Erwin McKee and Richard McBride have forged themselves a reputation as long distance specialists over the last few seasons, having competed as a two man team in the Mondello 24 hour and the arduous Donegal Ultra 555. There’s a helpful clue in both the event’s names; The Mondelo 24, runs in very similar fashion as LeMan 24 Hour (including the starting run from the pit lane to your vehicle – quite a sight in cleated cycling shoes!). Competitors are tasked with covering the longest distance possible within the time. The Donegal Ultra 55 covers a fixed distance of 555km over the testing terrain that is the rads of Donegal. Both events feature 2-man teams who work in a tag-team relay. As former winners multiple of the Mondello 24, both have competed the Donegal Ultra 555 previously. This year however they went in with a clear goa – to win.
The pair set off from the start ramp at 5:25am on Saturday morning, and soon after ran into technical difficulties with Richie’s gear cable snapping within the first 5 miles. Very few members of the club will be surprised by this! Thankfully they had an excellent back-up crew at hand with Davy ‘ The Bike Surgeon’ Ross and JP Rice following in the support van. Perhaps more unusual, particularly for Donegal, was a distinct lack of rain but of course there was a strong wind to contend with.
Helping the pair along the way were club supporters Paul and Toni Hannigan, giving some much appreciated encouragement and hot dogs to help keep morale up. Richie advised riding 555km on such terrain can lead to “many highs and some dark places” but with a finishing time of 18hours and 20 minutes, which was enough to win the 2-man category they were sure to finish with smiles and pride.
Congratulations to the lads and many thanks to the Banbridge CC crew for the support on such a challenging but spectacular event.
