Bikedock Belles

You see, last year, we experienced our worst result ever! Not a bit of wonder after arriving in poor form and effectively only completing 20 minutes of the 3 and ½ hour event…..with 3 hours plus being spent on changing a puncture (yes, one single puncture!) and drinking coffee. But at least we “managed” to make it back to the finish line!

Trailquests are off-road MTB orienteering events that involve teams (of 1,2 or 3 people) being handed a map at their start time, deciding upon a route and searching for checkpoints/ markers, that have various scores from 10-60 points. The aim is to collect as many points as possible in a 3½ hour timeframe.

With the aim of ending the Trailquest winter league on a high note, Taryn and Andrea thought maybe they’d take a serious approach to Sunday. Hmmm, at least it’s the thought that counts eh?! We may have looked a bit more professional, with an early arrival at registration and a proper swivel mapboard – but for some reason we did the event with the answer sheet on the mapboard rather than the map! Indeed, we must have looked the part because newbies were asking Taryn advice re tyre pressure – but were astounded by her lack of attention to detail when she replied that she had actually checked and there was 45 psi in hers at the last Trailquest 2 weeks ago, so she wasn’t going to bother checking them this time!

In the name of a professional appearance, instead of meandering off at our start time, we decided to pedal off hard – with some warm-up aggression aided by an introduction to Monthly Debbie’s new Springer Spaniel Puppy. “Grrrrrrrrr” ! Taryn and Andrea even growled at Debbie and Monthly Molly, making their debut appearance at a Trailquest, as they set off on their chosen route. It's a dog-eat-dog world! And we wonder why these girls think we’re nuts?!

Anyway, our chosen route kept us East of Bryansford and included the high points above Donard Park to the south. Indeed, in a bid to get some hill training in, we headed halfway up Slieve Donard! Blimey, we didn’t even do half the height of Donard and were puffing…..ah well, the climbing in TransAlp is only 23 times the full height of Donard! Walk in the park. A mountainous park at that!

True to form we chose the indirect non-cyclable options and headed for direct hike-a-bike territory…even against the advice of Andrea’s husband who was competing solo…..but then, when did she ever listen to him?! Having collected the highest marker above Donard Park on Millstone Mountain, we headed over to the quarry and across the Glen River to the mast.

Having done some climbing by then, which was a couple of hours in, it was time for some descent! A tricky one at that! Shouts of glee at the top of the descent from the mast turned into shouts of terror, as Andrea’s back tyre skidded on the ferns and at quite a speed she crashed over the edge of the path. Never one to miss a photo opportunity, Taryn wasn’t to quick to come to Andrea’s aid! But then she is queasy at the sight of blood, and there was an unbelievable volume flowing through Andrea’s leg warmers at her knee cap! Not that she hasn't seen Andrea in floods before! And tends to think just put your big girl pants on and deal with it! Aside from the knee, the query broken thumb added insult to injury – but a team decision was made to carry on….for the next week at least….and only go for an X-ray after the Londonderry CCAR adventure race this Saturday!

Coming out of Donard Park we headed north and picked up checkpoints through to Maghera and back again. Almost not making it back due to farmer rage at a PUBLIC footpath that just happened to run through his farmyard. In his throes of anger at some cyclists at one end of his yard, we happened to be at the other end and a helpful neighbour showed us a way to nip around through a field (his PRIVATE field) and beyond him and the disgruntled cyclists! Picture the scene - two girls in bright pink, clambering over a stone wall as secretly as possible and then cycling over a field trying to be as inconspicuous as possible! Why oh why did we think that crouching as low as possible on our bikes made us any less visible?! Anyway, mission accomplished with no wrath incurred! Ha! And we arrived back at the finish with 260 points and 5 minutes to spare. Which simply meant 5 minutes more for coffee drinking at the centre….before heading for more coffee in Newcastle!

A total of 41 teams took place and the Bikedock Belles ranked joint 11^th – joint with none other than solo rider Paddy Harrower. Thank goodness he didn’t beat us…..said Taryn!

The normal delicious fare of soup, sandwiches and treats were served in the Shimna centre afterwards and all the proceeds from the entry fees for the Trailquest series were handed over to the Northern Ireland Children’s Cancer Fund – an impressive cheque for £2,600. An extremely worthy cause.

Debut Trailquesters Molly and Debbie arrived back at the finish in high spirits and absolutely loved the event – the first of many! Both of them said there is no better way to spend a Sunday and feel rejunvenated. Be afraid, be very afraid…..not only will the countryside be filled with the chatter and laughter of Belles from now on, but with that of the Monthlies now too. Perish the thought of more and more girls following in their awesome footsteps!

Ding Dong!

ps click on thumbnail to enlarge pic and then use arrows to scroll

Andrea