Thursday 15 January 2009

[manuel6b2]

Dennis, Stewart (from team 'Losers'), BL and I have confirmed that we are going to the tow path tonight.

Alan still suffering man flu.

See you all at the Lagan Island Centre for 6:50 pm.

[Ross]

BL and I will be at Brennans at 7 if anyone wants to come along.

[manuel6b2]

Four of us out tonight on the tow path. It felt like we hadn't been here for ages, last year perhaps
Ronnie was on his cyclo cross bike, with the dirt from the last time he used it. Dennis and Stewart and I made up the four. Great evening, mild and dry to begin. We had a tail wind going down the path towards Belfast easily cruising at 18 mph. After a quick stop, I raised by seat post, took to the front and let my new light light up the path ahead. 35w excellent!

We skipped the footbridge as Ronnie was on the CX bike and had no tubes with him (other than us 3 !!!! boom boom!)

We sped on at a nice pace towards Belfast with the decision made to head to the Lagan Weir for the first time since last winter. Hardly anyone out with the cycle lanes mostly to ourselves we made great progress. In Belfast we did come across some parts of the path between Strandmillis and the Weir which were ringed off by workmen who were still active under floodlight.

At the weir we encountered some very worried hard hats who didn't want us too close to their building site. We were directed towards a gap in the barrier to allow us to cross the weir. A handsome, soft, spoken chap walking hand in hand with his lady friend was wondering why we were not on the road ;D

On the other side we faced the wind that had helped to get us to Belfast so quickly. Ronnie and I were in front and we zipped along the streets and back to the relative shelter of the path. At Strandmillis we rejoined the path and skipped out Lagan Meadows. We were enjoying the pace far too much to want to now go off-road. The wind was strong and certainly made us work on the way back.

Without warning, my new light went out and all of a sudden we were all plunged into darkness. Stewart was to my right and Ronnie and Dennis were up front. As we cycled I fiddled with the connections and did manage to get it to come back on again but for only a few seconds. I tried a few more times but the 'on time' got less and less. At a road crossing we stopped and Stewart and I shared connections to try to eliminate the problem. We concluded that the battery was letting me down. Fingers crossed that it only needs a good charge to make it for the 2+ hours.

As we approached Lisburn we encountered some light rain but not heavy enough to soak us. It had gone away by the time we got back to the cars. All back for 8:55 with about 25 on the clock at an average of 14 or 15.

It was great to be back on the tow path again!!


Well Ross & co, how did you get on tonight?

[Ross]

four of us did 2 laps of xc course