James Ambrose (The Bike House) retains his jersey in round 2 of the NDCC Kirkistown League in miserable conditions with another win!

Miserable rain didn’t stop the fun of circuit racing last night for round 2 of the North Down CC Kirkistown League (Wednesday 29th May) and sponsored by the local firm ” The Gentleman of the Peloton” A low attendance may be due to the weather, but the ones who showed up given us some joy with fears racing. It is heartwarming when you see kids as young as 4 on the starting line for the underage races in such conditions with massive smiles on their wee faces. Little Flandriens in the making

The Lion appears around the world in cycle races to make awareness of his meaning…The Flemish awareness in honour of hard cyclists called the “Flandriens”
Note: there are 2 versions of this flag….one hijacked by right-wing political parties in the Flanders without the red claws and tongue, the proper one seen above who celebrate being Flemish in heart and soul but nevertheless also being Belgian

**The first race on the menu with a mix of U/12’s and U/16 due to low entry**

**The star of the show last night in the U/6 race**

Under 16
1 Donald Gillespie N/A 12
Under 14
1 Zoe Lindsay Dromore CC 12
Under 12
1 Matt Courtney NDCC 12
2 Thomas Finlay NDCC 11
Under 10
1 Poppy Hamilton Shimna 12
2 Bethany Ellison NDCC 11
3 Daniel Finlay NDCC 10
4 Heidi McCallum – 9
5 Harry McCallum – 8
Under 8 / 6
1 Oscar McBride Dromara 12
2 Max McBride (U6) Dromara 11

The main race (seniors) was held in a handicap style, A1-A2’s set off 30 seconds before the A3’s who had a lap in hand which created a hard chase on the 1.5-mile circuit for the top categories. The A3’s hold on for about 30 minutes before they got caught but managed to keep up till the end to be involved in the sprint for a win.

**The 2 groups together and the attack’s start happening**

Due to commentating the event I didn’t manage to take the winning photo, but here a few photo’s before and during the race to compensate. James Ambrose from the Bike House Team Bangor took his second win and keeps the beautiful pink jersey (Bioracer made) on his shoulders till at least the 3rd round ( Wednesday 26th June) Local teenager Rachel White was the only female entered last night and having won the first round she stuck in with the A3’s and only had to let them go halfway. She also kept her leader jersey as a reward. Thank you NDCC and the Gentleman of the Peloton for organising such events and hopefully next outing will have the weather gods on your side for a change!

Adults Race top 10
1 James Ambrose Bike House CC Bike House 20
2 David Watson Bike House CC Bike House 18
3 Shaun Carey Ballymena – 16
4 Jonny Webb NDCC NDCC 15
5 Glenn Kinning Kinning Cycles 14
6 Lee Harvey VC Glendale 13
7 Daniel Graham NDCC 12
8 Andrew Chivers Ciclotel 11
9 Barry Greer Kinning Cycles 10
10 Mark Thompson Bikehouse CC 9 Leader Jersey – Mens – James Ambrose
Leaders Jersey – Female – Rachel White Team Prize Leaders – Bike House CC