Dubliner Wins North Down Grand Prix
Dubliner Neil Delahaye (Usher-Irish Road Club) was the convincing winner of the North Down Grand Prix on Saturday last, in what turned out to be an excellent event promoted by the North Down Cycling Club.  Delahaye is no stranger to Northern Ireland racing this season, being a regular competitor north of the border, taking runner up in the Wallace Caldwell Memorial, and third in the Tour of the North and from the very first lap he demonstrated his all-round ability on a very demanding course.

Ross Blayney NI Champion

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Matty Wins North Down Championship

The ability of North Down Cycling Club’s Matty Blayney has never been in question and it was clear last Wednesday night that he was a man on a mission.  The last road race of the North Down Cycling Club season has traditionally been the Ardill and Patterson Trophy event, but this year club race secretary, Paul Ferguson, decided to add an extra bit of spice by incorporating the club road race championship.  This proved to be an excellent idea, attracting an excellent field on what was not an auspicious evening.

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Birthday Celebrations for North Down Cycling Club

It’s hard to believe that the successful North Down Cycling Club is celebrating its 30thbirthday this month.  In the early summer of 1977 Ian Henry had the idea of establishing a cycling club in the borough to cater for the undoubted talent in the area. The accuracy of his vision and forethought has been demonstrated over and over again, as a stream of talent has benefited from being part of what became known as the ‘leading team’.  
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North Down Riders to the fore in the Billy Stewart Cup

It was great to see the pink and black continually to the fore in the prestigious Billy Stewart Cup at Derrymacash at the weekend.  The race attracted over fifty riders including some of the best cyclists in the country, and was run over 6 laps of a flat 10 mile circuit. Interestingly, the limit group of S3's, vets and Juniors (including our own Neil McKenna and Alan Lavery)  were dispatched four minutes ahead of the scratch group; by the end this gap had actually increased to almost 6 mins!  This is an incredible feat and one of which the North Down riders can be justifiably proud.  
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Hectic Time For Cycle Tourists

The hectic programme of recreational cycle tours reaches a climax this week with the demanding  Inishowen 100 on Sunday.  This is always a popular but demanding event which enables the cyclists to enjoy some of the best scenery in the country.

However, the views and experiences enjoyed on this event will be nothing compared to two of North Down Cycling Club’s stalwarts, Matty Blayney and Duane McCreadie.  At present they are enjoying the trills and spills of the Trans Rockies Race.  The young cyclists headed off from Panorama, near Calgary, on Monday and were immediately launched into the high mountains over extremely difficult steep roads in sweltering heat.  However, they were compensated by unsurpassed views and breath- taking descents.  So hight profile is the event that it is being broadcast live on television in Canada – so we’ll look forward to seeing it soon ourselves.  Incidentally, after the second day the boys are lying 85th out of 300 teams – not bad!

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