Tow Path 19th Feb

[shea]

Whats happening, I can go out and play again, no holidays, no illness, no snow, gales and a fixed bike.

Are we meeting as normal in the car park in Lisburn

[manuel6b2]

Stephen, welcome back to the cold.

Dromara CC are pleased to offer not one, but two mountain biking adventures this evening. A few of us are still for the tow path as normal but some of the more energetic ones are doing a mtb spin around the quiet roads of Ballynahinch (approx. 25 miles, no off road I believe - see details on the following post dromaracc.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=towpath&action=display&thread=1244&page=1. )

Meeting time is 7 pm for both venues with hopefully two reports on the message board later tonight ;D

[manuel6b2]

Given that there were two mtb adventures last night it was great to see a good crowd at the Civic Centre. Joining me were Trevor, Stephen H, Alan, Stewart, Dennis and Peter Swann. While waiting for Trevor to get ready, Alan hit on the first 'mechanical' of the night. His front brakes were losing fluid. Wee bro took at look at the calipers but wasn't pleased when Alan squeezed the brake lever and more fluid came out. Alan was now down to one brake.

We all set off, me leading but we didn't get far (first bridge) when a shout came from the back that Trevor was not with us. Alan, Stephen and I went back to find Trevor just outside the barrier trying to fix his rear brake. It seemed to have stuck. He fought it for a while but then gave up and off we went. Trevor was now down to one brake.

All progressed well along the path, it was a great evening, dry but cool with hardly anyone else on the path. We all headed over the footbridge and it was Alan (as usual) leading the way with Stewart, Trevor, me and the rest behind. We headed up to Giant's Ring which was in excellent condition, fast with not too many sticky bits. In the Ring itself, Trevor set off on his own around the outer ring of hills while the rest of us watched him disappear into the night. We finished our drink, then shot straight across the Ring with me egging on Stewart to 'take' Dennis! We met Trevor on the far side. Just outside the car park, Stephen H and I head 'rubbing' from Peter's rear wheel. We three stopped to investigate. The brake was tight on and couldn't be released except using tools (provided by Trevor). Even with this it seemed that the wheel had buckled and was still rubbing the brake blocks (v brakes!). Eventually we had to loosen the rear brake enough to stop it rubbing but that more or less took out his rear brake. Peter was now down to one brake!

Down the lane with the fallen tree then along the road back towards the tow path. Dennis and I leading the way as we headed for Belvoir. All in for a fast dash around the forest. Peter, who has only returned to cycling after a long lay off due to an leg injury caused by slipping on ice!, pulled off at the bridge and headed back for home. That left 6 of us to head up to the car park. On the way round we saw two other riders who were in among the trees enjoying the forest.

On the climb up to the car park, Alan was going for it but I managed to get the jump and arrived up there first (the benefits of not having the strong climbers Ronnie and Noel there!). A quick rest before Dennis chased by Alan headed off around the loop. Alan nicely missed a right turn when he misjudged his stopping distance on only one brake!

Back to the car park and we had to wait for Trevor, who had been pushing us for most of the evening. We all set off again but Trevor wasn't keen on doing any more off road with no back brake so he rode with us to Strandmillis and round to Lagan Meadows but didn't go in. Through the Meadows and it was Alan and I leading the rest. I was feeling particularly strong tonight (oddly!) and pushed Alan hard up and down the hills keeping our tempo up high. Out of Lagan Meadows we met Trevor again. All headed back then at a quick pace to Shaw's Bridge. Without peer pressure Trevor headed straight up the climb to Malone House. I caught and passed him halfway up only to hear a crash as he hit the grass. At the top we stopped to catch our breath. Trevor then headed off first along with Stewart while Alan and I waited for Stephen to make it up the hill. Stephen was walking up and when he got to us we could see why. His chain had come off the big sprocket at the rear and was jammed against the spokes. After a fair bit of tugging we managed to free the chain but Stephen was not taking any chances and limped along after Alan and I. By this stage my front light was out so I was not going very quick through the forest. Stephen and Trevor wisely gave the BMX jumps a miss and met us back at the tow path. I managed to ride out of the forest for the first time in ages!

More fast pace on the way back to Lisburn with Stewart, Trevor and Alan taking turns at the front. Stewart peeled off at Hilden leaving the rest of us to head back (at a reduced pace!) to the Civic Centre. Back for about 9:15 with 26.3 miles done at an average of 13.3 (according to Dennis's computer).

Great night!!

How did the rest of you get on?