Dromara Cycling Club Spring Trailquest 2009

Spring Trail Quest 2009
Saul, Downpatrick

Sunday 19 April 2009
Dromara Spring Trail Quest

Glorious sunshine welcomed the cyclists as they showed up to Paddy's Barn in Saul just outside Downpatrick for a Spring Trail Quest organised by Dromara Cycling Club who are better known for running a winter series of these events. Twenty four teams of up to three adults had pre-registered for the event and more showed up on the day to give a total of 29 teams incorporating 61 riders. The challenge was to locate markers set around the local area from Saul across to Strangford, along the coast and down as far as Ballyalton. The course had been marked out by Trevor Annett and Bob Patterson with some limited assistance from fellow club member Ross Galway. Teams were given a map of the area with circles indicating the location of the markers. There were 28 markers in total and 3 bonus markers which were not shown on the event map but had to be worked out using grid references. This was a 3.5 hour event and teams had to return in that time or face receiving time penalties. First away just after 10:30 was the Dromara team of Kieran Thomas and Davy Robb. The other teams followed at one minute intervals. The teams did meet up frequently at marker sites where a great comradery developed as teams spread out and helped each other to find the small red and white rectangles. Unfortunately two of the markers had been removed leading some riders to spend excessive amounts of time trying to locate something that wasn't there. However, this did not seem to dampen spirits as the sunshine, clear skies and little wind made for a perfect day for cycling.

Once all riders returned to base they were treated to hot soup and wheaten bread by the staff in Paddy's Barn.

Many thanks to the staff at the staff at Paddy's Barn for providing the excellent food.
And, of course, many thanks to all the riders who turned up to support the event.

For those of you interested in doing other Trail Quest events check out the Trail Blazers website. Their next events are:
April 26th - Killyleagh
May 17th - Sperrins
June 7th - Fermanagh
June 28th - Greater Belfast
July 5th - North Down

More photos below

The results of the Spring Trail Quest were:

Rank	Team	Points	Riders
1	Team Purple	460	Eddie O’Hagan & Brendan O’Hagan
2	Paul McArthur	450	Paul McArthur
3	The Losers	400	Stewart Moore & Dennis McMullan & Alan McMullan
4	The Blind Zeppelins	378	Ross Galway & Martin Grimley
5	Lost in Space	370	Michael Murphy & Kieron Murphy
6	Tube & Spoon	360	Wilson McAlister & Michael Stevenson
7	Helter Skelter	350	Bobby Smyth
8	Nocturnal	349	Martin McMullan & Laurence Hamilton
9	CCAR	340	Ivan Park
10	Muttz Nuttz	329	Maurice Mayne & William Forsythe & Paul Anderson
11	Lost and Bewildered	320	Stephen Heasley & Niall Cochrane
11	Not the Sunday Run	320	Hugh Suffern
13	The Maryland 2	317	Jonathan Kay & Julie Murphy
14	Mud, sweat and gears	316	John Bogues & Joe O’Gorman
15	Retro	312	Andrew Wilson & Paul Jess & Jonathan McBride
16	Brothers in Arms	310	Michael Armstrong & Christopher Armstrong & Marcus Chesney
16	Retro Muppets	310	Glen Cobain & Geff Brown
18	Little and Large	300	Chris Magowan & Phillip Wilson
18	S & M	300	Mark Wilson & Stewart Glass
20	Lady and the tramp	290	Mark Teggarty & Katharine Stewart
21	Garyatrics	250	Gary Hamilton & Gary Wilmot & Norbert Sagnard
21	L plates	250	Matthew Patterson & Edward Laurenson
23	Bingo Mitch	190	Peter Bingham & Will Mitchell
23	Probably Gonna lose	190	David Bingham & Geradine Conlon
25	Southern Comfort	180	Kieran Thomas & Davy Robb
25	Out for Fun	180	Brian Smith & Rory Smith & Michael Smith
27	Do Not Resuscitate	170	Des Fletcher & Amanda Brogan
28	The Joyriders only faster	160	Gavin Magowan & James Gilpin
29	Up Where	140	Christopher Corey & Derek King & Campbell Armstrong

* Any questions or queries regarding the scores please feel free to email Martin.

The questions and answers looked like this.

Marker	Location	Question	Answer	Points	Found *
A	Rear of Tree to North of lane	Letters Top L/H	HJD	10	6
B	Rear of Marker post by Lough shore	Numbers Base R/H	251	20	7
C	Tree beside old House East of Lane	Numbers Base R/H	764	10	20
D	Hedge beside stone wall North of Lane	Numbers Top L/H	6	20	0#
E	On Style Post	Letters Base R/H	HASD	10	25
F	Fence post near Junction West of Lane	Numbers Base R/H	58	10	25
G	Bridle Way Gate Post on Lane	Letters Top L/H	GHSUS	10	15
H	Rear of Tree to Lakeside of Fallen Tree	Numbers Top L/H	41	30	22
Z2	Wooden Rail R/H at Peir	Letters Base R/H	GHF	10	2
J	Marker Post on Strangford Bay Path	Letters Base R/H	DG	30	11
K	Thorn Bush L/H before Cairn Entrance	Numbers Base R/H	52	20	5
L	Tree By Wicker Fence before Bird Hide	Numbers Top L/H	5	10	4
M	Gate Post by Shore, R/H end of Path	Numbers Top L/H	97	30	10
N	Underside of Style	Letters Top L/H	USJ	20	13
O	Large Tree in Hollow East of Lane	Numbers Base R/H	8652	10	20
P	Post Opposite Causeway at Shore	Letters Base R/H	FJ	30	4
Q	Post behind Cycle Route 99 Sign	Numbers Base R/H	61	10	4
R	Gate Post on Side Lane at Corner	Letters Base R/H	HFG	30	3
S	Sycamore Tree at House East of Lane	Numbers Top L/H	7	20	14
T	Over Hanging Tree to west of lane	Letters Top L/H	JAV	10	7
U	Fence Post East of Lane by Gate	Letters Base R/H	FLJ	30	14
V	Under Floor of Bird Hide	Numbers Base R/H	45	20	14
X	2^ND Tree at Water Drinker N/E of Lane	Numbers Top L/H	35	20	11
Y	Wooden Pallet in Hedge R/H of Lane	Letters Base R/H	JN	10	3
Z	Post on Old Lane to West	Numbers Base R/H	47	30	15
Z1	On Tree to R/H of Path to Pier	Letters Base R/H		10	2
Z3	On Fence Post between 2 Tree Stumps	Numbers Base R/H	45	10	11
Z4	Old Wooden Gate beside Kink in Lane	Letters Top L/H	YHFD	30	12
Bonus 1	Grid Ref 509 x 463 On Wall beside Main Entrance	Date of Foundation Stone	1933	40	20
Bonus 2	Grid Ref 533 x 457 Telegraph Post on Causeway	Numbers Top L/H	5	40	0#
Bonus 3	Grid Ref 543 x 465 Fence Post to West of Lane	Letters Top L/H	GHSUS	40	21