There was an end of term feel to the time keeping this evening
There was an encouraging turnout of eighteen riders for the final 5 mile time trial of the year in beautiful conditions on the Donaghadee Road tonight.
There was a great battle for the overall win. First to finish was John Rafferty (Ards CC) who improved his club personal best by 9 seconds to record 11:04. Adam Skeet (Northern) knocked 3 seconds off this with 11:01, only to find himself nudged down to second when Andrew Chivers (Ciclotel) finished with 10:51.
It’s interesting to compare the starting styles of the first three riders –
John Rafferty
Adam Skeet
Andrew Chivers
A number of other Ards CC riders also recorded personal bests. Barry Mitchell was 34 seconds faster than his previous best with a time of 11:27 – good enough to win a Super Gold medal. But Stephen Beattie improved by 35 seconds to record 12:43, and this gave him the win on handicap tonight. He also wins the 5 mile handicap trophy this year, having also won the first 5 on handicap back in April. Alan Rodgers also improved tonight but just misses out on a silver medal by 3 seconds. (There’s more information about the club medal scheme here. Note to self – perhaps it would be more useful to publish this link earlier next year…)
| Name | Club | Time | H’cap | HC pts | |
| 1 | Andrew Chivers | Ciclotel | 10:51 | ||
| 2 | Adam Skeet | Northern | 11:01 | ||
| 3 | John Rafferty | Ards CC | 11:04 | +9 | 5 |
| 4 | Barry Mitchell | Ards CC | 11:27 | +34 | 7 |
| 5 | Ian Ingliss | Black Rose | 11:38 | ||
| 6 | Marc Allen | Ards CC | 11:40 | npt | |
| 7 | Niall Brown | Ards CC | 11:47 | -2 | 2 |
| 8 | Robin Millar | Ards CC | 11:52 | -15 | 1 |
| 9 | Glenn Kinning | Kinning | 12:08 | ||
| 10 | Michael Rowan | Northern | 12:10 | ||
| 11 | Mark Watson | Ards CC | 12:41 | -95 | |
| 12 | Stephen Beattie | Ards CC | 12:43 | +35 | 10 |
| 13 | Andrew Jess | Ards CC | 12:48 | -34 | |
| 14 | Alan Rodgers | Ards CC | 13:02 | +5 | 3 |
| 15 | Brian Wylie | Castlereagh | 13:06 | ||
| 16 | Gillian Orr | North Down | 13:26 | ||
| 17 | Colin Wilson | Ards CC | 13:28 | -37 | |
| 18 | William Orr | Ards CC | 13:49 | -42 |
Thanks to the time keepers and pusher off, and a special thanks to the marshals on a night when there was a lot of traffic.
Next Tuesday is the final club race of the year – the Scrabo hillclimb, rescheduled from earlier in the season. Sign on at the Scrabo carpark from 6pm, with first rider off at 6.30pm.
It was good to see Mark Watson back racing again this evening
And William Orr
Comparing times at the finish