Local ladies get on their bikes for Maracycle

The local women, who hail from Dromara and Hillsborough, will be covering 214 miles in the first Maracycle since 1998.

Andrea Harrower, Jen Watson, Cathy Thompson, Elaine Bailey, Jenny Melville and Judith Campton have joined forces as part of the Bikedock Belles initiative to encourage local women to take up cycling.

Belles' and sisters Andrea and Cathy, alongside Andrea's best friend and fellow cyclist Jen, are joining new recruits Elaine, Jenny and Judith to take on the challenge, despite them having only taken up cycling six weeks ago.

Andrea explained: "Jenny, Judith and Elaine will be cycling one way, doing the 107 mile first leg of the Maracycle to Dublin and the rest of us will cycle back again on Sunday. They have been cycling really well, coming from nothing, and they have just completed their first 50 mile cycle. The aim of the Bikedock Belles is to promote fun while cycling.

The Belles are accomplished cyclists, but this is not about us hammering down the road to Dublin, this is about opening new doors for the other girls, we will try to stay in the middle of the group and stick as close together as we can, we have a real group and girly feel to us."

The Bikedock Belles have about 20 cyclists looking forward to the challenge, and Andrea said she is proud to have so many women taking up cycling for both leisure and fitness, as well as the camaraderie they form.

Andrea added: "Given we only started them 6-8 weeks ago training for the Maracycle, it has been great. The Maracycle is the iconic leisure cycle, there is a huge buzz about it. This is a huge feat for the new cyclists to be doing it, they are really excited. There is a real community feel to it and it's great seeing people get a kick out of something we've been working on, this is the result of us forming the team a year ago, it's been incredible."

Fellow cyclist Jen Watson stated: "It is nice to see the girls believing in themselves and saying 'I could actually do this'. Andrea has been motivating us and her energy is fantastic. It is such an achievement to do something like this, Dromara is a small community and it is nice to see the women there getting involved."

Jen, who works at the Mater Hospital, has taken to cycling the 18 miles to and from work as part of her preparation.

Jen, who got her bike from Bikedock last year through its 'Cycle to work' scheme, said: "I haven't done the Maracycle so this is a new experience for me, I'm looking forward to it."

For further information or if you would like to join the Bikedock Belles you can pay a visit to www.bikedockbelles.com or www.bikedock.com.