Round 3
2009
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Apollo's Wee Series Round 3 2009 |
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| Saturday 19 December
2009 Silverwood, Craigavon On Saturday 19 December 2009 Apollo CT held the third and final round of their 2009 MTB Wee Series at the Silverwood location in Craigavon. The organisers had been on site from 8:30 that morning when there was still a lot of ice and snow on the course and surrounding area. Sign on opened at 10:30 but it was almost 11 o'clock before the first of the participants showed up. The snow the previous evening had probably put some people off from coming along as well as the fact that this was the last Saturday before Christmas. Even though it was bitterly cold it was a shame that the turn out was so low given the hard work the club had put into organising this excellent series. Racing got underway at 12 noon with the under 8s and under 10s taking on 2 and 3 laps respectively of the mini course. Unsurpisingly it was Dromara CC's Drew Armstrong who took the win in the under 8s event, especially after he had won the previous two rounds. In the under 10s , Stuart Dunlop (Banbridge CC), who had won in Round 2, finished ahead of the only other contender, Ben Hanna (Dromara CC). Derek King (Apollo CT) then organised to have the prize giving for the under 8s and under 10s. Apollo are so keen to get young cyclists into the sport that they gave out some really nice trophies for the top 5 in each of the youth races as well as giving them a 'lucky dip' of a packet of sweets. These awards will have given these young riders a real boost to their confidence and hopefully will have them coming back for more in the new year. At 1 pm the remaining races started with the 7 senior riders lining up first among them Wendy Barry (Newbridge CC) who returned after enjoying her race at the last round, Wendy having travelling up from County Kildare to take part in this event. The senior course had been reduced from last week making use of only one side of the bridge but adding in the steep climb up to the carriageway. The men had 8 laps to do and Wendy had 6 laps to complete. Behind the seniors was a line up of four under 12s, two of whom were from the Juiced Orchard cycling club and they had two laps of the senior course to complete. There was only one rider in each of the under 14s and under 16s races and both were from Dromara Cycling Club. Christopher Weir had 3 laps to complete and Zak Hanna had to do four laps of the senior course. As expected Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC), took off from the start line and shot off to take an early lead. Only a freak accident (collision with flying reindeers etc) was likely to stop Matthew from winning this event. Behind him was veteran rider Fred MacSorley from the host club who had a great battle with fellow club rider Cathal Hendron. In the under 12s race it was series leader Ryan Orr (Juiced Orchard) who took the win. After the races the riders enjoyed the hot soup before the awards were handed out by Fred MacSorley. Many thanks to Derek King and family as well as all the other Apollo members for organising this 'Wee Series'. We do hope the club run this series next year and that more riders come down and enjoy the friendly atomsphere. The hardworking members of this club are not content to rest on their laurels and are organising their annual charity mountainbike time trial on New Year's Day at the Tannaghmore Gardens site. More details to follow. Full list of results here Report and photos by Martin Grimley |
      Under 8 winners |
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 Slightly muddy |  Fred enjoying his soup |
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 Under 14 winner |  Under 16 winner |
 Ladies prize - Wendy Barry |  2nd Vet - Bob McGlade |
 1st vet - Fred MacSorley |  3rd senior - Bob McGlade |
 2nd Senior - Fred MacSorley |  1st Senior |
