Date: Saturday 20 May 2006
Event: Round 2 Ulster MTB XC League
Location: Woodburn
Host club: Team Madigan
Golden Oldie Is Woodburn Wonder
Woodburn Forest near Carrickfergus played host to the second round of the Ulster Mountain Bike Cross Country League on Saturday, with the undoubted star of the show being local rider Alan Cranston (East Antrim Audi), who scored a stunning win in the Vets Class.
Promoted by Team Madigan’s Davy Ross, with help from a few of the East Antrim guys, the event may not have had the best entry, however the racing was superb. Following a week of non stop rain, the four mile course was ,in places, a muddy lottery, though there were plenty of fire road sections, and,the return of the popular stream crossing.
The four lap Vets race was expected to be the ritual dual between Robbie Lamont and William Mulligan, however these two ‘youngsters’ found themselves having to play as the supporting cast to 52 years old Alan Cranston, who? Following ten years of mountain bike retirement, Alan Cranston made his comeback at Castlewellan a few weeks ago, finishing fifth, he retired from a distinguished road racing career five years ago. Alan was also the last rider to hold the Irish Elite title before Robin Seymour began his domination.
On Saturday Cranston scorched into the lead early on the first lap leaving Robbie Lamont in a shell shocked second, with Gary Wilson (East Antrim) holding third ahead of William Mulligan. All around waited for leader Cranston to be caught by his younger rivals, it never happened. The East Antrim rider crossed the line to take a shock win as Lamont grabbed second some 30 seconds later. Mulligan took until the third lap before he was able to get on terms with Wilson, and on a rapid last lap the Banbridge rider moved to within 40 seconds of Lamont as he came home in third. Wilson admitted to running out of steam on the final lap, however his performances of late have been excellent. Dromara CC’s Bob Patterson opened his account for the season with fifth place, his bike freshly painted in his Club’s colours. Jon Runciman actually finished a race without cutting himself, Jon taking sixth with fellow Banbridge rider Maurice Mayne in seventh.
The Ladies race almost brought a shock winner. U-16 rider Jess Laird chose to ride in the ladies event and led brilliantly for almost three of the four laps. Having got lost on the opening lap Ciara McManus eventually took the lead at the end of the third lap, proceeding to clinch victory. Lap four was to prove a lap too far for Jess, as she ran out of water, though still took an excellent second. Joanne McCallum continued her comeback with third aided on her way by top lady downhiller Michelle McCartney. XMTB’s Graham Boyd easily won the Junior race, while Simon McConnell scored a fine win in the Masters event.
Neil McGimpsey (XMTB) once again took the honours in the U-16 Class, leading from start to finish with Banbridge rider Liam McGreevy runner up. Johnny Beers had his best outing for some time as he rode to third. William Boyd gave another win to XMTB as he easily won the U-14 race with Jack Wilson (East Antrim Audi) having his best result to date with second, Michael Runciman (Banbridge CC) having to settle for third after a few tree hugging sessions.
Robbie Lamont was a clear winner of the U-12 race with fellow XMTB rider Claire Oakley taking an excellent second with brother Chris in third. Banbridge’s James Curry won the U-10 race from Madigan’s Ty Mackness as XMTB’s Aimee Ogilby was top lady in third. Rachel Mayne recovered from her crash at Lumpers the previous Sunday to grab victory in the U-8 event, it with another Banbridge rider, Richard Baird, runner up, closely followed by young Jack Lamont (XMTB)
The Sports race provided Lisburn rider Paul Bell with his first ever MTB win, in what was only his second race, Paul having been mountain biking for about five years. Not yet a member of any Club, Bell left the rest of the Sports riders in his wake as he blasted up the opening climb. By the end of the four laps Bell was literally miles ahead of the field, a super win with Paul thinking of moving up to the Expert Class next time out. Runner up was Apollo rider Junior McAuley who was well pleased with his race, especially as he never hurt himself!. Banbridge rider Sam Curran,sporting a go faster streak in his hair, finished third, the former top U-16 rider only racing for fun these days due to work commitments. Following a good showing at Castlewellan, Dromara’s Gary Gray did well to finish fourth, closely followed by fellow Club members Philip Weston and Derek Hanna. Banbridge CC’s top Sports rider Stephen Prentice, still awaiting his new loose fitting Club jersey, forgot about his stomach hugging jersey to claim seventh.
The Masters race was a total thriller involving Danny Hylands (East Antrim), Andy Wallace (Dave Kane) and Paul Anderson (Banbridge CC), with XMTB’S Gareth Adamson providing thrills of a different sort!!!! For three laps Hylands led the way as held second with Anderson taking his time to settle into the race. On the third lap a charging Anderson caught Wallace, and on the final lap the famous Banbridge bunmaker surged passed Hylands to take the lead and continue to score a remarkable win. In a sprint to the line for second, Hylands was the victor as Wallace saw his charge thwarted as his chain slipped into the granny ring! Banbridge rider Simon Curry was happy with fourth in the week that he celebrated his 40th birthday. Gareth Adamson had a dramatic race. The popular XMTB rider ripped his shorts early in the race and found himself having to make constant adjustments to save himself ,and spectators, from a most terrible sight! Madigan’s Bill Mackness had no such problems as he looked totally happy on his way to sixth.
Well done to all for supporting Davy Ross on Saturday, as always he receives little to no help from his own Club inspite of the effort he puts into the event. Many thanks to the East Antrim crew for helping with the course preparation on Friday evening and a special big thanks to the time keepers, Lorraine McGimpsey,Angela Oakley and Gary Millar.
Round three of the Ulster League takes place this Sunday, 28th May, at Big Wood near Newry, Banbridge CC being the organisers, racing from 11.30am.
For more of Andy’s action shots click the gallery link below.
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Report Andy Potts
Original report location here