month to help boost the Bermuda team competing in the upcoming Conyers, Dill and Pearman Grand Prix which is to be staged from May 1-4.

Dana Henry and MacInnis Looby have been training and racing full-time in the United States for a number of months and are expected to be in top form for probably the biggest cycling event staged in Bermuda.

Organisers say they have been deluged with applications from top international riders following a $15,000 sponsorship deal.

Looby is currently in California for a second season with Team Extreme and despite a number of disappointments due to mechanical problems in his early season races, he is reportedly in top shape.

He had earlier told The Royal Gazette he would skip the event to compete in Europe but Bermuda Bicycle Association spokesman Greg Hopkins said he had spoken to Looby this week and "as far we're concerned, he's coming back.'' Looby was one of the top local finishers in the Grand Prix last year, won Elliot Hubbard.

However, Hubbard is now a full-time professional on the European circuit with the Italian team of AKI-SAFI and it will be left up to someone else to carry the torch for the local riders.

Henry joined Hubbard's old team, Baltimore-based One Plus Inc. in the US in February and was training in California with their elite squad prior to joining the domestic team on the east coast this month.

After a stomach bug in his first race, Henry has now settled down and had a strong finish in the Prospect Park Criterium in New York where he finished in the third group. He was then 21st in the Rockaway River Park Criterium in New Jersey, just 30 seconds behind the lead breakaway of three riders.

This past weekend he finished 15th in the New York Spring Series, a race that included professional and Category 1, 2 and 3 riders together. His present form could be a deciding factor as to who will hold the responsibility of team lead for the national team.

Henry and Looby are already guaranteed places on the team, along with Steve Sterritt, who recently returned from Ireland where he competed in a number of top races.

That included the prestigious Tour of Ireland where he finished in the top 50 after a gruelling five days of racing against top professional and amateur riders.

MARTIAL ARTS MAT Bermuda martial arts pioneer Skipper Ingham has made another appearance in the international martial arts media.

Ingham's picture appeared in the March issue of glossy Italian magazine "Samurail Banzail Pugilato.'' Ingham is seen during his 1996 visit to Okinawa with Ellchi Miyazato, Iha Kishin and Chuck Merriman, the US Jundokan representative who conducted a seminar at BKI last summer in anticipation of Bermuda entering a team in the 1997 Okinawa Karate and Kobudo World Tournament in August.