THRILL OF THE RIDE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND RESERVIST

Northern Ireland Reservist Colour Sergeant Robert McClurg, from Queen’s University Officer Training Corps, represents the Army as part of the Downhill Mountain Bike Team 2017 and competes in the British Downhill Series.

The Army Downhill Team 2017 Race season kicked off on a wet and foggy hillside in Nant Gwrtheyrn, Wales. The British Downhill Series is the national series attracting riders from all over the country and is frequented by British World Cup riders. The track was extremely steep and muddy with a stream running down some parts of it; getting down safely would be a real challenge.

Practice was eventful with plenty of crashes and missed lines as the track was evolving after every run. Colour Sergeant McClurg was having a blast and felt confident for race day.

On race day the sun was shining and everyone was in high spirits. He managed a short practice in the morning before seeding.

Everything went smoothly and the Northern Ireland Reservist was content with a 25th place for the first race of the season.

The team then moved onto Exercise Welsh Epic which is the Annual Army Cycling Union Training Camp where all members of Army cycling can get together, ride and encourage each other.

From Welsh Epic the team moved to Herefordshire for the first round of the Pearce Cycles Downhill series.The weather was the polar opposite of the previous weekend with bright sun and no rain. The track was mellow compared to Nant Gwrtheyrn but still proved difficult to get a clean run on; maybe fatigue was setting in from the previous 7 days’ riding.

Race day came and McClurg was still not at the pace he wanted to be at so instead of risking injury by pushing too far he decided to just have fun and see what happened. Sometimes you need to remove the pressure to be able to ride faster. The Colour Sergeant immediately felt better on the bike but still didn’t get the result he wanted.Despite all this it was a fantastic weekend of racing.

Colour Sergeant McClurg would like to personally thank all of the team, his personal sponsors and supporters, without whom racing at this level would not be possible.