Dromara Trail Quest League Round 5
[Bryansford]
The fifth and final round of Dromara Cycling Club's Winter Trail Quest series took place on Sunday 30 January 2011 from the Shimna Valley Care Home in Bryansford, Newcastle which is where the club donate the proceeds from the series. The great work the centre does for providing respite care was brought home to all the riders as the main building was effectively closed as a young person had just come out of treatment and was at great risk of infection. The staff at the centre did provide us with us of a shed before spoiling us with tea, coffee and even toast for the organisers!
Sign on opened at 09:45 and saw a steady steam of regular attendees and newcomers eager to take part. Riders were able to work as a team or go out on their own. At 10:31 the first team of the 44 teams was handed their map and an answer sheet. The map showed 30 markers located across a wide spread of southern County Down from Newcastle in the east, Castlewellan in the north and as far west as Butter Mountain.
Teams had to work out the best route to pick up the most points in the allocated time which was 3½ hours for all but one team (who chose the 2 hour event). Teams were separated by one minute gaps but the first few minutes were spent working out the best route.
There was still snow at the top of the Mournes but the day was dry with just a cool wind to put up with. With no set route to chose from there were teams scattered all across this part of County Down. Two thirds of the markers had a value of 10 points which meant covering a lot of distance to accumulate a high score but there were two markers which had 60 points and, as expected, these markers were difficult and time consuming to get to. One was up along the Brandy Pad beside the Trassey River.
The key to planning the route was to get back to base in the allocated time to avoid any time penalties. A few teams had miscalculated and lost a substantial among of the points they had worked so hard to gain. Out of a possible 520 points the highest scoring team were "Borat and the boys" who scored 370 points with orienteer Paul McArthur, "Average Joes", finishing with 340 points. Teams "Not the Sunday Run (1 and 2)" finished with 329 and 330 points respectively with solo riders Alan Richardson and Bobby Smyth each achieving 310 points.
When the teams arrived back to base, they handing in their answer sheet before heading down into one of the log cabins to enjoy the great soup, rolls and sandwiches laid on by the staff. After the riders had refueled, Patricia Kidd from the centre then thanked the riders for their support and provided some details of the work that goes on in the centre and outlined some of the plans for 2011. Patricia was then presented with a cheque for £2,600 by Dromara Cycling Club.
Meanwhile the scores were being totted up as this was the last round of the series. The club had yet again received great support from four of the local cycling shops who had provided vouchers as prizes for the series winners. Overall winner was Paul McArthur with solo rider Bobby Smyth finishing joint second with team "The Losers". In the 2 hour event the winning team was "Bert and Fred".
Many thanks to Geoff Brown and Phil O'Neill for setting up the event and to the staff at Shimna Valley for the great food.
A spring series of trail quests is being planned. Keep an eye out on our website for more details (www.dromaracc.co.uk).
Photos and report by Martin Grimley
The league table after 5 rounds is given here
