Date: Sunday 13 March 2011
Event: XMTB Spring Series Round 3
Location: Ormeau Park, Belfast
Host club: XMTB McConvey Cycles
The third and final round of the Spring Mountain Bike Series took place back at Ormeau Park in Belfast on Sunday 13 March 2011. The series, which has been held on consecutive Sundays, was hosted by local club XMTB McConvey Cycles who are well known for their pre-season racing series which are geared towards youth participation as well as introducing adults to the sport. On the morning of the final Sunday the weather was not as pleasant as it had been for the other rounds with some early morning showers but there was still a great turn out of cars parked at the Ozone Centre.
Sign on was open from 10 am with the first races starting at 11 am with the Under 8s and this category seen another increase in numbers with 27 young faces staring ahead waiting for the whistle. The riders had been gridded this week so that the faster riders were at the front. When the whistle was blown there was a charge up the tarmac hill passing the timekeepers and into the trees for their 2 laps of the ‘mini’ course. The course conditions had suffered greatly from the heavy rain and hail over the previous two days with the ‘going’ very soft in places. A real contrast to last week when the course was bone dry. The young riders struggled through some of the deeper mud resorting to getting off and pushing their bikes through but the determination was great to see and there was a lot of overtaking. Taking his second win of the series was Banbridge rider Christopher Curry who held off Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC). The battle for third place was a tough one between club mates Shea O’Kane and Ryan Stewart of Phoenix CC with the seasoned rider Shea taking the podium position his second of the series. Fifth was Adam McCaughtry (Dromara CC) with the host club riders taking the next 3 positions, Dean Harvey, Jack Watt and Lewis Armstrong. Charley Dunlop (Banbridge CC) was 9th and the first girl to finish.
The Under 10s then lined up for their four laps of the ‘mini’ course. This event had attracted 17 riders for this category and they were again gridded based on the series leaderboard to date. The pace was visibly higher from these riders than from their younger counterparts and they were all together going past the timekeepers for the first lap. Racing was fast and furious but it was to be Mark Buller’s series, the Banbridge rider making it 3 wins out of 3. The podium was the same as per the previous two rounds with Drew Armstrong from the host club taking second and Ross Ennis (Epic MTB) taking third. Fourth this time was Andrew Gordon (Carn Wheelers) with Jack Baird (Banbridge CC) fifth and Daniel Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) sixth. First girl was Sarah Elder from Carn Wheelers.
The Under 12s and Under 14s were both lined up at the start area on the tarmac path. The Under 14s set off first for three laps of the main course with the Under 12s starting off one minute later to complete three laps of the short course. There were 8 riders in the Under 12s race and 10 in the Under 14s race. John Buller (Banbridge CC) completed his hat-trick of wins in the Under 12s race with club mate Stuart Dunlop finally getting a second place, after his previous two thirds when his main rival Craig McCarthy from the host club lost out on second after a tumble on the final lap. Max Melville (Dromara CC) was fourth with Kyle Harrison fifth and Ben Hanna (Dromara CC) sixth. First girl was Rebekah Ogilby from the host club who finished 7th.
In the Under 14s race James Curry (Banbridge CC) took his second win of the series finishing well ahead of club mate Joseph Baird. Evan Harrison was third with James Rowan fourth and Richard Baird (Banbridge CC) fifth. First girl was Shannon Buller (Banbridge CC) who finished a strong sixth overall.
Racing then took a break to allow the organisers time for some lunch and to sort out the sign on for the Under 16s and for the adults taking part in the “fun” race. At 1 pm the racing started up again with the Under 16s lined up ahead of the adults who were gridded by their current leaderboard position. There were 9 riders in the Under 16s race and they had to complete 6 laps of the main course and behind them were 52 adults who had to complete 8 laps of the course. There was a one minute gap between the Under 16s setting off and the adults starting. Getting a good position on the race up the tarmac path was crucial as the large bunch then narrowed for the single track through the trees. It was a struggle to stay upright through the muddy sections as well as keeping ahead of the competition but the riders were soon spaced out by the end of lap 1.
Chris Oakley from the host club took his second win of the series in the Under 16s race finishing clear of Ryan Orr (Juiced Orchard) who was chasing hard. Aaron McCann (Cuchulainn) improved on his fifth position last week to finish third this week ahead of Zak Hanna (Dromara CC) and Matthew Teggart (Banbridge CC).
In the adult race there was no surprise when Matthew Adair (sponsored by Vitus cycles) took the win, his third in a row, finishing comfortably over 5½ minutes ahead of the ever strong veteran rider Robbie Lamont from the host club. Robbie had another close battle with club mate Tomasz Michalski with Simon Curry (Banbridge CC) fourth ahead of series sponsor Eamon McConvey with Graham Boyd fifth and Stuart Ballantine sixth, both from XMTB McConvey Cycles. The first female to finish was Claire Oakley (WXC Mountainbike Team) with Gill Smith second and Andrea Harrower (Dromara CC) third out of the eight women who entered.
After the races the riders and spectators moved down to the Ozone Centre where the host club had prepared sandwiches, snacks, tea and coffee. When all were fed the prize giving ceremony took place lead by club chairman Jeff Ballantine. There were trophies for the top 3 riders and top girl in all the youth categories with all the Under 8s and Under 10s receiving a medal for their efforts. There were prizes for the top 5 males and top 3 women overall. Then it was time for the ballot draw with bottles of wine, chocolates, water bottles and bicycles pumps as prizes. The big prize for the series was a new 2011 Specialized Hardrock Disc mountain bike sponsored by McConvey Cycles. There was a hush across the crowd as the draw was made for this prize with the first two tickets going unclaimed it was the third attempt which was successful and the lucky winner was Shane Elder from Carn Wheelers.
On behalf of all the riders who took part across the three events we want to thank all the members of XMTB McConvey Cycles who worked so hard to run this excellent series. We would also like to thank Belfast City Council for their generosity in allowing us to use the park. We hope that those who have been introduced to the sport will continue to come along and race at both the Ulster series and the National Points Series (NPS). The next race in the calendar is the first round of the NPS which takes place on Sunday 3 April 2011 in Bellurgan Park in Dundalk. See www.ulsterxc.com for more details.
Full results here
Series leaderboard here
Commissaire: Ciara MacManus
Report and photos by Martin Grimley
More photos by Martin here
Photos by Joanna J here
Photos by Micheal A here