Temple - League #6 (29th May 2012)

The good weather of the previous week stayed around for the Temple TT. In fact (perceived) temperatures were marginally higher than Malaga, Spain.

Worryingly everyone is being quite boring at the minute; no-one is getting lost, no-one is taking fashion risks. This is not good news for a sartorical blog such as this. Less of the bromance please, more effort required.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend in Switzerland, Germany and Athy.

 "I was alone, I took a ride
I didn't know what I would find there
Another road where maybe I
Could see another kind of mind there"
- Lennon / McCartney

Results

1 Emma Kerr          32:58
2 Aisling Trainor    33:01
3 Heather Bamford    34:17
  
1 Vaughan Purnell    26:43
2 Eamon Hill         26:49
3 Matt Allum         27:14
4 Neville O'Neill    27:33
5 Enda Marron        27:39
6 Peter Morrison     27:51
7 Phil Wood          27:55
8 Dave Lonnen        28:10
9 Johnny Hooper      28:19
10 Desi McHenry      28:33
11 Gavin Browne      28:47
12 Brian Kinsella    28:47
13 Connor McKenna    28:51
14 Davy Calvert      28:53
15 Niall Magee       29:02
16 Eoin Lennon       29:04
17 Bill Rafferty     29:27
18 Glen Pollock      29:44
19 Kieran McVeigh    29:46
20 Mark Heron        30:11
21 Mark McLaughlin   30:27
22 PJ McQuillan      30:56
23 M Davis           31:30
24 Chris Fleming     31:55
25 Carl King         32:11
26 Willie Noteman    32:17
27 Wes Kettyle       32:41
28 Johnny Megarry    33:36

Thanks to time keepers Ed and Ali.

Carryduff - League #5 (22nd May 2012)

Earth's closest star, the Sun, made a rare appearance in the evenings atmosphere. It was a remarkably pleasant evening although the start always seems to be in the shadiest spot on the planet. Tip: if you want a tan don't go sunbathing at this spot.

There was another solid turnout tonight considering the large contingent away warm weather training in Malaga. Matt Allum, always on the Edge of Glory (nod to Gaga), took the number one spot with a good 30 seconds to spare from Enda Marron. Newcomer Anton McDonald from Olympian club finished a strong third narrowly beating Gavin Browne (that's Browne with an 'e'). At the bottom of the results one might spot a determined Johnny Megarry who is quietly sussing out these TTs in his first Triathlon season; Willie.I.Noteman watch out!

Davy Calvert made his start slot with 5 seconds to spare; Calvert was clearly aiming for the ultimate rolling start or else he is going for a part in the next Muppet movie!

In the girls training session Lowry would "almost" have had time to fix a puncture and still win. We stress "almost" because the chance of her fixing any mechanical is pretty slim at best.

Results

1 Judith Lowry         00:31:49
2 Emma Sharkey         00:34:23
3 Aisling Trainor      00:34:59
4 Ali McConnell        00:35:40
5 Heather Bamford      00:36:31
6 Aisling Allum        00:36:39
7 Mary Mackin          00:39:35
  
1 Matt Allum           00:29:14
2 Enda Marron          00:29:41
3 Anton McDonald       00:29:53
4 Gavin Browne         00:29:54
5 Brian Kinsella       00:30:29
6 Dave Lonnen          00:30:30
7 Connor McKenna       00:30:32
8 Desi McHenry         00:30:32
9 Mark Millar          00:30:38
10 Niall Magee         00:31:01
11 Eoin Lennon         00:31:34
12 Davy Calvert        00:31:53
13 PJ McQuillan        00:32:35
14 Mark McLaughlin     00:32:36
15 Andrew Gilmer       00:32:40
16 Peter McGuicken     00:33:59
17 Wes Kettyle         00:34:21
18 Chris Fleming       00:34:59
19 Frank Sharkey       00:35:10
20 Carl King           00:35:31
21 Willie Noteman      00:35:43
22 Johnny Megarry      00:36:36

Thanks to time keepers Ed and Vaughan.

Killynure - League#4 (15th May 2012)

The Killynure TT is a short, yet tough, out and back course. If there is any consolation it is that the course crests over Ouley Hill which is officially the highest hill in County Down, measured at 180m. Tonight a keen wind helped the riders to the halfway point but made for an unpleasant return journey.

There were the usual close times throughout the field. Emma Sharkey put in a great performance to take 2nd place and at the same time beat her father Frank. Duathlon specialist Phil Wood of Invictus Tri Squad is improving with each week. Peter Morrison has been lurking in the top ten and is plucking up the courage to get out on his new TT bike one of these days. Johnny "Hooperman" is either playing it cool with the TTs this year (I mean, imagine treating them as training sessions) or he has a bit of remedial biking to do before we are deep in race season. And finally, is Wes Kettyle's determination to recover quick and get back out the bike pretty inspirational?

Note: there was a blue jacket left behind at Carryduff last week. If it is yours please get in touch.

Results

1 Judith Lowry      22:32
2 Emma Sharkey      23:49
3 Aisling Trainor   25:06
4 Emma Kerr         25:13
5 Ali McConnell     26:42
6 Heather Bamford   27:12
7 Aisling Allum     27:56
    
1 Vaughan Purnell   20:02
2 Eamon Hill        20:29
3 Matt Allum        20:50
4 Phil Wood         20:54
5 Anton McDonald    21:07
6 Eoin Lennon       21:17
7 Mark Millar       21:18
- Peter Morrison    21:18
9 Enda Marron       21:58
10 Niall Magee      22:12
- Kieran McVeigh    22:12
12 Connor McKenna   22:29
13 Colm Hanratty    22:30
14 Brian Kinsella   22:47
15 Gareth Osborne   23:12
16 Johnny Hooper    23:32
17 Frank Sharkey    23:56
18 PJ McQuillan     23:57
19 Mark Heron       24:00
20 Michael Davis    24:41
21 Peter McGuicken  25:26
22 Chris Fleming    25:30
23 Wes Kettyle      26:24
24 Patrick Dewar    26:26

Thanks to Peter and Ed for timekeeping. Peter is away the next two weeks. Kieran has kindly volunteered to timekeep next week but we need some more people to step up.

Carryduff 2UP (8th May 2012)

Another bitter cold Tuesday evening and the first 2UP of the season. For the first time ever riders got to choose to their own partners. This lead to the many inevitable "dream teams" and much "hush-hush" strategies. Emma Kerr found out last minute that McGuicken had ditched her for the fast recovering Kettyle. Poor Paul Carroll found himself left on the shelf (and him the best catch in town) and hence could not be counted in the results. We have to very strict with the rules in these cases :)

The portents were not good when Carl King crashed on his cycle up the Carryduff Layby. No fancy Kiwi Irish dancing balancing skills could save him from falling off. Worse was to come later with a touching of wheels on the road into Ballygowan between David Morrisey and Ali McConnell. Both riders came down badly; David went off to casualty and has a confirmed broken collar bone and Ali has been left with road rash and a bruised hip.


Reminder: Sunday is the Tom Donnellys memorial cycle.

Results

1 Vaughan Purnell & Cormac McGarry    28.18
2 Matt Allum & Anton McDonald         28.45
3 Conor McKenna & Eoin Lennon         30.25
4 Johnny Hooper & Davy Calvert        30.27
5 Dave Lonnen & Judith Lowry          30.54
6 Kieran McVeigh & Mark Millar        31.26
7 Niall Magee & Colm Hanratty         31.37
8 Willie Noteman & PJ McQuillan       33.38
9 Wes Kettyle & Peter McGuicken       35.36
10 Aisling Trainor & Aisling Allum    35.52
11 Maeva Cieslik & Chris Fleming      36.03
- Ali McConnell & Emma Kerr           DNF
- Clifford Rodgers & David Morrissey  DNF
- Paul Carroll                        27.54

Thanks to Peter and Ed for time keeping.

Killynure Brick (1st May 2012)

The top of the Killynure Road could easily have been mistaken for a Triathlon Ireland National Series race. The reigning Irish Duathlon Champion, Paul Carroll, was present and making his first appearance of the season. There were many brightly laced running shoes littered around the hedges, creating a chaotic T2. And there was also Matt Allum in full race trim with a taped on gel on his handlebar.

Mechanical of the night went to Chris Fleming whose chain was not up to the demanding Killynure course. Luckily for him Glen "the Tank Engine" Pollock produced a bungee tow rope out of thin air and towed the broken Fleming back to the start. Anyone who has ever camped with Pollock knows that he is a true boy scout and always in a state of continual preparedness.

Considering the bad weather there was quite a big turnout. At least the rain dutifully filled the red bucket at the run turn point and stopped it from blowing away.

For those new to the time trial it was born out of the Lunchtime Legends Tue evening brick session which ran from the Dub. The TTs today are very much in keeping the with the spirit of the Lunchtime Legends, namely, bringing various people together with a bit of good natured banter. In fact if it was not for insurance reasons it would still be called the "Lunchtime Legends TT". The reason I mention this is 5 years ago two Lunchtime Legends and Olympian Triathlon members died tragically within a week of each other. For anyone who has been (un)fortunate to go to the Lunchtime Legends Christmas party you will know about the "Tom Donnelly's cup". On Sunday 13th May there will be a group heading to Roselawn Cemetery to pay respects at grave side, followed by a 2HR Sunday cycle. Meet 10AM at the front gates. Everyone is welcome to attend even if you are too young to remember the Toms. It's good to put life in perspective now and again.

Next is fun and games at Carryduff. This year you get to pick your own partner...please turn up by 18:30 latest.

Results

pos  Name            total  bike  (pos)  Run   (pos)
1    Aisling Trainor 41:16  25:55   1    15:21    2
2    Emma Kerr       42:42  26:15   2    16:27    4
3    Aisling Allum   43:08  26:53   4    16:15    3
4    Mary Mackin     43:43  28:39   5    15:04    1
5    Maeve Cahill    46:24  26:21   3    20:03    5
      
      
1    Paul Carroll    31:24   20:14   2    11:10    1
2    Vaughan Purnell 32:23   19:58   1    12:25    10
3    Cormac McGarry  32:44   20:30   3    12:14    7
4    Anton McDonald  32:59   21:20   6    11:39    3
5    Matt Allum      33:07   21:17   5    11:50    4
6    Eoin Lennon     33:17   21:25   7    11:52    5
7    Eamon Hill      33:35   21:12   4    12:23    9
8    John McManus    33:48   21:35   8    12:13    6
9    Peter Morrison  34:18   22:01   12   12:17    8
10   Brian Kinsella  34:52   23:34   17   11:18    2
11   Mark Millar     34:59   21:43   10   13:16    13
12   Neville O'Neill 35:33   22:21   14   13:12    12
13   Shane Quinn     35:57 
14   Niall Magee     36:29 
15   Colm Hanratty   36:38   23:21   15   13:17    14
16   Johnny Boylan   36:44   23:56   20   12:48    11
17   Bill Rafferty   37:39   23:48   19   13:51    16
18   Desi McHenry    38:33   21:50   11   16:43    22
19   Mark McLaughlin 38:55   23:47   18   15:08    17
20   Stephen Flanagan39:42   26:02   24   13:40    15
21   Mark Heron      39:47   23:57   21   15:50    21
22   Michael Davis   40:26   24:45   22   15:41    20
23   Peter McGuicken 40:42   25:08   23   15:34    19
24   Johnny Megarry  41:30   26:18   25   15:12    18
dnf  Johnny Hooper           22:12   13
dnf  Carl King               29:45   26
dnf  Enda Marron             21:41   9
dnf  Glen Pollock            23:29   16
dnf  Chris Fleming   

Thanks to time keepers Peter and Ed.