Date: Sunday 1 September 2013
Event: Ulster Series Round 5
Location: Craigavon Watersports Centre
Host club: Apollo CT
The fifth and final round of the Ulster XC MTB Series for 2013 took place at Craigavon Watersports Centre on Sunday 1 September 2013 and was hosted by Apollo Cycling Team. The venue is the flattest of the series and is therefore the fastest with long stretches of hard packed earth to ride across this makes this circuit ideal for those riders who are accustomed to doing road races. As before where there was any incline in the terrain it was exploited effectively to challenge the riders. This year the youth courses had been moved to another grassy section near the car park. This section of the park held the races for the Under 6s, 8s, 10s and 12s with 3 variations of course design set up.
The weather stays dry all day with just a cold wind coming off the lake the only issue with the wind blowing strongly for short periods of time. The wind didn’t put off the riders and their families from coming along with an overall attendance of 180 on the day, up from 165 last year. The course builders were on site from 7am marking out all the courses with sign on opened at 9:30 and racing getting underway at 10:45 with the “fun” race for the Under 6s who were accompanied by adult support, normally a parent. who ran along behind to help encourage the young riders. There were big numbers for the 8s, 10s and 12s races and they had to complete 3, 5 and 6 laps respectively.
Once the Under 12s race was finished the action switched over to the traditional starting point for the races at the bottom of the grassy hill. First up were the Under 14s, 16s, Senior 4 men and Senior 3 women. When the whistle blew the riders took off up the hill before heading out around the lake. The Under 14s had 2 laps to do while the rest had 3 laps. The design of the course meant that the grassy hill was ridden up 3 and 4 times respectively.
At 2pm the races for the Senior 1 men, Senior 2 men and Senior 3 men began with these riders having to complete 7, 6 and 4 laps respectively. After the racing the riders were able to enjoy the spread of food laid on by the host club back in the centre.
Many thanks to the club members from Apollo CT for their hard work in putting on a great event. Well done to all the riders who took part. On behalf of the Cycling Ulster Off-road Commission we hope you have enjoyed the Ulster cross-country series this year. The action switches over to cyclo-cross with the first round being held by Apollo CT on Sunday 6 October 2013 at Lurgan Park.
Results
Ulster XC Round 5 results – here (draft 3)
Photos
Michael Armstrong (FlickR) – here
Steven Lindsay (FlickR) – here and here