Bann Road, Castlewellan (map)
16 June 2011
It was almost the longest night of the year and it was chosen for the longest time trial, the 25 mile challenge along the Castlewellan to Banbridge road. This was round 12 of Dromara Cycling Club's Thursday night league and there were two distances on offer, the 25 and a 16 mile distance. The road is far from flat with some tough climbs but thankfully the road surface is excellent. The evening was bright and clear with little wind but there was a chill in the air. Looking across to Banbridge the riders could see dark grey clouds and there were some heavy downpours at the far end of the course with hail stones on some of the unlucky riders.
There were 19 riders signed up for the 25 mile event and 8 for the 16 mile one. The 25's went first with Alan McMullan starting off just after 7 pm. Riders were then set off at one minute gaps with the 16's starting at 20 minutes with Kevin McDonald. Among the 27 competitors there were 3 guests from other clubs including Peter Bohill who brought along some home baked buns which did not take long to disappear. A new face tonight was Gary Bailie who had his first time trial.
Last year medals were introduced for those completing the 25 mile challenge with gold for those getting under one hour, silver for those finishing in 1 hour 5 minutes and bronze for those finishing in 1 hour 10 minutes. A condition was added that a rider could not get the same medal twice so only medals for those who had not got one before or who improved their time by enough to achieve the higher medal.
Fastest on the 25 mile was Gavin Magowan who finished in 59 minutes 52 seconds to achieve his gold medal. Gavin had set out to achieve the medal this year despite entering the Newry 3 day open road race which started the very next day. Second fastest and winner of a silver medal was John Clyde who continues to improve. Josh Daly (Banbridge) was third fastest with Neill Currie finishing just 24 seconds off a silver medal. Other medal winners tonight were Barry Kellett, Gary Gibson, Trevor Wright, David Chambers and Conor Rice who all achieved bronze.
In the 16 mile event Stephen Kelly was fastest with Peter Bohill (Maryland Wheelers) second and Kevin McDonald third. Ivan Bradford was fourth with newcomer Gary Bailie fifth.
All the riders' times were then recalculated to 10 miles and then compared to their average time to complete 10 miles. The rider showing the biggest improvement this week was John Clyde who achieves the full 40 points towards the league. Trevor Wright was second best improver with Massimo Manganaro third and Neill Currie 4th.
Well done to all riders and a big thanks to the timekeepers and marshals. Round 13 will be a 10 mile time trial starting from Spa lake next Thursday (23 June 2011).
Timekeepers: Derek Hanna & Ronnie Smyth
Timekeepers Assistant: Nigel Sudlow
Marshals: Chris Magowan, Geoffrey Magowan, Paul Jess, Paul Mawhirt, Phil Wilson, Rodney Stewart, Roisin Boyle, Stephen Younge.
Report and photos: Martin Grimley
