West Down Wheelers in time trial action

Nineteen members took part with one guest, young Mark Downey.

The conditions on the night were cold and windy. This is without a shadow of a doubt the toughest TT the Wheelers have. It has everything from hills to drags, and the conditions didnt really help.

The fastest man on the night with what can only be described as a superb time was Paul ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson. Paul’s time of 38.51 was well over a minute quicker than second placed rider Paul ‘Mackers’ McManus given that his 40.16 was a surperb effort. Wilkinson, McManus, and Downey (40.46) certainly caught the eye so a big well done to the them of them.

In fourth place with another very good time was Darren ‘Muscels’ Lynas. Darren was expecting to run Wilkie close but he has his work cutout as Wilkie wont give up his crown easily.

Every week we always mention a rider or riders who catch the eye, but this week we have 8 who deserve a mention such is the way the Wheelers are going at the minute - P. Wilkinson, P. McManus, D. Lynas, B. Hanna’s 44 on a road bike, N. Seffen’s 43, M. Shilliday finished in 45 minutes on a road bike, A. McCourt’s 45, and K.Wells was eight minutes quicker than last year’s time so a very big well done to them.

Club race secretary Clive Adamson says, “I have no doubt there will be more riders who get a mention throughout the season. There are so many wee friendly battles going on in the races and its adding alot of excitement in the club. All you hear after a race is people saying how they can’t wait until next week and it’s having a possitive effect on the turnouts.”

LAKELAND GP - Last Saturday four members of West Down Wheelers headed to Enniskillen to take part in the tough Lakeland GP.

In the A4s were D.Cartmill, C.Adamson and N.Seffen. In the A3s was D. Lynas, who was making his debut, while the A4s had 41 miles to do with going up over a mountain a big sting in the tail.

The three of them got back to the finish safe and well and Darren did the same in his race but he had to do the big climb twice so a big well done to the four of them.

The Wheelers have so far had 10 members doing well in the open racing but they hope to have a couple more out in the next week or two.

Anyone who rides a bike and would like to give racing a go should give the club a shout, log onto www.westdownwheelers.com or look them up on Facebook. It’s never to late - our oldest rider is Davy Cartmill; he’s 54.