10 mile time trial - Spa to Seaforde (map)
3 May 2012
Round 6 of the club league and the much improved weather was the first talking point of the day. Bright evening, broken cloud, hardly a breeze. A perfect night for time trialling along the 5 mile stretch between Spa lake and Seaforde
The fair conditions brought out the riders with 41 lined up to take part and 9 marshals and 2 timekeepers and spectators!!
First rider away was Martin Marner with the rest following at one minute gaps (until the last few which were 30 second gaps). This course has been used many times by the club in the past but this year there was an additional hazard to the light traffic and flying insects from the lake. A local farmer was crossing his dairy cattle which held up a few of the later riders.
Fastest on the night was Rodney Stewart who set a time of 23:18 which was just 8 seconds off a time set by David McKnight back in 2009 (information courtesy of Phil O'Neill who is compiling previous time trial data into a database).
Next fastest on the night was Gavin Magowan was finished 27 seconds off Rodney's pace. Ronnie Smyth was held up by the cows but still finished in 24 minutes and 2 seconds. Anthony Quinn was fourth quickest, with John Clyde fifth and Neil Fitzsimons sixth.
The times set tonight on this 10 mile circuit were then compared to those set at Round 4. The riders who had managed to get a faster time were given better points than those who got around the same time or worse. Full points (40) were awarded to the rider who had improved the most over this distance. For this round it was Bryce Hetherington who gained the most time, 1½ minutes quicker. Next best improver was Malcolm MacDonald who gained 45 seconds, followed by Paddy McDonald who gained 29 seconds. A full list of the points is shown in the table below.
Well done to all riders and many thanks to the timekeepers and to the marshals for keeping the riders safe.
Next Thursday night (10 May 2012) will be a road race around the youth championships course which was held in Dromara in 2010. See website for details (www.dromaracc.co.uk).
Timekeepers: Peter Bryson and Chris Magowan
Marshals: Gary Gray, Martin McAnulty, David Chambers, Jonathan McBride, Gary Gibson, Brian Wilson & son, Ted McKibbin, Raymund Martin, Mike Barton.
Photographs & report: Martin Grimley
