Mud sweat ‘n’ Gears

On a cool clear day, only two members of Dromara cc, Trevor Annett & Bob Patterson,  came to the tried & tested,  1.3 mile circuit of Castle Park in Bangor. This week Team Fergie were the organises, with sunny weather, a good turn out of 35 riders entered the 8 lap race.

Trevor lined up in group one, giving him a 2 minute start on Bob. The start line was beside a steep 10 foot muddy bank, which awaited us on the 2nd lap, it was just has hard as it looked, as I soon found out.  Off we headed up the muddy grass section, which seemed to grow steeper every lap, on to a fast path section, over two fallen trees. The lap was twisting, with a slippery section through bushes and then onto a gravel path. The faster third of the course suited the mountain bike, giving more grip through  the odd deep muddy section. At the end of the first lap I was in 7th place!!. The main challengers of Roger Aiken, Robin Seymour etc, soon came flying past, but it was over the planks, just before the finish line, I tried the cyclo-cross, dismount and run, a great success. I was disgusted with my self later in the lap when I stopped to go over the trees.

It was lap 4 before I saw Bob some 40 yards behind, but next lap no sign, once again he had some rear mech trouble. I was glad to see Bob again near the end of lap 6, before hearing  a happy surprise when crossing the line, that Roger Aiken was the worthy winner. The commentator told me I could finish if I liked, but I had seen the Banbridge riders Paul Anderson and John Runciman ahead, off I chased. Paul was caught first, just after the fallen trees and luck was on my side when John stopped to clean out his jammed rear brake. I crossed the finish line in a creditable 20th place, with just a few yards to spare on John who had also started in the first group. Bob had finished in 22nd place. Celebration drinks were taken on the way home.

Best of luck to Bob this Saturday 4th December, in The National Cyclo-Cross Championships, in Rostrevor, as mountain bikes cannot take part.

All photograph reproduced by kind permission of Marian lamb -  http://www.cyclingulster.com/