Bikedock Belles

Jenny Melville was so keen, that she even cycled to and from the starting point! (sounds good eh?, but she is a local!). She teamed up with 5 of the other girls – Joy, Jane, Eileen, Geri and Debbie – to have a jolly spin out in the country, in lovely sunny weather. Joy was pleased to join the girls, being unable to make the weekly social spins. Jane was keen to give her new bike (yes, bought in a highly respected bike shop!) a great debut spin. Eileen was eager to see Geri fall off in her SPDs! And Debbie was well up for meeting some new faces for a good day's craic.

Unfortunately, 2 minutes after the start, Debbie realised she hadn't signed on and turned back. That's the type of girl she is and the spirit we love, willing to chase and catch them up again!

Belle Andrea was standing 2.5 miles away, and things were looking good when Debbie came along only 2 minutes after the other girls. By the way, Andrea happened to be standing at a road junction just around a corner and heard the laughter (one of them has a loud and distinctive laugh!) and chatter of pack of Monthlies a good 3 minutes before she actually saw them!

Having seen the 60km'ers through, Louise then appeared UP the other road and looked fresh having done two hills so far in the first 10km (little did she know those were the short hills!). As always, Louise was smiling and with two blokes!

As Andrea headed off for active recovery in the Mournes about 90 minutes later, she texted for updates on progress and was chuffed to hear that the girls were having a fabulous time and enjoying the great tea and food stop laid on by Dromara CC at Leitrim. However she was dismayed to hear that Debbie had gone wrong somewhere and never mind not catching the girls, she ended up missing a route arrow and had pedalled around alone in unknown territory for 90 minutes before fortunately ending up back at the start/finish.

Quote, "Pretty disastrous. Definitely not my day. Oh well, maybe next time." Awful for somebody that only came along to our social spin for the first time 4 days previously, but her attitude is fantastic and it hasn't put her off at all. We know there'll be a next time. Go girl!

The other girls had a fabulous day out, which their various messages show:

Joy: "Hey what a revolution you Belles have started ! Great spin Domara cc Hilly 60 .... even better girls to spin with ... perfect day and perfect conversation for 60km. Thank you fellow Hilly 60's"

Eileen: "Great day out! Weather was very kind (too kind in fact, still sporting the panda eyes look) and craic was great with 5 Belles on the 60km. Hills were a killer, first 10 i was thinking, ach i should have done the 85km, last 10 it was thank goodness i didn't lol. Good times. Ding Dong"

Jane: "Brilliant day out! Great weather, craic and hills! And next time we know who to ring first if we get lost!"

Jenny: "Great day. Really loved it. Nice to be in your own back yard. You said the 60km wasn't hilly, but rolling. The others thought the 60km was hilly. I told them you don't get flat around Dromara!"

And as for the 85km Monthly, Louise, "That was definitely the toughest one to date!!!! 85km over the Mourne Mountains! The hills were mental, even the granny ring didn't save me. At one stage I faced two options, fall into nettles or fall against a Truck! I picked the Truck! Don't regret it but between all my cuts and bruises and weird tan lines on my legs, i am going to be looking hot on the beach in Marbella! NOT."

Well done you 6 Hilly 60km'ers and you 1 Hilly 85km'er. And of course everybody else that did any of the 4 Dromara distances today. It's a gorgeous part of the world that we're lucky to live in. Yes, even the hills!

Thanks to Dromara CC for such a well organised and friendly tour, with a great choice of routes. (and hills!).

Ding Dong!

Andrea