering everyone tells me this club only goes well when the roads are pointed to the sky.

Sticking with TT’s Tuesday night saw Dromara enter two teams the 25m Team Time Trail Championships on the woodgreen course. The Elite Squad contained Matthew Armstrong, Brendan, Nathan & Chris and the B team containing David Dickson, Gavin M, Graham McC and young Jack F. They finished 9th and 10th place although the elite team managed to get beaten by the B team and from what I hear the elite team have a range of excuses to use with the best being the need for the club to purchase Matthew Armstrong a Tom Tom #2ndorthirdexitattheroundabout

There have been many Road Races with Dromara CC members taking part so if you have any reports pass them on. But not to finish a couple of hardy club members went in search of PB’s. Colin McGready’s report below:

Dromara Riders chasing fast times on the UK’s fastest TT course

Paul Gick & myself are predominantly interested in 10M tt’s, and we started using the same training program in October 2015. Following an informal meeting around Christmas to compare notes, we decided it would motivate us, and give us something to look forward too, if we entered a race on the renowned V718, at South Cave, near Hull. I contacted City Road Club Hull who had a suitable event on 14^th May 2016, so entry forms submitted, sailings and hotel booked, we knuckled down to more hard training and waited patiently for the months to tick by.

Friday 13^th May finally arrived, so up at 6.30am to catch the early Larne/Cairnryan sailing, followed by a long drive to Hull, arriving at 6.30 pm. A long but interesting journey during which a Costa waitress randomly informed us that the German for “Butterfly” was “Schmetterling“ – I inadvertently performed an “emergency stop“ while attempting to change gear in Paul‘s automatic car – we were told in a coffee shop that they didn’t accept Irish Money (Ulster Bank note) but after a spirited debate, the manager gave us the drinks for free. We had a late supper (Italian restaurant for pasta carb loading) and after visiting the 24 hour Tesco for safety clips for our race numbers, retired early for the night.

Saturday 14th – Race Day.  Up early for a hearty breakfast, and checked the weather which was to be dry but breezy (15mph winds gusting to 30mph). We checked out of the hotel at 11am and did a recce of the course a few times in the car. The start is at the top of an entry ramp, so downhill for the first 200m before joining the A63 dual carriageway, (which is very busy with fast moving traffic). It’s fairly level course, but a little downhill for the first 4 miles before you take an exit ramp uphill to 2 linked roundabouts and back down to the carraigeway for the return leg of 5.5 miles, which is slightly uphill back to the start but mainly downhill for the extra mile beyond (so overall a drop in level of around 20M between start and finish). We headed over to the sign on area an hour early, which was good as there was limited parking and 180 competitors. By chance the event organiser Mark Phillipson was parked beside us, and it turned out he was riding 4 places behind me. He said the wind was too strong and in the wrong direction for good times. It would be fast out and hard back. 90 minutes later, club kit on and photograph taken, I rode the 4 miles over to the start, it was fairly exposed and i was surprised how much the bike was being moved by the wind. 10 minutes later, the moment i had been anticipating for months, had finally arrived, I was on the start line, clipped in, focused, 3,2,1 GO – I was off in a flurry of adrenaline, quickly picking up speed on the downhill ramp, doing 35mph by the time I hit the carriageway. I settled into a rythm and tried not to push too hard for the first mile, the bike was flying along and, by the time I hit the ramp for the turn the average was 29.6mph, surely a sub 24 pb was on. I worked hard up the ramp, stayed focused through the 2 roundabouts and headed down the ramp to start the return leg. Even though it was downhill and I was working hard, my Garmin showed 24mph, oh oh. Despite pushing really hard, the average speed was dropping at an alarming rate. By 7 miles the average was 26.5 and by 9 miles it was 24.5mph. The last mile was fast but a time of 24.09, so no pb. Paul did a 32.02 which he was happy with given the conditions. We changed quickly as we were on a tight schedule, and set off on our 6 hour drive back to Cairnryan. We arrived in Belfast in the wee hours of Sunday morning and I finally climbed into bed at 3am.

Overall it was an excellent road trip which Paul & I both enjoyed immensly. We were told that we were welcome back anytime and some of the DCC Sunday crew have expressed an interest in going over next year, so roll on 2017.

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The Leisure Group have been out and about enjoying the countryside and taking part in the many sportives that are available around the country. Hopefully i will get a report on all the goings on over the next few weeks.

This weekend will see Dromara CC hold the Open Race at Bishopscourt so if you haven’t signed up to help out or race please do so. Good Luck for all those riders taking part at the Gran Fondo and I hope to have a camera taking photos of everyone coming through Ballygowan so remember to wave, wheelie or bunny hop when you see me.

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