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| Dromara CC Club
League - Round 5 Road Race - Glassdrumman Road, Ballynahinch 30 April 2009 The first club road race of the 2009 season for Dromara Cycling Club and we were gifted with a fine dry evening at the Glasdrumman Road just outside Ballynahinch. This short circuit is a regular venue for the club with its quiet roads being ideal for use by cyclists. The circuit is in the shape of a triangle with a short, sharp climb up Blacks Lane to test the riders. Nigel Sudlow (race secretary) and Trevor Annett (club secretary) had been busy in the days leading up to the race working out the ideal time handicaps and grouping riders of equal ability. On the night we ended up with five groups of riders ranging from 8 to 12 individuals per group. Among the 45 riders were five under 18 riders, four females and seven guests riders from other clubs. The first group got away around 7:15 pm just as the evening temperature started to drop. The junior riders had 5 laps to do while the senior riders had to complete 10 laps of the 2.24 mile circuit. The second and largest group started 3½ minutes later. Stephen Wallace set about organising this group to work efficiently together to hopefully stay away from the other faster groups coming behind. The next group of 8 riders left three minutes later among them was Paul Mawhirt who has just joined the club. Group 1 had completed their first lap before Group 4 got under way nine minutes later. Group 2 then appeared, lead after lap 1 by Peter Jamison, before the final group of 8 riders began the race. The pace was fast with many riders being dropped from their groups. This did make for quite a task for the timekeepers, Trevor Annett, Stephen and Laurene Phillips. On such a small circuit there was riders appearing at the Glasdrumman corner every couple of minutes. Stephen Phillips was trying out a laptop timing system for the first time this evening to try to cope with the workload. Around lap 5 around 7 riders pulled out, some with mechanical problems. Gary Gibson was unfortunate to get a puncture on the last lap. The junior race was won by Zak Hanna who completed his 5 laps in a time of 43:30. Amongst the juniors was first time racer Jake McKnight. The senior race winners all came from group 2 who had managed to keep off the faster groups. Winner on the night was young Matthew Patterson who finished 3 bike lengths ahead of closest riders Noel Doyle (West Down Wheelers), Damien McDonald and Stephen Wallace who all finished together. Behind these four there was a big sprint finish between John Ruddell (Ards CC) and Gavin Magowan with John just beating Gavin to the line. Further back and there was another big sprint finish this time between Darren Weir and Paul McMinn (Curran Racing) and it was Darren who crossed the line first by the narrowest of margins. Well done to all riders. Next week we are back to the time trials again, this time on the Lackan Road near Ballyroney. Starting groups
The juniors completed 5 laps with Zak Hanna taking the honours.
Riders who did not complete the course were: On lap 5: David White, Brian McGrath, Nigel Sudlow, James Gilpin [Rear Wheel] On lap 6: Mark McKnight Stevie Baines, Arron Baines On lap 9: Gary Gibson [Puncture] Timekeepers: Trevor Annett, Stephen and Laurene Phillips Marshalls: Davy McKnight, Sharon Weir, Neill Currie, Desy McIlwrath (Ards), Jim McMaster, Tony Mallon Video: Bob Patterson Photography: Martin Grimley |
 Group 1  Group 2  Jonathan and Paul (Group 3)  Group 3 heading off  Group 4 starting  Deek gets assistance  Group 5 setting off |
 Deek leading group 4 |
 Therese |
 Gary in leading with Ronnie just behind |
 Darren |
 Stevie Baines and Finbar |
 Mark and Joby |
 Paul McMinn |
 Paul Smyth charging |
 Stephen Wallace |
 James followed by Stewart |
 Therese and Val |
 Group 3 |
 Dennis and Jonathan |
 Mark still on the front |
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 Matthew takes the win |
 John just pips Gavin |
 Darren takes Paul |
 Spectators |
 Timekeepers |
