Round 3 - Antrim's North Coast
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Trailblazers Trail Quest 2010 Round 3 - Antrim's North Coast |
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| Sunday 18 April 2010 Ballintoy The final round of trail quests organised by Trailblazers took place on Sunday 18 April 2010 from event headquarters at Rourke's Kitchen in Ballintoy Harbour. These leisure mountain bike events have proved popular over the 3 round series providing the majority of riders areas & roads they had never cycled on before. Organisers Jon Kay and Ivan Park were there early in the morning to greet the riders who started arriving around 9:30 am. The normally picturesque surroundings were covered with mist with a light rain greeting those arrivals. The object of the event is to locate as many of the 30 markers as possible in the time limit. Riders could work as a team or go solo with each team given a laminated map of the area showing the location and point value of each of the markers. All teams were issued with a SportIdent timing dipper which they used to 'clock' each of the markers. At the end of the event the computer was able to print out a list of times showing split times between markers as well as the overall points, including any penalty points. Penalty points were issued if the teams did not arrive back within the time limit. Nearly all of the 23 teams went for the 4 hour event. The markers had been laid out across an area from Bushmills to Ballycastle with lots of open road sections between markers. First away were series leaders Phil O'Neill and Geoff Brown from Dromara Cycling Club who formed a team called "Star Fangled Nuts". The rest of the teams followed suit, setting the clock running as soon as they 'dipped' at the Start marker. The first stage was to climb up and out of the harbour itself and back onto the main road. The clouds cleared away and left a stunning sunlight North Antrim Coast line and country roads. Perfect cycling conditionss. Phil and Geoff maintained their dominance of these events by collecting 27 markers to finish on a fantastic total of 570 points. Not far behind was a solo effort from team Trailbadger (540 points) with Paul McArthur (Average Joes) finishing third with 500 points. Team "Gerry needs pacemarker" did not live up to the team name and finished fourth just one point away from regular team "The Losers" who had only Alan McMullan riding in this normally 3 man team. Team CCAR was sixth. Once the riders returned to the harbour they had to "dip" in the "Finish" sensor. Then they could relax, take their helmet off, have a drink of complementary juice before heading into the café for a nice cup of soup, roll and a cup of tea or coffee. The teams who had returned first were able to enjoy the sunshine and watch the other teams arrive. Overall results tables were produced regularly to keep the teams interested until the end. When all teams were back in there was a prize draw for vouchers which had been supplied by Belfast bike shop, Bikedock. Many thanks to Jon Kay and Ivan Park for a great days cycling. Overall results to follow. Results 4 hour event
2 hour event
Report and photos by Martin Grimley |
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