1st Club Road Race of 2014
25 Apr 2014
Thursday night (24th) saw the 1st Club Road Race of the season take place on the Wood Rd circuit in Tobermore. With a summer feel in the air and the sun still shining, 33 signed on for the 7pm start.
The groups were well evened out in numbers which made the decision for the time handicaps much easier. The 1st group set of 2 minutes before group 2, with group 3 a minute behind that, followed by another a minute for the "big guns" in the Scratch Group.
After the first lap Group 1 still had a 1min 40 advantage over the 2nd Group, with Joanne Regan, only in her 3rd race, and Tomas McElwee in his 1st race, leading the pack.
At the half way point the positioning was the same, with Joanne and Tomas working hard at the front keeping a small distance between themselves and the remainder of the Group 1 pack, but the remaining groups were slowly but surely bridging the gap, with group 2 now just 40 seconds back and group 3 just 25 seconds behind that again. The Scratch group were also now within spitting distance of group 3, no more than 10 or 15 seconds behind that again.
On the sound of the bell, and the beginning of the last lap, it had all come together, with Carn Wheelers Cathal Doyle, who was in Scratch, 1st man through and looking like he was making for a break on his own for the last lap, but Stephen Walsh and Dessie Smyth were having none of it and they both dug deep to try keep on the wheel of Doyle.
Cathal pushed hard the whole last lap, and on the final decent up Tobermore Main St and up Wood Rd to the finish line, pulled a good 18 second advantage to be a clear winner. The next helmet in sight coming over the hill was that of Marc Heaney (Carn Wheelers), followed closely by Conor McCann (DigDeep/Inspired Cycling) - both Junior Riders. But Marc just couldn't hold on, and Conor McCann crossed the line for 2nd, with Marc finishing off the podium positions.
The following 6 positions were less that 3 seconds back, all scrambling for the line, with Martin Robb of Bann Valley taking 4th and Ciaran Donnelly from Termon Wheelers picking up 5th.
The top 10 results are below
1 - Cathal Doyle - Carn Wheelers
2 - Conor McCann - DigDeep/Inspired Cycling
3 - Marc Heaney - Carn Wheelers
4 - Martin Robb - Bann Valley
5 - Ciaran Donnelly - Termon Wheelers
6 - Stephen Walsh - Carn Wheelers
7 - Michael Scullion - Carn Wheelers
8 - Michael Kelly - Carn Wheelers
9 - Joanne Regan - Termoneeney CC
10 - Colly Lynn - Carn Wheelers
2 - Conor McCann - DigDeep/Inspired Cycling
3 - Marc Heaney - Carn Wheelers
4 - Martin Robb - Bann Valley
5 - Ciaran Donnelly - Termon Wheelers
6 - Stephen Walsh - Carn Wheelers
7 - Michael Scullion - Carn Wheelers
8 - Michael Kelly - Carn Wheelers
9 - Joanne Regan - Termoneeney CC
10 - Colly Lynn - Carn Wheelers
Well done to everyone who took part and thanks to everyone who helped out on the night. It was great to see soo many participants and spectators, which makes for an enjoyable evenings racing.
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