Team BRC at the Ras Dhun na nGall 2014

Sunday, June 8, 2014
Ballymena Road Club – Chain Reaction Cycles - were represented by a seven man team at this year’s three day – 4 stage event based in Ardara, County Donegal; running from Friday 30th May until Sunday 1st June. The riders were supported by team manager Andrew Wills and mechanic Derek Dougan.

One of the riders – Matthew Brennan – gives an account of the weekend’s activities.


Stage One – Ardara, Kilraine, Frosses, Dunkineely, Bruckless, Ardara – 52.5Km

Team BRC arrived in Ardara at 5pm in good time for the 7.30pm start. After signing on at race HQ it was back to the accommodation for last minute bike adjustments and to pin on the all-important race numbers.

There was a festival atmosphere in Ardara town center as 150 riders rolled out in the direction of Glenties ready for a hard weekend on a very tough parcours. The first ten miles was fast and furious, with the peloton reaching speeds of 48 miles per hour. One hour and fifteen minutes later they returned to Ardara town center for mass bunch sprint. All Ballymena riders returned safely, so it was back to the house to rest up and prepare for stage two.

Stage Two – Individual Time Trial – Maghera 2.9km
Team BRC had an early start in the Individual Time Trial, with first rider Hall Booth off at 9.04. Riders were set off at intervals of one minute along the unclassified mountain pass road with an elevation gain of 562 feet. Simon Taggart set the quickest time for the team, with Ryan Shaw and Matthew Brennan both within six seconds.

Stage Three – Ardara, Clooney, Glenties, Doochary, Glenties, Ardara – 82.8KM
Stage three left sunny Ardara in the direction of Portnoo at 2.30pm. Once again a fast early pace saw splits in the bunch within a few miles. Hall Booth was unlucky to suffer a mechanical early, a broken spoke effectively ending his GC ambitions, but he was joined in the ‘grupetto’ by David Dougan and Nigel Kernohan. All three rode strongly to the finish. Simon Taggart, Matthew Brennan and Ryan Shaw all finished safely within the main bunch, 30 seconds behind Sport Active rider Paul Vaughan, who broke away in the last kilometer for a solo stage win.

Stage Four – Ardara, Dunkineely, Glenties, Narin, Ardara, Glengesh – 98km
Nerves were palpable in the team house on Sunday morning as the viscously steep climb of Glengesh lay ahead. Nigel Kernohan did not start the stage and within a few miles David Dougan and Hall Booth pulled the plug, on what had been a tough but valiant weekends racing for all three men. Again the pace was high throughout the stage but as the bunch raced through the crowds in Ardara towards the foot of Glengesh mountain pass… Simon, Ryan and Matthew were all in contention. In the end the strong cross winds and the 25% sections of gradient pulled the bunch to pieces, but all three lads battled to the top to give Ballymena Road Club their best stage race result in a long time.

Ballymena Road Club finished 5th on Team Classification at 5 minutes 30 seconds, a result made more impressive when you consider that three of the four teams who finished ahead were selected composite squads ie. Cycling Ulster, The Belgian Project and Donegal Development.
Simon Taggart finished 23rd overall at 2minutes 4 seconds. Ryan Shaw finished 2nd in the U23 Category at 8 seconds. Matthew Brennan finished 4th in the U23 Category at 58 seconds.