No Catching Gerry On His Debut
Road Race 2 on Wednesday 2nd May 2007
On Wednesday, May 2 the second Lakeland CC road race took place. The race started near Tempo with four laps of Tullyreagh to Creagh Cross to Blackhill, a total of 28 miles.
The field was split into three groups. The first group of eight riders was given an eight minute start over the middle group of 13 riders and the scratch group of six riders started four minutes later.
The front group had a few new members who were unknown quantities, Gerry Murphy and Glen McCleery. These two proved to be very strong. They worked well together in a two man breakaway and as the middle group finished their second lap they heard that the two still had a six minute lead over them. Half a lap later, the scratch group caught the middle group and the pace stepped up. This was Peter Martin’s first race in the scratch group and he proved well capable of it benefitting from his training with Kenny Boylan.
It still looked as if the two riders would take it but unfortunately Glen got cramp on the last lap and lost touch with Gerry. With a mile or so to go the peloton caught Glen, but on the final hill finish they could not catch Gerry and he stayed strong for his first win. Mark McGirr kicked up the hill but was just pipped for second place by Dane Dunlop.
Results
| Pos | Cyclist | Club | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerry Murphy | LCC | |
| 2 | Dane Dunlop | LCC | |
| 3 | Mark McGirr | LCC | |
| 4 | Ian Caldwell | LCC | |
| 5 | Kenny Boylan | LCC | |
| 6 | Peter Martin | LCC | |
| 7 | Raymond Pauley | LCC | |
| 8 | Fergus McGirr | Fintona CC | |
| 9 | Wesley Foster | LCC | |
| 11 | Glen McCleery | LCC | |
| 12 | William Dunlop | LCC |