Bikedock Belles

Report by Eileen Regan

Saturday morning, 20th August I awoke and much to my surprise the sun was shining, good old BBC got it wrong again, hurrah! Car was loaded to the max with everything but the kitchen sink and spare tubes and off to Carlingford I went to experience Da Cooley Thriller organised by Dundalk’s Cuchulainn CC. I had decided to opt for the short course having tacked the route twice before and both leaving me with a certain sense of terror at the mention of the Cooleys. There was an excellent turnout and brilliant to see so many ladies tackling both the long and short course, 20 in all which is probably double the turnout i have seen in any MTB race to date. A neutralised ride around the town was a lovely start to get the craic going and then off we went straight into a fireroad climb for a few miles. Much to my surprise i passed the odd bloke on the climb, was feeling rather chuffed with myself as it is something of a rare occasion for that to happen in a race, perhaps all these ventures up cavehill are paying off. Then after 4/5K we hit the forest and into some singletrack only to grind to a halt as a long queue of riders waited to climb over the stiles and cross the river. As expected the fearless Roisin Hughes came battering past me on the descents making it look ever so easy as i hmm'ed and haa'ed over the line only to get off and walk it anyway like a big girls blouse.


Out of the forest and again into some nice grassy singletrack and a lovely fast descent which got the mud splattering and then onto the road for a looooong road climb helped by Karen McCorry and myself having a good natter on the first part of the climb. Stopped for some sweeties then i trundled on and managed to catch a few back up on the climb and finally we hit the feed station and singletrack. Said a quick hello to the girls at the feed station who informed me i was currently 4th lady, shouted to see where the 3rd was and was told she was about 5 mins ahead so decided to put the head down and see if i could catch her. Lots of technical climbing from here on in so granny gear was getting some quality time and then i saw 3 people infront, one looked like pink, that's the 3rd lady!! Into a really steep grassy climb i saw the group of 3 were off the bikes and walking, now's my chance ... so i pedalled on and caught them halfway up the climb, unfortunately the pink was red and a burly 6 foot bloke... no 3rd place for me. He did say he was very impressed by my technical climbing skills and Roisin's descending skills. Ego suitably boosted i mosied onwards and upwards and some nice technical sections of singletrack and much to my surprise was caught by a fellow rider from Phoenix CC. Figured he had a mechanical as seemed unlikely he would be loitering at the back with my kind only to discover he was on lap 2!! Himself and another Phoenix rider started at 6.30 and did a lap of the long course in prep for the Kielder 100 in a few weeks time, madness!


Back to the race then ... had a wee game of cat and mouse then with the 3 fellas infront (thanks to them stopping lots for photo opps every 10 minutes) but couldn't see anyone else ahead. A final rocky ascent was a good leg sucker and finally we reached the top!!! The view over the bay was fabulous, clear blue skies and sea - briefly clocked "lovely view" and then head down for a fast descent which took all of about 10 mins. Followed the boys ahead down entirely the wrong path only to be a told a few mins later by a walker that we had taken a wrong turn so off we got and had to push back up. A bone shaking descent to the finish and it was over in no time at all. Back to the Foy Centre then for a plate of pasta and a shower and then went to see the rest of the girls tackling the long course cross the line. A well earned half of the black stuff and home. Some impressive riding by the girls saw Ciara McManus taking 1st and Julie McCorry 2nd. Dianne Keys also took on the long course for the first time and finished in an excellent time of 4h55.

Report By Karen Mc Corry (Belle Julie's Sister)

Walking, walking, more walking and ice cold beverages (a'herm beers) had been the height of my keep fit regime recently, having spent most of my summer back packing around Europe. I was home five minutes and already Julie had me entered in the Cooley thriller (her idea of a ‘nice’ belated birthday present).  So up the mountain I go for an overdue bonding day with my bike (George the Genesis). Twenty minutes in and I wasn’t too long in remembering how much I love splashing through mud and blasting the trails. Needless to say, I crossed the finish line feeling very satisfied with my 21k last minute adventure. Hmm maybe attempt the 52k next year. The Cooley Thriller definitely one to note in the diary for next year, great event and very well organised.  I also noticed a considerable increase in female competitors.  So come on ladies get entered for Ballyhoura on 18th September.

Thanks to both Eileen and Karen for their reports.

Ding Dongx

Julie