Date: Sunday 27 February 2011
Event: XMTB Spring Series Round 1
Location: Ormeau Park, Belfast
Host club: XMTB McConvey Cycles
On the same weekend that the road racing season began XMTB McConvey Cycles hosted the first of their three round off-road mountain bike series at Ormeau Park in Belfast. The club has ran this type of series for many years now but this was only the second year at the Ormeau Park site. The primary aim of the short series is to encourage youth into the sport as well as giving adults a taster of what off-road racing is all about. The club is very grateful to the help and support provided by Belfast City Council who are very keen to promote multi-sport use of their parks.
The morning started off with some sharp hail showers which was sure to put off some parents from bringing their children along to the event however the showers passed quickly and between showers the sun appeared with bright blue skies. The showers made the relatively flat course very muddy and slippery which tested all riders no matter what age. Racing got underway at 11 am with the Under 8s with 15 riders lined up, 5 girls and 10 boys, some new faces as well as some seasoned racers like Shea O’Kane (Phoenix CC), Christopher Curry (Banbridge CC) and Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC). They had two laps of the ‘mini-course’ to complete and from the ‘off’ it was Christopher Curry who took the lead which he held to the end of the race. Second place was fought between club mates Shea O’Kane and Ryan Stewart with Shea losing out to Ryan on the final sprint up the hill to the finish line. Dean Harvey took fourth followed shortly after by Lewis Armstrong from the host club then Fraser Harrower finished in sixth. First girl was Charley Dunlop from Banbridge CC.
The Under 10s then got their chance. They had 4 laps of the ‘mini-course’ to complete and this event had attracted 15 riders as well but just 2 girls this time. As per the Under 8s race it was another Banbridge rider, Mark Buller, who took the lead early on and held it to the end. Drew Armstrong from the host club chased hard but couldn’t close the gap. Ross Ennis (EPIC mtb) had a long journey to get to the race and took a well deserved third place keeping ahead of Andrew Gordon (Carn Wheelers), Jack Baird (Banbridge CC) fifth and Callum Stewart (Phoenix CC) who finished sixth. First girl was Sarah Elder (Carn Wheelers).
The next to start were the Under 14s who lined up in front of the Under 12s. The Under 14s had to complete 3 laps of the main course. One minute later the Under 12s started and they had to do 2 ‘short’ laps. The timekeepers and marshals had their work cut out for them with riders using different courses and finishing on different laps but the organisers handled this challenge easily. There were 10 riders in the Under 12s race, 2 girls and again it was another Banbridge rider who took the win, this time it was the turn of John Buller who kept ahead of Craig McCarthy from the host club with Stuart Dunlop, also from Banbridge finishing third. Kyle Houston was fourth with Jack Lamont from the host club fifth and Ben Hanna (Dromara CC) in sixth. First girl was Rebekah Ogilby, also from the host club.
In the Under 14s race it was yet another strong Banbridge rider, James Curry, who finished first out of the 12 riders who lined up. James had pulled out almost 30 seconds ahead of James Rowan who in turn had over a minute lead over Evan Harrison. Gareth Kerr from the host club was fourth with brothers Richard and Joseph Baird (Banbridge CC) taking fifth and sixth. Shannon Buller (Banbridge CC) was seventh.
The riders in the Under 16s and adult ‘Fun’ races were given chip timing devices from Championchip Ireland which was a big help to the organisers as the turn out for the adult event was the highest to date at 60 riders (8 females). The nine Under 16s set off first and they had to complete 6 laps of the full course. Robert Deegan (Newbridge) and Chris Oakley from the host club were neck and neck for the first of the three laps before Robert started to pull away on lap 4 and continued to stretch that gap to almost one minute by the end of 6 laps. Ryan Orr (Juiced Orchard) finished third, the only other Under 16 rider to complete all 6 laps. Zak Hanna (Dromara CC) was the first of the lapped riders home and he was ahead of Curtis Bell and Alex Bell, both from the host club.
The adults started one minute behind the Under 16s and they had to complete 8 full laps. The riders were squeezed onto the tarmac lane, 7 riders deep and there was no gridding of riders for the first round of the series. The short climb up to the finish area didn’t give much time for any of the faster riders who were at the back of the bunch to get forward before all riders entered the single track. Traffic was heavy for the first lap but top junior rider Matthew Adair took advantage of the hold up as he had a clear run from the front to open up an early lead. He was being chased by Robbie Lamont and Tomasz Michalski, both from the host club, but they were unable to narrow the gap which Matthew continued to stretch by around 14 seconds each lap. This is how the top 3 finished with Robbie finising almost a minute ahead of Tomasz. In fourth place was JJ Conway (Harps CC) who was followed closely by Simon Curry (Banbridge CC) with event sponsor Eamon McConvey sixth and the Boyd brothers Graham and William finishing in joint seventh. Ryan Walsh (Carn Wheelers) was ninth with John O’Neill tenth and Lance McCarthy from the host club just getting to do his eighth lap, courtesy of Matthew refusing to lap him on the closing straight!! First female to finish was Claire Oakley who is now riding for the WXC Mountainbike team.
Congratulations to all the hard working members of XMTB McConvey Cycles for putting on a great event. Many thanks to Angela from the club for passing on the list of results (see link below). The next round will be on Sunday 6 March 2011 in the same location. Pre-registration for the next round is now open. See www.ulsterxc.com.
Full results here
Commissaire: Martin Grimley
Report and photos by Martin Grimley
More photos here
Photos by Joanne here