BRONZE FOR TERRY AT MASTERS

Terry was competing in the kilometre event in the 35-39 year-old age group, missing out on the silver by less than 0.5 seconds and the gold by under a second.

The Banbridge Cycling Club man’s performance on the same track that was used for the Commonwealth Games in 2002 follows a patch of fine form that saw him take two silver medals in the National Track Championships last month.

He said that the bronze was the result of a year’s hard work.

“Basically around this time last year I had a chat with my coach, Brian Cardy, about the plans for the forthcoming year,” said Terry, who was competing in the 35-39 year old category.

“After having a look at the times I’d recorded over the previous year we decided that I could make a decent stab at the World Masters. That marked the start of a lot of training and hard work to get to the standard required.”

An accountant by trade, Terry had actually been out of the saddle for some time until recently, choosing to focus on other sports.

“I’d been a member of Banbridge Cycling Club since I was 11 or 12 but then I just lost interest and took up weight training instead. I’ve been a member of the Cycling Club and Banbridge Weight Training Club for as long as I can remember!

“The weight training has helped me out incredibly as I’ve been having three or four gym sessions a week so I’ve been stiff and sore but it’s been worth it,”

He added, “I’ve only started track racing in May of last year but it’s all been good preparation.”

The track the competition took place on is the home of British cycling and Terry was able to take some inspiration from seeing one of his heroes in action.

“The British team train there all the time and we were lucky enough to see Sir Chris Hoy coming off the track after a training session,” said Chris.

“He is getting on in years as well so it just goes to show that if he can still cycle at the top level at his age then anyone can.

“I really enjoy cycling, although there isn’t an indoor track in Northern Ireland which I think would improve our chances of more medals in the future.”

Terry now plans to take a break this month before thinking about what he wants to do next, citing the pursuit event - a 3,000m long race - as a possibility for the future.