The third and final round of the Ulster XC Spring series took place on Sunday 29 March 2026 at the Dundrod Motor Racing circuit. The site is small but does provide a great variety for the cross-country mountain bikers of all ages. The event was organised by the Cycling Ulster Off-road Commission and was supported by the cycling community with regards to marshalling and timekeeping. Thanks to Dundrod and District Motorcycle Club for the use of the venue. On site were Last Lap Café dishing out the hot drinks and snacks. We had just over 100 riders registered despite the weather forecast. It was forecast to rain for most of the morning but the rain wasn’t as bad as Round 2. There was blue sky in the afternoon for the open races which made for a more pleasant day for the riders and spectators. It was the wind that was causing some issues with strong gusts throughout the day. Just as we were packing up the registration gazebo and podium backdrop went flying. Thanks to the crew for leaping in to rescue it.
As before the first race of the day was for the Under 6s. They had their own dedicated circuit and there were lots of smiles from the 10 young riders who took on multiple laps. The goodie bag at the end was worth the effort. This course was then used at leisure by the riders throughout the day.
The Under 8s course was shorter than the Round 2 version and had the riders doing 4 laps within the 5 minute target time. The overall series leader Charlie McCarter (Caldwell Powerhouse Racing) was leading for the first 2 laps but Noah Finnegan (Square Wheels) got himself to the front to take the win. Cahan McKinney (Racefit Mtb) completed the podium taking third place. Among the girls Lexa Clarke (Dunloy CC) repeated her win from Round 2. Alice Bell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) was second with Ava Mowbray (Apollo Cycling Team) third. Charlie took the overall series trophy for the boys with Alice taking the overall trophy for the girls.
Next up were the Under 10s with 6 boys and 1 girl lined up at the start. The one girl was Ríonach Campbell (Square Wheels) who repeated what she did at Round 1 by passing all the boys on lap 1 and stretching her gap over them across the 3 laps. First of the boys was Liam McGonagle (Un-Attached Ulster) with Toby Heywood (Un-Attached Ulster) getting ahead of Harvey Hume (Dunloy CC) on the final lap to take second and third respectively. Liam won the overall series trophy for the boys and Ríonach got the trophy for the girls.
The Under 12s course was longer than the Under 10s and they had 3 laps to complete. The top 4 riders were well spaced out at the end of lap 1 and this remained throughout the race. Taking the chequered flag was Lewis Bell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) with Jaxon Jennings (Bear Cycling) second, Logan Hynes (Bellurgan Wheelers) third and Josh Ruddell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) fourth. The solo girl in the race was Pippa Ruddell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) who put in a strong performance. Lewis and Pippa took the overall trophies.
After the break for podium presentations it was time for the Under 14s, Under 16s and Women to race. There were smaller fields than the previous rounds but the racing was still great to watch especially in the Women’s race where Catriona Wheeler (Agivey Cycling Club) and Hazel Murphy (Cuchulainn CC) were swapping positions throughout the race. Catriona did make it to the line first with Hazel just 3 seconds behind. This gave Cathiona a clean sweep of race wins and the overall trophy. Eirin Corbett (Lagan Valley Cycling Club) was third with Karen Coulter (The Feel Good Factor) fourth, Gillian Kennedy (Agivey Cycling Club) fifth and Julie Murphy (Un-Attached Ulster) sixth.
In the Under 14 boys race Billy Lord (Breffni Wheelers) took the win completing his hat trick of wins for the series. William Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team) was second. Kiyomi Tosh (Ballymena Road Club) was back in the Under 14 girls race enjoying her 4 laps. Dylan Hughes (Carn Wheelers) took the win in the Under 16 boys race with Darragh Young (Apollo Cycling Team) second. Dylan secured the overall trophy.
The Open race was next with 24 riders racing over 9 laps. Race favourite Gary Donaldson (Caldwell Powerhouse Racing) took the hole shot into the forest and was leading at the end of lap 1. By lap 2 however, Gareth McKee (Cycleology Racing Team) took over the lead with Gary shouting that ‘he had no gears!’ as he passed the timing tent spinning his legs. By the end of lap 4 Darragh McCarter (Caldwell Powerhouse Racing) had made his way to the front of the race and he held this to the finish line. Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) made his way up from 6th on lap 1 to second. Gareth was holding third place until the last lap when rumours of a monetary exchange with Gary Donaldson saw Gary finish third in the end with Gareth settling for fourth. Jonny Adams (McConvey Cycles) was fifth with Pj Hynes (Bellurgan Wheelers) sixth. Gary Donaldson took the overall series trophy.
The final race of the day was for the Ebikers and the Retro bike riders. Michael Hamilton (Un-Attached Ulster) had produced another stunning classic bike from the back of his van. Some would say that it looked too nice to get diry but Michael was out to enjoy riding the bike anyway. In the Retro race Pj Hynes (Bellurgan Wheelers) got his second win of the series which saw him take the overall trophy. John McGuigan (Dromara Cycling Club) finished second with Michael Hamilton (Un-Attached Ulster) third and Stephen Gilbert fourth.
In the Ebike open race Barry Toland (Agivey Cycling Club) got his third win from three rounds. Richard McCartney (Agivey Cycling Club) was second with Carl Henry third. In the Ebike women’s race Claire Robinson took the win ahead of Hannah McCartney (Agivey Cycling Club) with Sara Whiteside (Agivey Cycling Club) third, Gemma McNamara (Bangor City Bike Club) fourth and Rebecca Henry (Agivey Cycling Club) fifth. Sara Whiteside took home the overall trophy.
With Easter around the corner, the riders on the podium for the overall places all got a mini chocolate egg. Thanks to all the helpers who have marshalled and done timekeeping throughout the series. Thanks to all the riders for supporting the series. Thanks to the photographers for capturing the action. We do hope to run this series at Dundrod next year.
Commissaire: Maurice Mayne
Results
Series table after 3 rounds
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
Dany Blondeel (Facebook) – part 1, part 2
Fran Hollywood (Facebook) – part 1, part 2, other