Open Races!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

South Derry club Spires CC, which promoted a round of the local "Inter club road race series¡± last season, has gone one stage further this year as they plan to hold the Spires Grand Prix on the Loup circuit on Saturday 2nd March. They will be promoting a handicapped A1-A3 race, an A4 Race, and a combined race for women and the 50+ Masters.

Registration will be from 9:00am at Loup GAC on the Ballyneil Road, Loup, Ballyronan. The first race will start at 10.00am. The entry fee is £12.

Race 1 for A* A1, A2 and A3 ¨C will be 7 laps, 56 miles (70 rider limit) Race 2 for A4 only, 5 laps, 40 miles (70 rider limit) Race 3 for Over 50¡äs and women, 2 laps, 16 miles. Details for entry arrangements are on the Spires website: www.spirescc.uk

Another event which is always over subscribed is the Tour of Ards which is already open for pre-entry

This race is strictly pre-entry only and is restricted to a maximum of 80 riders.

While this event may seem some time away as it take place this year on Saturday 6th April, this event for A*-A3 riders only is usually filled out in a matter of days so I advise that you get your entry in quickly.

This race is the first of the PSNI supported events on the calendar this year. Ards cycling club are very fortunate to have the support offered by the PSNI as otherwise this classic event, which travel through many small towns and villages could not take place.

Ballymena Road Club will hold their Wallace Caldwell road race at Galgorm on Saturday 23rd March 2013. This is a very early date for such a tough event but riders, with ambition to ride the Easter tour of the North, will use it as preparation for the P&O Tour which takes place the following weekend. Last year Dubliner Ryan Sherlock won the Caldwell race.

This Ballymena RC event generally isn¡¯t over subscribed as the extremely testing nature of the demanding circuit combined with the 76 miles race distance usually means that a "natural selection¡± process occurs.