Dromara Trail Quest League Round 2 [Ballyward]
Thunder, lighting, high winds, hail, sleet, driving rain and the occasional glimpse of sun. That was the weather report in just four hours of a Sunday morning in November. A stunning 77 cyclists in 33 teams braved the horrendous conditions to take part in round two of the Dromara Cycling Club winter trail quest league. The five-event league has been organised to raise money for The Northern Ireland Children’s Home, Shimna Valley in Newcastle.
Twenty-five teams had pre-entered which greatly helped the organising team of Bob Patterson and Trevor Annett to plan the event. Teams were from as far away as Dublin and Roe Valley near Limavady, with only one team not turning up on the day. Once again the local cycling clubs Banbridge, Newry wheelers, Apollo, Lanterne Rouge, Phoenix, Ards and Dromara were well represented, as well as twenty eight unattached riders. Three teams included juniors under 16.
The headquarters for today was The Dolly’s Brae Inn Ballyward. Dromara CC would like to thank the owners for all their help and support as well as their excellent facilities.
The course was centred in Ballyward, heading north to Windy Gap, east to Castlewellan Forest and west to Katesbridge. The route included forest trails, bridle paths and farm lanes and included some excellent scenery.
Each team had three hours thirty minutes to find as many of the twenty-four control points as possible. Points were deducted if teams were outside their time limit. At each control point a marker was positioned. All the teams had to answer a question at the control point. Each control point had a value ranging from ten to forty points depending on the difficulty of the location to reach. Three bonus points were included which required the teams to locate points from grid references, which tested their map reading skills.
First team away at 10.31, were a Dromara team “The Blind Zeppelins”, a good name for the day as there was so much sleet on the Windy Gap that you could not see. The team comprised Martin Grimley and Ross Galway. Ross has a lot of local knowledge, so a high score was expected. All was going well until Martin hit bad luck halfway through, when his rear tyre blew out at the highest point, the Windy gap. He was forced to retire, but they still managed eight markers including two bonuses.
Two of the teams with juniors, “JNS” and “The Hard to beat gang” both pulled out shortly after 1 pm as the children, aged 10 & 13, were too cold to continue. Team “JNS” just piped “The Hard to Beat Gang” by 10 points to lead the junior table.
The Winning team on the day were “Lucky Red Sox” with 370 points, second were “Lost and found” with 330, team “Deliverance Brothers” were third with 320, “CCAR1” were fourth with 310 and fifth was the first Dromara team, “The Blind Zeppelins”, so local knowledge did help! First ladies team home was “Iron Ladies and Wee Mud” with 240 Points.
Dromara Cycling Club would like to thank all who took part, helping to raise funds for this worthy cause. As always there were a few who could not find points or points that were not just as shown on the map, but all who took part enjoyed the day, especially after getting hot soup and refreshments supplied by The Dolly’s Brae Inn. My image of the day had to be a weary competitor, bare feet resting on the dash as the heat billowed around waiting for feeling to return to his numb limbs.
Prizes will be awarded to the first three teams in the overall league, the best team to include a junior and to the best female team.
Round three will be held next Sunday 30th November 2008 in Newtownards. The headquarters will be The Old Dundonald Mill. See website for more details.
Dolly's Brae Inn, Ballyward
Paul McArthur climbs Dolly's Brae
Martin walking his bike after the 'blow out'
Photos by Bob Patterson
Paul McArthur climbs Dolly's Brae
Martin walking his bike after the 'blow out'
Photos by Bob Patterson
