Membership of Castlereagh Cycling Club is booming and 19 riders turned out at 9.30am at our meeting point of Forster Green hospital on Sunday. So many, in fact, that the Team had to split up with the Lite Lites headed for Bradshaw’s Brae from Knock to take on a ride of 47 miles whilst the Full Fat Team headed off along the Old Holywood Road to start their 80 mile round trip around Donaghadee and the Ard’s Peninsula.

The weather was cool in the morning but warmed up by the afternoon to provide perfect conditions for our cyclists. The half way meeting point was Café Manor in Donaghadee and luckily the different route strategy paid off as the Lites were just about finishing coffee and breakfast as the Full Fat Team arrived. 19 riders turning up at any café is always going to be a challenge, at least this way they got to have breakfast in relays! We cannot recommend Café Manor highly enough. The food was delicious and the service second to none but the staff’s unflappability was outstanding. Well done Café Manor.

Fed and watered, the riders continued on roads chockablock with cyclists and they bumped into a few good friends along the way. Danny and some of the Old Boys from Phoenix, don’t be fooled by the ‘old’, these guys were coming to the end of a 100 mile ride and were really motoring! Thanks to Danny for giving our riders the push they needed towards the end of their route. They also bumped into some Belfast2Paris riders on the way back through the Castlereagh Hills.

If you were out driving a car yesterday, thank you for your patience as the roads were struggling to cope with the amount of drivers and riders.

If you would like to join Team Forestside, part of Castlereagh Cycling Club, we’d love to hear from you. Don’t be afraid of your capability, we have at least two ability levels in the Team who ride out every other Sunday. You will be made more than welcome, we’ll find a pace to suit you and we won’t leave you stranded. Just get in touch lee@forestside.co.uk

This season our riders will take on the Malin to Mizen 2015 in May in aid of Marie Curie, a distance of well over 400 miles. Then in June they ride the North Down Coastal Challenge. Belfast to Dublin Maracycle is the next fixture at the end of June followed by Lap The Lough in August. The Causeway Coastal Challenge in September rounds off the season.  

If all this seems like too much, please feel free to contact roy@forestside.co.uk to get involved with the Lite Lites riders.