Trailblazers Trail Quests
Round 1 - Portaferry
| Bikedock Belles Trailblazers Trail Quests Round 1 - Portaferry | |
| Bikedock Belles: Trailblazers Trail Quests Round 1 Report by Andrea The Bikedock Belles turned out in force ( all 4 of us!) on Easter Monday for Round 1 of the MTBO (Mountain Bike Orienteering) Spring League, which started in Portaferry. In a determined effort to buck the lastminute.com trend of many events last year, the girls arrived with plenty of time before the start – well, apart from one, who unfortunately had 2 of the 4 bikes in her van! The Belles registered on time though, deciding to compete as two teams of two. Team A and Team B seemed a bit eliteist – so the girls decided upon non-differentiating names (ahem!) ….and entered as the Bikedock Belles and Bikedock Belle-ends! Taryn and Andrea were adamant that they weren't Belle-ends (although that's a matter of opinion to many we're sure!), and didn't have to twist the others' arms too hard. Julie and Cathy graciously adopted the Bikedock Belle-ends name, proudly saying they would do their very best to live up to the name! Julie also said she wanted to show everybody, of any ability or no ability!, that they should get involved in this great sport and that finishing positions do not matter. The aim of the Belles is to cover the entire spectrum of ability from top to bottom! Teams had 4 hours to collect/dib as many of 24 checkpoints and 4 bonus checkpoints as possible on a rolling and extremely scenic course. Dry weather prevailed, showcasing the beauty of County Down, but unfortunately strong winds also prevailed – proving a real test to many riders. The Bikedock Belles had their professional heads on for the race however. Not only did we have our own dibber, but 2 hours before the event had studied wind speeds and direction in a bid to determine the best way round to tackle the course and the 22mph southerly wind! Michael Fish eat your heart out. The race ran fairly smoothly for the Belles, with only a couple of wrong turns due to too much chatting, until 20 minutes from the 4hr cut-off when the puncture monster reared its ugly head. Taryn and Andrea ignored advice (even though it was from valued CCAR team mates!) to NOT cycle down a bridleway to an old ruined ill for a checkpoint because of thorns, then ate humble pie! Two minutes back on the road and Andrea's front tyre went flat. So she ditched her bike over a hedge top jump on the back of Taryn's bike for a backy…..but Taryn's back tyre was flat!...so she ditched her bike too and they ran as fast as possible back to Portaferry before their 4 hours was up. And successfully! Much to the amusement of other competitors, who would have chosen to quickly change the punctures rather than run! One of the Belle-ends also punctured and walked her bike back (because it was brand spanking new and would not be ditched over a hedge!) towards the end of their 4 hour course, which it has to be said had not got off to the smooth start that the Belles had. The Belle-ends, who have no experience of map reading at all, knew they were in for a tough day at the very start - they studied the map when it was issued as to what way round they would tackle the course and having decided their strategy, were about to set off, when they realised they had plotted their course on the map from Strangford, NOT Portaferry. Oops! However the belle-ends were pleased with their day's training, putting in more miles than anybody else because when they couldn't decide which way to go during the race, they just kept cycling around roundabouts! Both Bikedock teams learned a lot from the race (well maybe one team more than the other!) – about MTBO and themselves! - and both had a fantastic day out on a fabulous course, that took you to tiny historic locations you would never know are there. Enjoying Northern Ireland at its glorious best. The Belles had a strong race and appeared to astound the race planner with their high score at the end, a points total that was close to some of the top male MTBO'ers / Trailquesters. Out of 19 teams, the Belles finished 6th with a tally of 390 points. The first placed team, a male pair from Dromara CC, scored 455 points – the difference of only 3 or 4 checkpoints. The Belles once again proved they can compete at the top end while having fun at the same time. As for the Belle-ends……they lived up to their name as promised! The next round will be on Sunday 11 April 2010 from Annalong. For more details click here |  Registration: Cathy (Bikedock Belle-ends) and Taryn (Bikedock Belles)  Abandoned bike  Rescuing the Belles punctured bikes after a successful run back to HQ  The Bikedock Belles |
| Place | Team | Points | Riders |
| 1 | The Star Fangled Nuts | 455 | Phil O'Neill & Geoff Brown |
| 2 | CCAR | 439 | |
| 3 | Last Minute | 426 | Paul Manton, Thomas Michalski |
| 4 | Helter Skelter | 420 | |
| 5 | Simply Simon | 406 | |
| 6 | Bikedock Belles | 390 | Andrea Harrower & Taryn McCoy |
| 7 | 377 | Jon Kay | |
| 8 | Zombie Easter Bunnies | 372 | |
| 9 | Not the Sunday Run | 361 | |
| 10 | Mis-Adventures | 355 | |
| 11 | Lost and Bewildered | 350 | |
| 12 | Tube and Spoon | 325 | |
| 13 | Fuzzy Ducks | 320 | |
| 14 | Donkey Days | 300 | |
| 15 | The Losers | 295 | Dennis McMullan |
| 16 | IsoTopes | 265 | |
| 17 | Soup and Muffy | 245 | |
| 18 | The Rockets | 225 | |
| 19 | Bikedock Belle-Ends | 180 | Julie Watt, Cathy Thompson |