Tow path 2 October 2008

[manuel6b2]

Tow path run on tonight.

Please bring along your deposit for the xmas dinner !!!!

Thanks

[manuel6b2]

It was a cold and windy night with rain threatening but that did not stop seven hardy souls showing up tonight at the Civic Centre. Joining the regulars from last week (BL, Alan, Stewart, Dennis and myself) we had Peter Swann and another McMullan brother in the form of Kenny.

We set off at 7 on the dot staying close to shelter from the wind. Past the bridges there was a sudden gust of wind that had all the riders exclaim "woah!, that was strong!". We battled on cycling over broken twigs and avoiding the larger branches. There were few walkers out tonight with the poor weather and darkness arriving earlier. We crossed over the foot bridge to the other side of the river and came upon 2 mtbers coming in the opposite direction. More mad fools!

I was leading and, not really knowing the way, managed to miss the turn off for the Giant's Ring. It was all stop and turn around before heading up the correct way. Kenny left us and headed for Shaw's bridge alone. The path up to the ring was wet and slippery and in a series of muddy holes I managed to get a puncture on the front wheel. Thankfully I switched last year to tubeless tires and the latex inside managed to seal the hole. Unfortunately because of the bumpy terrain more air than normal had escaped before the hole was sealed. A quick 100 reps with the pump though as we stood on the top of Giants ring solved the problem. With BL leading we all took the shortcut across the ring and out the other side. BL and Dennis were keen to head down the lane again as all were dressed in tights to keep out the cold and the nettles! Happily the pile of stones at the top of the lane had been removed and once you got through the first big clump of nettles, the path opened up for a nice quick descent.

Back onto the road and then back to the tow path. We picked up Kenny under the bridge and all headed towards Belvoir. Dennis and Kenny pealed off leaving the five of us to blaze a trail around the forest. We even managed to find the missing bridge from last week and didn't have to get our feet wet. BL was setting a blistering pace with me trying to get his wheel and Alan trying to get mine (and doing a better job than me!). BL's aim was to try to beat last week's average time but in doing so he was stretching us out along the course.

We got back onto the tow path but after a short while BL found a gate for a different way into the Meadows. However, at the second set of gates we think we took the wrong one and after a quick descent of some steps we ended up on the Meadows path but had cut out a large chunk of our normal route. We vowed not to do that again!

A quick blast through the Meadows with me leading and BL hot on my heels, finishing in a fast descent back onto the tow path. When all caught up we headed on at a quick pace back to Shaw's bridge. The five of us climbed up towards Malone House stopping for a well earned rest at the bench. Then on through the trees, BL dropping like a stone along the descent. We all gathered again beside the running track before the technical section out of the trees. Only Peter Swann was brave enough to tackle the dip at the end.

BL and I then lead the group back to Lisburn but it was not long before BL was at 'it' again, dropping me and everyone else. After the steel bridge Alan and I decided to set the pace. At a more realistic rhythm we made our way back to the Civic Centre but, on my request, we crossed over the concrete bridge to the far side to check out the course for the cyclo cross event in November. A bit of work will be needed here!

It was all back to the car park for 9:20. Thankfully the rain had stayed away making this an excellent night of MTB fun. According to BL we did 23 miles with 12.3 average. With such a windy night this felt much harder than the previous week. This was our baptism of fire (or in this case cold) to get us conditioned for the winter ahead.

Next week we are back to the tow path again, still waiting for the rest of the regulars to join us!!!