XMTB - Winter League MTB 2009

Xmtb McConvey Cycles
MTB Winter League 2009
Round 2

Xmtb

Sunday 25 January 2009
Castle Park, Bangor

Round 2 of the Xmtb McConvey Cycles mountain bike Winter League was held today at Castle Park in Bangor. With snow falling in counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, sleet across other counties and a frosty start in Bangor the host club were very pleased to have almost the same number of entries as last week with 42 youth and 47 adult riders. There was less wind today compared to last week and with the sun appearing it didn't take long for the temperatures to improve. This was a bonus after the very heavy overnight rain that had fell leaving the organisers with little choice but to make widespread changes to the course. The under 8s and under 10s races were moved to above the BMX track onto the gravel path with only a short section through the trees. For the other races the adjacent field was excluded as the waterlogged grass would have cut up badly and made conditions even harder than they were. Among the trees the course was shortened but with the amount of mud that riders had to face it certainly did not feel shorter.

The under 8s race started promptly at 11:30 with eleven riders tackling two laps of the short course. It was Castlereagh cycling club's Craig McCarthy who took the win ahead of Mark Buller (Banbridge CC) and Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC). Mark and Drew had competed the previous week and both had a 30 second handicap to overcome to try to beat Craig. Last week's third placed rider Jack Baird (Banbridge CC) finished fifth.

Next up were the under 10s with seven riders lining up to complete four laps of the short course. Last week's winner John Buller (Banbridge CC) was given a 30 second handicap, which he easily made up within one lap, before going on to take victory again. Sam McCluskey (Madigan), who had finished fifth last week, was not time handicapped and finished second this week. Dan Campbell (unattached) finished third despite his 10 second delay.

The start line then moved back down the hill to the start of the BMX course. There were five riders in for the under 12s race which consisted of two laps of the senior circuit. As with the other youth races this race was also time handicapped based on the previous week's results. It was an all Banbridge CC podium with Richard Baird benefiting from a 20 second delay over team mate Joseph Baird who was given a 30 second delay after his win the previous week. Sharon Buller retained her third place over the two weeks despite a 20 second handicap.

As per last week, there were 9 riders in the under 14 class. Daniel Runciman (Banbridge CC) had missed the previous round and therefore was not given a time handicap. Daniel used this to his advantage and went onto win the four lap race. Chris Oakley (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) had pushed hard to catch Daniel after his 2 minute handicap to trail only 17 seconds behind Daniel. Martin McGauley (Carn Wheelers) overcame his 25 second handicap to finish third.

There were 10 riders in the under 16 race with the first of the riders away at 1:00 pm. It was a similar story to the under 14 race with the winner Robert Anderson (Juiced Orchard) missing the previous week and therefore missing out on getting a time handicap. Last week's winner Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) was given a full 6 minute handicap but still managed to finish in second place. Kyle McEwan (Xmtb McConvey cycles) finished third.

At around 1:10 pm the adults had gathered for their 10 lap 'fun' race. The 47+ riders were tightly packed together along the grass at the end of the BMX track. When the whistle blew the mass headed around the track swarming over the jumps before settling into one long line of riders going through the narrow gap in the hedge and up into the wood. The first climb was a muddy one with many riders opting to push rather that cycle through the mud. Up onto the top of the hill the riders headed in a clockwise direction through the wood with riders having to squeeze between the trees along a new section of the course. The going was soft throughout the course with some very slippery sections especially on the downhill parts of the course. As the race progressed more and more often riders were seen stopping their bikes and cleaning off some of the excess mud before pushing on again. Thankfully the weather remained bright and warm and did not add to the tough conditions that the riders faced. There were only four riders who completed all ten laps. The host club's strong vet rider Robbie Lamont improved both this course time and final position to win ahead of team mate Graham Boyd (Xmtb McConvey cycles). Castlereagh's Tim Edgar put in an excellent performance to finish in third place again. His team mate and last week's winner Glenn Kinning finished fourth. It was another Xmtb rider William Boyd who finished 5th, one lap down, but had improved 6 places from last week. Paul McMenamin (Leisure Lakes) dropped one place from last week to finish 6th with John Bogues (Phoenix) in 7th. Stuart Henry (North Down) had also dropped one place from last week to finish 8th and behind him was Ross Galway (Dromara CC) who finished 9th two weeks in a row. Getting into the top 10 was Paul Bell (Banbridge CC) who has recently returned to racing, Paul having finished 14th last week.

Congratulations to XMTB McConvey cycles for another well organised event. The club now takes a well earned breather with the league returning in two weeks time on Sunday 8 February 2009 in the same location. Sign on from 9:30. Many thanks to Angela from the club for passing on the list of results (see below). Many thanks also to St. John Ambulance for their large presence which was thankfully not put to use.

Full results here

Photographs by the Grimley family