Road Race - Dromara circuit (map)
4 July 2013
With Round 13 getting cancelled the 2013 club league has ended up with back to back road races, with this week's race on the Dromara village circuit which was used in August 2010 to hold the Ulster Youth Championships. The circuit start and finish was on the Dundrum Road with the riders setting off towards the Rathfriland Road, turning left then left again up the Castlewellan Road and onto the climb which took them up onto the Crossgar Road before dropping back down to the Dundrum Road and back to the finish line. This round was for the Magowan Cup which had been won last year by Gavin Magowan who had sponsored the cup along with brother Chris Magowan who finished third in 2012.
This year saw a reduction in the number of riders taking part in the 5 lap race with just 20 signing on, down from 30 the previous year. There were plenty of marshals in place and the weather was fine and dry. There was however a head wind along the Dundrum Road which added to the tough hill climb and when the sun disappeared behind the clouds there was chill in the air.
There were three groups on the road. Group 1 had 5 riders, Brendan Doyle, Owen McManus, Mike Barton, Nigel Sudlow and first timer at the club league Nathan Sturrock (who normally competes in mountain bike races wearing the club jersey).
Group 2 went 3 minutes later and contained 7 riders, Martin McAnulty, Neill Currie, Zak Hanna, Ryan Mallon, Graeme Craft,
Ryan Calvert and Neil McCartan (Dromore CC).
Group 3 went 5 minutes 45 seconds after Group 2 which was 8 minutes 45 seconds behind Group 1. This group contained the open road racers, 4 of whom took part last weekend in the Newry 3 day (Anthony Quinn, Chris Magowan, Gavin Magowan and
Nathan Mullan) with Gary Gibson the only other Dromara CC rider in this group. The other 3 were from Phoenix CC and they were
Carl Morgan, Fergus Rooney and Jeffrey Torrens-Spence.
Group 1 set off around 7:15 but were hampered slightly when the group didn't turn left up the Castlewellan Road. All sorted they were back at the race. Group 2 was driven hard in the first lap by Martin McAnulty who then pulled out of the race complaining of poor circulation to his hands. Group 3 was also driven hard up the first climb by Anthony Quinn which took a lot out of some riders and by the end of lap 2 there were only 5 of this group still racing and they were in two small bunches.
The combination of the big hill climb and head wind, tired legs from the Newry 3 day, and a puncture meant that only 12 of the original 20 riders completed the race. The race was won by Ryan Calvert who was chased hard ot the line by Anthony Quinn. Fergus Rooney, Brendan Doyle and the big surprise of the evening, Nathan Sturrock, soloed over the line. The first sprint came for 6th place with Neill Currie leading the bunch over the line with Ryan Mallon and Chris Magowan less than a bike length behind him, with Neil McCartan just off this group and Graeme Craft a few bike lengths behind Neil.
Well done to all the riders. A big thanks again to the timekeepers and to all the marshals.
Timekeepers: Barry Kellett, David Chambers and Lisa Millar.
Marshals:
Whistle blower/marshal - Davy Young
Village - Ivan Bradford, Graham Beckett, Kevin McDonald, Adrian Booth
Estate - Marcus Magowan and Stephen Wallace
Castlewellan Rd/Bridge Rd - Noel Gibson & son
Castlewellan Rd/Park Rd - Barry Kane
Dundrum Road/Crossgar Rd - Bryce Hetherington, Paul Mawhirt and Marty McVeigh (visitor)
Report and photographs: Martin Grimley
