MTB Winter League 2009
Round 3 (Final Round)
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Xmtb McConvey Cycles MTB Winter League 2009 Round 3 (Final Round) |
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| Sunday 15 March 2009 Castle Park, Bangor Report by XMTB McConvey Cycles Bangor’s Castle Park saw the delayed conclusion of XMTB McConvey Cycles 2009 Winter League today. The weather was perfect for racing and spectating, and although there had been restrictions placed on which parts of the park could be used for the race, a challenging and hopefully enjoyable course had been prepared. With no handicaps being operated today, first off were the under 8s. Ten riders lined up at the start, with two laps of the BMX track to negotiate. Mark Buller from Banbridge CC took an early lead; holding on to win by 5 seconds from Craig McCarthy of Castlereagh CC. Dromara’s Drew Armstrong was only a second further back in third. Mark’s second league win saw him comfortably take the series win, with Drew in second overall and Craig third. The under 10s raced over five short laps, with another of the Buller clan, this time Mark’s brother John charging to victory. Despite the best efforts of the handicapper in the previous round, this completed a clean sweep of victories, John being the only rider in all categories to take maximum series points. Stuart Dunlop of Banbridge was second on the day, with XMTB McConvey Cycles’ Joel Smyth taking a close third. This gave Joel second place in the league, with fifth place on the day being enough for Sam McCluskey of Madigan to take overall third. The under 12s were given two laps of the main course. James Curry of Banbridge club made his first appearance of the series to take the win by 25 seconds from club mate Shannon Buller, with Joseph Baird making it a Banbridge top three. This was enough to give Joseph the series win, Shannon grabbing second overall from Richard Baird by virtue of placing higher on the final round, the pair having finished the series tied on points. In the under 14 race Chris Oakley of XMTB McConvey Cycles won by over two minutes from Banbridge’s Daniel Runciman, with newcomer Martin McGauley from Carn Wheelers a further two minutes back in third. With two wins Chris took the overall prize with Martin an excellent second and Daniel third. The under 16s faced eight laps with Banbridge rider Matthew Adair again demolishing the field to win by almost five minutes from XMTB McConvey Cycles Kyle McEwan, the only other rider to finish on the same lap. Kyle’s team-mate Stuart Ballantine finished a strong third. These riders also took the top three overall places. Twenty seven riders took to the line for the adult / fun race, with ten laps to complete. Robbie Lamont of XMTB McConvey Cycles made a great start, coming into view in the lead at the end of the first lap, with Banbridge rider Liam McGreevy in close pursuit, followed by Graham Boyd (XMTB McConvey Cycles), William Mulligan (Banbridge) and Simon Curry (Banbridge). By the end of the second lap, Liam had taken the lead with William and Graham contesting second and Robbie dropping to fourth, Simon still tucked in fifth. These riders maintained their positions until the end, being the only competitors to complete the ten laps. Jonny Beers of Audi East Antrim club finished sixth on the day and top junior rider. In the ladies race Nicola Oldham (Banbridge) finished ahead of race newcomer Gillian Armstrong. Robbie Lamont’s fourth place was enough to give him the series win ahead of team-mate Graham Boyd with Castlereagh’s Glenn Kinning finishing third overall. The ladies overall prize was won by Julie Watt (Unattached) from Nicola Oldham. Prizes were presented by Eric Blayney, who had run the Bangor League on behalf of North Down CC for ten years. Today marked the end of an era, as XMTB’s run of five further years promoting the series also came to an end, due to non availability of Castle Park for cycling after this series. XMTB McConvey Cycles have enjoyed promoting this league, which has been the introduction to mountain biking for most of Ulster’s top cross country riders over the past fifteen years, and would like to thank everyone who has supported the event in this and previous years. Full results here Overall Leaderboard here |
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