Dromara Trail Quest League Round 3
[Killinchy]
The east coast of County Down was the playground for round 3 of Dromara Cycling Club's Winter Trail Quests on Sunday 12 December 2010. The area from Castle Espie in the north to Shrigley in the south is criss-crossed with minor roads and lanes with lots of places to see the beautiful coastline with the islands and beaches. Event headquarters for this round was at Daft Eddies restaurant on Sketrick Island. Sixty riders gathered at the car park which was lit up with a fantastic sunrise, the sky was blue, there was barely any wind and there was only a slight nip in the air.
The teams got signed on and, starting from 10:31 am, the maps were handed out at one minute intervals to the riders. Route choice was the first task of the day. The teams had to get as many markers as possible in the time allowed, which was 3.5 hours. Event organiser Alan McMullan had set up this event last year but had been working closely with local land owners to get access to lots more off-road trails. The cabbage field will be one to remember! The markers ranged in points from 10 to 30 depending on how much distance or how difficult it was to get to the markers.
The profile of the riders who are attracted to these fun mountain bike orienteering events is proof that there is something in these challenges for everyone. From the serious competitors to those just out to see the countryside, young, old, male, female, seasoned veterans and newcomers. There was a number of few new faces at this round, among them was the Cycling Ulster track commission officer Anthony Michell, who seems to have had a great day out. The income from this series is being used to raise funds for the Children's Cancer Care home located in Shimna Valley, which is where the last round, round 6, will be held.
Top team on the day was Roadrunner, Rab McClenaghan & Russell Hughes, who gained 351 points out of a total of 525. Orienteer Paul McArthur (team Average Joes) was second with 340 points with two teams in third place with 325 points, "Lost and Bewildered" and "Helter Skelter". Fifth was team "The Losers" with "Not the Sunday run one" and "Not the Sunday run two" taking sixth along with team "The X-men", made up of brothers Graham and William Boyd. Another orienteer, Ivan Miller was 9th with team "Mick and Rose" from IMBRC taking 10th place out of a total of 32 teams.
Some of the roads in the area still had ice on them but thankfully there was no injuries and all returned to Daft Eddies for some great soup and rolls. Sharing tales of the day's adventures over a hot bowl of soup is one of the big attractions of these trail quests.
Many thanks to Alan McMullan for setting up the event and to his team mates for helping out on the day. Also thanks to the staff at Daft Eddies for looking after us.
Round 4 of the series will be held on Monday 27 December 2010 from the headquarters at Brennan's garage in Seaforde. See website for more details (www.dromaracc.co.uk).
