Prize giving 2015

League winners 2015

We are all prize winners in the end!

LEGEND award: Desi

Competitor SPIRIT: Carl

Best Improved (male): Mark Hanna

Best Improved (female) : Christen O'Neil

Peoples Choice (male): Steve Begley

Peoples Choice (female): Emma Kerr


Thanks to Emma for the photographs.

And that's a wrap for 2015!

Temple - League#12 (8th September 2015)

After a cloudy summer it was a bonus to finish the TT season with some blue sky happiness.

Dave Lonnen found himself stuck in a senior moment when he turned up at Carryduff to an empty layby. However Lonnen escaped the large gravitational pull of Carryduff and made it down to Temple just in time to start last. So, not much different from any other week.

After the TT McHenry was heard lecturing Preshaw on road safety. Apparently it turns out it's not worth risking your life over a few TT seconds. Life advice we do well to remember!

Thanks to everyone for showing up all season, having a good attitude, and helping out with marshalling. Hopefully as many as possible can make the prize giving.

Results

Redshift Riders

 
Peter Morrison         25:20
Mark Millar            25:28
Vaughan Purnell        25:32
Enda Marron            26:25
Mark Hanna             27:01
Glen Pollock           28:35
Paul Hetherington      29:28
Dave Lonnen            29:39
Conor Preshaw          30:05
Desi McHenry           30:50
Peter McGuicken        32:08
Emma Kerr              32:36

Thanks to time keeper Andrew McCormick.

Drumbo Hill Climb (1st September 2015)

Drumbo Hill tyms 2 on a 20 minit turnaround.
A chest busting, max hart r8 guaranteed 4 ll.

d axidental tym Keeper

A sycD Kerr fownd her race ovr b4 evn lEvN d hous.
d fustratD cyclist seemingly had lft her cycle slippers @ d ball.
Nevertheless, Kerr turnD ^ 2 hlp W tym keepn.
Statistically dis ment d tym keepn w%d B a DzastA.
n fact, d projection wz quite aQr8 wen d starters stopwatch broK b4 d 2nd run.
Of corZ, nobdy evr means 2 break d stopwatch!

hwevr, d tym keepn c%dnt distract frm sum vry fyn performances.
der wr sum vry consistent tyms on both runs ^ d hill.
Mr Marron ErnD respect by deeds, nt wrds, ridin it ll on a "fixie".
Preshaw hs vowed 2 prctic on Drumbo ll wintr so woch dis space nxt yr.

Results

                                      Total
Mark Kane              06:19   06:17  12:36
Mark Millar            07:00   07:12  14:12
Peter Morrisson        07:00   07:25  14:25
Vaughan Purnell        07:16   07:18  14:34
Paul Carroll           07:41   07:43  15:24
Mark Hanna             08:18   08:18  16:36
Paul Hetherington      08:24   08:39  17:03
Enda Marron            08:35   08:42  17:17
Conor Preshaw          08:41   08:41  17:22

Dave Lonnen            08:47   08:49  17:36
Andrew McCormick       09:12   09:24  18:36
Peter McGuicken        09:22   09:34  18:56

Thanks to time keepers Desi and Emma.

Carryduff cancelled (25th August 2015)

The Carryduff TT (25/8/2015) has been cancelled due to forecast of heavy rain. It's not safe and no fun in heavy rain for what is a "training session".

It's a bit of gamble making this decision, hopefully it will turn out to be the right call.

Go have a beer and take the night off.

Temple 2LAP (18th August 2015)

Good weather for 2 laps of An Teampaill and a good turnout of riders. Even the roads seemed to have had a bit of a sweeping.

The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many! This was to be the case with time keeping in lieu of any official marshals. [Note that sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, e.g the TT prize-giving. For those wish to explore this philosophy further the interested reader is referred to Star Trek II, III and IV. Just don't get confused!] In the end time keeping was covered by Kane and Preshaw who both got a cycle.

Late comer to the party, Christen O'Neill, made the biggest impression of the night, opening up a clear gap on her rivals.

With only 3 TTs left, remember you are only as good as your last time, not the great times you were doing 3 months ago. Keep up the good efforts.

Results

Boys

Mark Kane              00:48:40
Mark Millar            00:51:37
Vaughan Purnell        00:52:19
Paul Carroll           00:52:51
Enda Marron            00:53:51
Neville O'Neill        00:54:29
Mark Hannna            00:55:43
Matt McKibben          00:58:21
Pete Williamson        00:58:36
Dave Lonnen            01:01:06
Desi McHenry           01:01:40
Paul Hetherington      01:02:15
Andrew McCormick       01:03:11
Carl King              01:09:04
Peter McGuicken        DNF
Conor Preshaw          00:30:14

Girls

 
Christen O'Neill       01:01:34
Ali McConnell          01:06:22
Emma Kerr              01:09:02

Thanks to stand in time keepers, Mark K and Conor P.

Killynure - league#10 (11th Aug 2015)

Guest blog from Chris Fleming this week.

[VP: seems to be a bit too much enthusiasm for other bloggers; any imitation will be taken as flattery!]

Crashes, Dashes and Dogs!

A pleasant evening saw what must be one of the biggest TT turnouts so far this year. 17 participants graced the start line on what was almost a perfect night weather wise for "getting on your bike".

People were eager to start with Vaughan being so enthusiastic, as soon as he reached the start line he decided it would be a good idea to fall over. No injuries were sustained and he went on to set the third fastest male time of the night. 

Mr O'Neil, quiet as ever,played his usual mind games with the fellow competitors, sorry it's not a race, I mean fellow training companions, by saying he was going to have a rolling start. The official time keeper threatened a DQ and Mr O'Neil started in the appropriate manner. 

Out on the course a dog was the main culprit and apparently looking for Es. On this occasion it wasn't the type young ravers like to take in night clubs but that of Enda and Emma. The dog reported going to chase after Emma and nearly taking Enda out in the process.

Congratulations to Mark and Christen on the wins (sorry I mean leading the training events home before everyone else).

Results

Girls

Christen          21:58  (guest)

Emma              25:40
Ali               25:59

Mens

   
Mark Kane          17:03
Neville O'Neil     19:08
Vaughan Purnell    19:10
Peter Morrison     19:24
Enda Marron        19:47
Peter Williamson   20:03
Mark Hanna         20:15
Steve Begley       21:32
Conor Preshaw      21:50
Glen Pollock       22:26
David Montgomery   22:27
Andrew McCormick   23:19
Carl King          23:50
Peter McGuchin     24:36

Thanks also to the timekeepers Chris and Juls

Carryduff - athlete's TT (4th Aug 2015)

Guest blog by Stevie Smartt

Having done one TT and one shot at time keeping this year, I thought it was time to pick my discipline. I went for the time keeping. I like numbers, nearly as much as Vaughan.

If there is a prize for best timekeeper this year, I must be in with a shout. I brought low sugar muffins (I’ll admit they were not my own work - offering from my trampolining daughter Kathleen) and have spent my lunch hour doing aerodynamic analysis for you all. Didn’t quite take the hour, and Enda “Heisenberg” Marron should check the calculations.

So the Athlete’s TT …. what difference does the £5000 spent on aero gear make. Without us knowing, VP has been carrying out an experiment in cash spent vs time gains and here are the numbers. I’ll have to pick just three of you (O’Neill, Morrison and Purnell), as the rest of us either look the same at every TT or are not nuts enough to spend sufficient £s to make a difference. But those three are. Marron would have been in here too, had he not decided a Chinese on the way home was preferable to bringing the bike in the jeep.

Over the last two TT seasons, the average times (and ranges) for the three aero nuts on the Carryduff circuit are:

Purnell 28:00 (range of about +/- 60 seconds)
Morrison 28:00 (range of about +/- 50 seconds)
O’Neill 28:10 (range of about +/- 11 seconds)

Remarkably similar. Spookily similar. Purnell can bore us further with medians and standard deviations as he looks to find the stat that puts him on top.

This week they had a touch more fluid dynamic drag as they wore their everyday casual outfits. Their times were slower by 1min (O’Neill), 2m23s (Purnell)and 2m40s (Morrison) compared to their average. There you go, all can rest easy that the aero investment was well spent.

An average of £5000 buys 1-3min gains. My take on this, O’Neill managed to stay within 1min of his average time and is a true athlete …. Purnell and Morrison are rich playboys who have bought success.

[VP: in the interests of accuracy it should be pointed out that O'Neill was riding an aero bike (SHAME SHAME SHAME) with deep section wheels, Morrison also had deep section wheels (SHAME SHAME SHAME), and Purnell's aero TT kit is under the 2K mark. The reader may draw their own conclusions!]

Mr Carroll, the race referee ruled that Williamson looked too daper this week for his time to count and subsequently disqualified him.

Girls

Christen O’Neill   33:25

Play boys

Neville O’Neill    29:10
Vaughan Purnell    30:23
Peter Morrison     30:40
Steve Begley       32:02
Conor McGandy      32:17
Paul Hetherington  32:41
Dave Lonnen        33:23
Peter McGuiken     35:11
Karl King          35:12

Peter Williamson 29:28 (impressive time, but DQ. Appeals to Ironman Carroll)

Thanks to time keepers Stevie, Paul and Enda.

Temple - League#9 (28th July 2015)

Miraculously the rain stayed away from the Temple TT course. A magnificent eight rootin' tootin' riders started out as usual at 6:45 in one minute intervals.

Before the TT started Peter McGuicken turned heads wearing what appeared to be a tailored suit!

Clean shirt, new shoes
And I don't know where I am goin' to.
Silk suit, black tie,
I don't need a reason why.
- ZZ Top

McGuicken soon changed into his 1970's cycling skinsuit and order was restored in the Temple parking lot.

Competition was fierce in the mid field this week with mere seconds determining bragging rights. Preshaw once again "stuck it" to McHenry. If only Preshaw could do that is a race then McHenry might even be bovvered!

Fine performances from the girls this week, both of who are building back up for a strong second half of the season.

Results

Girls

Emma Kerr          32:15
Ali McConnell      33:26

Boys

Vaughan Purnell    26:26
Paul Hetherington  30:03
Conor Preshaw      30:11
Dave Lonnen        30:25
Desi McHenry       30:45
Peter McGuicken    32:50

Thanks to Glen for time keeping.

Annahilt (21st July 2015)

Performance of the night was Gavin Browne in the role of safety officer. The County Down cowboy began by helping two farmers herd their cows across the road before the TT start. Browne was later seen controlling traffic on the Glebe Road in order to let the riders have right of way. To achieve marshal perfection however Browne would have needed to provide lemonade and chocolate muffins at the end!

The TT 2015 calendar only visits Annahilt once this season. The earlier wet weather semi cleared to leave a damp and cloudy summer night. On google maps the Annahilt course looks easy but in reality it's a hard ride home from the first left turn.

In the girls category, Miss Aero-Kerro took the top spot once again. Would all the girl challengers please take a step forward?

Meanwhile Marron continued to impress for a second week in a row. Back in week one no-one would have predicted Marron would be 3 seconds off the mighty Ironman Millar. Marron is in great shape for tackling the Dolomites next week.

In the mid field McGandy and Pollock had a bit of a tussle with McGandy coming out tops. Pollock blew his chances early on with some very ill advised pacing!

Finally there was another strong and consistent ride from McGuicken and an interesting time from Lonnen, who is perhaps not getting the long lie-ins and afternoon naps to which he is accustomed.

Results

Girl

Emma Kerr         24:16

Boys

Mark Millar       19:37
Enda Marron       19:40
Vaughan Purnell   20:33
Mark Hanna        21:16
Conor McGandy     22:38
Glen Pollock      22:40
Peter McGuicken   24:10
Dave Lonnen       24:16      

Thanks to time keepers Gavin, Ali and Conor P.

Carryduff - league#8 (14th July 2015)

Holiday time, people are away, therefore a perfect time for all on summer staycation to pick up some league points.

Miss Kerr enjoyed a gentle spin through the rolling hills of Carryduff and Ballygowan to collect le maximum de points.

Marron ended a long drought with the best time of the night. The last time Marron was top of the podium was back on July 16th 2013 in a Temple 2 lap. It is good to see a return to form for Marron after what can only be described by most people as a shaky start to the season.

Perhaps the most significant result was Padawan Preshaw surpassing his Sith Lord McHenry. Little does Preshaw know the pressure has only started! Preshaw will need to keep the PBs coming thick and fast.

Finally thanks to Peter McGuicken for being the only honest person to admit the times were all a minute faster than they should have been. Note: this was caused by sending a hare off 5 or 6 mins before the start with a synchronised stopwatch. Until this issue was brought to light most people seemed very happy with their times!!

Girl

Emma Kerr           36:42

Boys

Enda Marron         28:05
Neville O'Neill     28:13
Vaughan Purnell     28:37
Conor Preshaw       32:16
Desi McHenry        32:22
Peter McGuicken     35:01

Thanks to time keepers Vaughan (end) and Neville (start).

Temple 2 lap (7th July 2015)

Blustery Temple 2 Lap

Peter McGuckin      32.51     67.11

Conor McGandy      30.18     62.03

Conor Preshaw        29.57     62.11

Bill Rafferty               28.56     60.00

Desi McH                   30.57     62.29

Enda                           26.55     55.21

Mark Kane                 24.14     49.37

killynure - league#7 (30th June 2015)

1. Michael Sinton       20:30

2. Steve Begley         22:16

3. Andrew McCormick      22:22

4. Conor Preshaw       22:24

5. Desi McHenry         23:02

6. Thomas Nelson      23:37

7. Peter McGuckin      24:19

Timekeepers - Mark Hanna & Mark Millar

Temple - league#6 (23rd June 2015)

Before the Temple TT tonight the sun was shining bright, the wind was unnoticed and a few people had showed up.
Just as the stopwatches were started Mr. Kane noticed he’d actually acquired a POA and was given precisely 13 minutes to fix his front tub.  Help was given in the form of admiring spectators.
After the TT had started the wind picked up – and everyone else arrived!
There were many pre-race disclaimers as legs were still feeling the hills from Sundays Fondo.  In the end though, it didn’t seem to affect the excellent results as shown below.  Double disclaimer went to Enda whose head was well up coming into finish.  Just as he was about to start l’attack on the last hill didn’t his chain come off.
It was nice to see a wide range of clubs represented tonight.

Ladies
Ali 32.06
Men
Mark Kane 23.57
Paul Carroll 24.53
Mark Miller 25.00
Mark Hanna  26.34
Enda Marron 27.01
Michael Sinton 27.17
Chris McKeown 27.30
Andrew McCormick 28.40
Bill Rafferty 28.41
Thomas Nelson 29.52
Conor Preshaw 29.56
Conor McGandy 30.02
Dave Lonnen 30.46
Carl King 31.16
Peter McGuckin 32.32

BBQ (17th June 2015)

Easy spin and BBQ

Thanks to Ali for organising, Julie for working the pit, Desi & Janice for use of their house and producing fine homebrew and rhubarb lemonade.

7 cyclists and a packet of crisps!

Cheese alert!

Burger that!

Comber TT (9th June 2015)

Thomas Henry was a designer for the White Star Line shipping company, working on both the Olympic and it's  sister ship, the Titanic. The naval architect Henry wanted 45 life boats as well as double hull and water tight bulkheads up to deck B on the ships. Unfortunately he was overruled and history leaves us with Jack Dawson painting a nude Kate Winslet and the Dion classic "My heart will go on"!

The inaugural Comber TT started from the Thomas Henry Memorial school on probably the best evening of the year so far. Everyone had a practice lap and then the riders started off in 30 sec intervals. The course is just over 5 miles although there are a few short and sharp climbs on the Old Ballgowan Road to keep things interesting.

Julie, from Invictus, got the fastest girls time for a second week in a row. We expect Miss Kerr to be rocking up with tri-bars any week soon!

Enda Marron (who incidentally put Comber TT on the calendar) showed some fine mid season form with a joint second fastest time. Maybe if that tractor hadn't slowed him he would have been fastest. We will never know!

Finally, a shouted smart comment from Pollock, whilst overtaking Ali, caused Pollock's concentration to waiver and triggered him overshooting the left turn. A witness has it that that Pollock was still giggling about it all the way home.


Results

Girls

Julie         15:52
Ali           16:19
Joanne        16:45
Emma          16:53

Boys

 
Vaughan        13:53
Enda           13:57
Michael        13:57
Mark H         14:12
Dave Lonnen    14:58
Andrew McM     15:05
Glen           15:09
Andrew McC     15:21
Conor Preshaw  15:34
Carl           15:54
Desi           16:23

Peter McG      16:40

Thanks to David Montgomery and Stephen Smartt for time keeping (despite one counting riders off 30sec and the other counting off 1min...and forgetting to ask people their BBQ attendance on the start line).

Carryduff - league#5 (2nd June 2015)

Results

Girls

Julie Stewart       35:40
Emma Kerr           36:14
Joanne Bingham      38:19

Boys

Mark ?              27:18
Neville O'Neil      28:18
Enda Marron         28:43
Peter Morrison      28:55
Bill Rafferty       31:20
Peter Williamson    31:59
Carl King           33:05
Dave Lonnen         33:06
Conor ?             33:30
Steve ?             33:40
Andrew McCormick    33:45
Stephen ?           34:18
Paul ?              36:23
Peter McGuicken     36:41

Thanks to time keepers Andrew McMurray and Paul Hetherington.

Note to timekeepers - please include surnames in the timing sheets.
In the TT we have 2 Conors, 3 Peters, 2 Steves, 3 Marks and 2 Andrews.
I would not be so BOLD as to infer surnames from times :)

Temple 2LAP (26th May 2015)

Results

Ex Machina

Emma Kerr             01:09:35

Droids

 
Paul Carroll          00:52:40
Peter Morrision       00:55:10
Neville O'Neil        00:55:19
Ena Marron            00:55:21
Mark Hanna            00:58:32
Dave Lonnen           01:01:52
Andrew McMurray       01:03:23
Steve Begley          01:04:24
Andrew McCormick      01:04:43
Paul Hetherington     01:04:46
Peter Williamson      LOST!

Thanks to timekeepers Joanne, Peter, Kiwi and Desi.

Killynure - league#4 (19th May 2015)

At 18:45 on 19th May 2015, 10 hardy riders started out on the Killynure Road and one rider started at Temple. Indeed, "eejit of the week" goes to Neville O'Neill for turning up at Temple. Let's hope he turns up at the right Church for his upcoming wedding.

Some very fast times heading in the Saintfield direction (if you believe the bragging some people were doing close to 50mph) although the headwind and horribilis rain shower lowered the Garmin average speeds on the return.

Carl King had the luckiest escape of the night when his parked bike was nearly crushed by a Big Tractor, hi!



Results

Mad Women

Emma Kerr        25:20
Ali McConnell    26:29

Mad Men

 
Vaughan Purnell  20:13
Kevin Eagan      21:02
Mark Hanna       21:15
Enda Marron      22:08
Dave Lonnen      23:44
Andrew McCormick 23:56
Peter McGuicken  26:30
Carl King        26:40

Thanks to time keepers Julie (who is more nervous time keeping than doing the TT) and Desi.

Carryduff 2UP (12th May 2015)

This was the first 2UP for quite a time. In fact, we don't mention "the 2UP incident" of a few years ago. For those curious you need to buy Ms McConnell a glass of wine sometime and she will regale  the full story.

The point of the 2UPs is to have a bit of fun and partake in a bit of drafting. Slower riders get the opportunity to partner with a faster rider and gauge strengths/weaknesses and gear choices which is a good learning experience.

Before the start tonight there was a minute silence for Gerry O'Neill who sadly passed away last week. Gerry was a talented road runner and keen cyclist. He took part in the first and second years of these TTs before cycling with Phoenix. A regular at the PEC spin classes, the first bike on the right has always been known simply as "Gerry's bike with the easy resistance". Always very encouraging of others and an avid fan of the Bob Harris radio show he will be missed.

Top mixed team tonight was Kerr and McGuicken. McGuicken had a bit of scare half way round the course when he thought he had gone deaf. However it turned out that Miss Kerr had simply fallen off the back.

Andrew McCormac got to experience the team work ethic of Cafe Velo tonight when Mark Hanna continually dropped him. The stony silence at the end spoke volumes between the pair.

However, Steve Begley played it note perfect and took himself and Paul Hetherington around in season best times, taking off over a minute from a few weeks ago.

Top of the 2 uppers was Enda and Vaughan who stayed together most of the time!

Results for tonight's lovely couples

Enda and Vaughan      28:37

Mark H and Andrew     30:27

Steve and Paul        31:48

Emma and Peter        33:55

Thanks to the 2.5 Lonnens for time keeping.

Temple - League#3 (5th May 2015)

A Perfect Day
"The boss said 'great job, go ahead and leave work early'. Heading home the traffic was unusually light and the drivers used their indicators and refrained from lane hopping. Plenty of time then to get a bite of food, made easy because the kitchen was spotless and there was plenty of healthy food in the cupboards. The cycling gear was easy to find, being all freshly washed and folded. In the garage the bike was sitting gleaming with the brakes and gears tuned to perfection. At 6pm, after a cold day, the Sun came out and the temperature rose to a pleasant 19 degrees.
At the TT everyone turned up on time and it started at 6:45pm. Traffic was practically non-existent and any cars that passed gave a friendly toot and left at least 3 metres of clearance. The warm tarmacadam gave extra grip on the corners. At Saintfield a group of passer-bys stopped to cheer; the ringing cowbells being a lovely touch. Along the route the smell of BBQ and children laughing in back gardens made the effort easy or maybe it was the tailwind the whole way. We all got PBs anyway!
Afterwards we all congratulated each other and the sense of companionship and comradery made one wish to be nowhere else. The pizza van arrived and gave out free pizza. Just what we needed after a hard effort and we ate and laughed until our bellies ached. Such a perfect day!" 

Admittedly that might not be quite how the TT went but it was close!

Back to reality and Ed Smith turned up to present two Lunchtime Legend awards which are normally given out at the Christmas party.

The Donnellys Cup (for international achievement) went to Desi McHenry. This was the third time that Desi has won the prestigious award. Not one to rest, Desi departs soon for Mallorca 70.3 Ironman and we wish him good luck. Like a fine wine McHenry gets more acidic (or should that be fine) with age and anyone who has not got themselves down for time keeping better do it soon!

The Geoff Lennon Trophy went to Peter Morrison for achievement and improvements in cycling. Morrison excels in TTs, sportives, cyclo-cross; you name it!

Results

Aero-mint

Joanne Bingham       34:16

The aero-smiths

Mark Kane            24:20
Peter Morrison       25:17
Vaughan Purnell      25:57
Enda Marron          26:45
Kevin Eagan          26:52
Gavin Browne         27:31
Bill Rafferty        28:44
Paul Hetherington    31:56
Peter McGuicken      32:38
Carl King            33:14 

Thanks to time keepers Desi and David Morrissey.

Temple - Athlete's TT (28th April 2015)

New this year is the introduction of an Athlete's TT. The idea is that the Temple course is rode on a standard road bike in non aero gear. Then, the following week the same course is done with race gear on and the time difference (if any) can be seen.

Results

Girl

Emma Kerr           33:52

Boys

 
Mark Kane           26:28
Mark Millar         27:04
Gavin Browne        27:52
Peter Morrison      28:06
Mark Hanna          28:37
Vaughan Purnell     29:18
Enda Marron         29:35
Paul Hetherington   30:30
Steve Begley        30:40
Desi McHenry        30:59
Peter McGuicken     35:30

Thanks to David and Bill for timekeeping.

Carryduff - League#2 (21st April 2015)

A perfect dry and bright evening for the first time out on the Carryduff course in 2015. The TT started on time with the riders going out in 30 second intervals.

Recently retired Dave Lonnen who has all day free (just joking) still managed to be late. Luckily he fitted nicely into the end of the results with his time bell ringing through to the finish.

Due to popular demand [not really] here is an adapted cycling joke you will be chortling about until next week.

Mr. Kane and Mr. Browne of Team Kaners decide one day to have a go at tandem biking. Both metrosexual guys they immediately shop for cycle clothing to match the tandem bike before considering the seating arrangements. Kane, the lighter of of the pair and excellent at steering opted for the front seat. The back seat was then left for Browne; always the back of the pantomime horse. 

First day out Kane and Browne head straight to Drumbo Hill to have a go at the classic, end of season, TT hill climb. "Jeepers, that was a tough climb" said Kane, leaning over, breathing hard. "That climb was so hard, and we were going so slow, I thought we were never going to make it." 

 "Yeah, good thing I kept the brakes on," said Browne, "or we'd have slid all the way back down!"

Results

Sunglasses on ladies

Emma Kerr                34:52
Joanne Bingham           36:03

Hair combed back boys

Mark Kane                25:42
Mark Millar              27:11
Vaughan Purnell          27:52
Neville O'Neil           27:59
Neil Weir                28:18
Gavin Browne             28:45
Michael Sinton           29:02
Mark Hanna               29:20
Enda Marron              29:29
Bill Rafferty            30:47
Andrew McMurray          31:38
Glen Pollock             31:46
David Morrissey          32:10
Conor Preshaw            33:11
Paul Hetherington        33:12
Steve Begley             33:30
Conor McGandy            34:04
Desi McHenry             34:36
Peter McGuicken          34:39
Andrew McCormac          34:40
Dave Lonnen              34:43

Thanks to Claire and Peter Morrison for timekeeping.

Ballynahinch out and back (14th April 2015)

My homework this week was to express what the TT means to me. Here is my pretty answer:

There was a lucky escape for McHenry tonight when a car stopped hard in front of him. McHenry called on all his years' experience of running into the back of cars and managed to swerve around the back of the car. The manoeuvre  took the wing mirror off the car but McHenry managed to remain upright. Apart from a scraped left arm the wood-chopper was able to battle on.

Results

Headwind Girls

Emma Kerr     18:07 19:30 37:37
Ali McConnell 18:19 19:46 38:05

Tailwind Boys

Mark Kane         13:21 14:19 27:40
Peter Morrison    13:46 15:07 28:53
Vaughan Purnell   14:31 15:21 29:52
Gavin Browne      14:31 16:19 30:50

Chris McNevison   15:22 16:40 32:02
David Montgomery  16:33 17:54 34:27
David Morrissey   16:58 18:25 35:23
Paul Hetherington 17:13 18:37 35:50
Andy McMurray     17:50 18:29 36:19
Steven Begley     18:06 18:16 36:22
Conor Preshaw     17:27 19:09 36:36
Dave Lonnen       18:24 19:01 37:25
Desi McHenry      19:37 18:47 38:24
Peter McGuicken   18:46 20:08 38:54

Thanks to the excellent time-keepers on what is the most difficult course to manage.

Killynure - League#1 (7th April 2015)

It was a smooth start to the TT season on a windless and dry Tue evening. The first night is about dusting off the "race" bike and, for some, squeezing back into the "race" lycra. Everyone agreed it was good to be back.

The Killynure course is hilly, short and sharp and you definitely want to choose your gears carefully. Enda Marron, opting for a tougher workout, took the gearing decisions out of the equation by riding the course on a fixed gear bike.

Most improved over the winter appears to be Mark Hanna who is knocking minutes off PBs much to the consternation of his rivals.

Not that anyone ever "plays the age card" but it's interesting to see the range of ages at the TTs.
The oldest person signed up was born in 1947.
The youngest person signed up was born in 1993.

Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. 
- Leroy "Satchel" Paige


Results

Mark Millar                19:53
Mark Hanna                 20:29
Gavin Browne               20:30
Peter McWilliamson         22:23
Enda Marron                22:34
Stephen Begley             22:59
Andrew McCormick           23:03
Conor Preshaw              23:03
Stevie Smartt              23:19
Desi McHenry               24:16
Peter McGuickin            25:46

Thanks to the timekeepers Vaughan and Glen.

TT 2015

News

Calendar is released - see below.

Entry is now OPEN - click on EntryCentral link to signup.

PREVIOUSLY ON THE TT

2014 league - Top 5 girls

Judith Lonnen
Emma Kerr
Alison McConnell
Jenny McCready
Heather Bamford

2014 league - Top 5 boys

Mark Kane
Mark Millar
Vaughan Purnell
Peter  Morrison
Enda  Marron