www.ulsterxc.com
Davagh Forest
19 June 2010
www.ulsterxc.com | Third round of the Ulster XC Series 2010 Davagh Forest 19 June 2010 | |
| Saturday 19 June 2010 Davagh Forest, County Tyrone Carn Wheelers hosted the third round of the UlsterXC - cross country mountain bike series on Saturday 19 June 2010 at Davagh Forest near Cookstown, County Tyrone. The venue has not been used for mountain bike racing for approximately 15 years and permission and fee had to be arranged with the Forestry Service. Much of this work had been handled by the Cycling Ulster Off-Road Commission who has negotiated a three forest deal. Carn Wheelers then had their work cut out for them preparing the course including building a scaffold bridge across one of the rivers. The club had set out two courses, a mini course for the Under 8s and Under 10s which was a bumpy, twisting loop through the trees, and the main course, separate from the mini course, which included some tight single track climbs, large stretches of fast fire road and some wonderful sweeping single track descents, not to mention the river splash! There was ample parking, toilets in two locations, a well organised start/finish area with pedestrian barriers, an ambulance on site and catering after the races. They also enjoyed a cracking day in terms of weather with glorious sunshine and hardly any wind. Perfect for the picnic parties held by the spectators. Racing got underway, after a slight delay, with the Under 8s and Under 10s. Unfortunately their part of the forest was home to some pesky midges which were happily feeding on riders, supporters and organisers. As always the first race, the Under 8s, saw a big field of 26 riders many of whom were taking part for the first time. They had 3 laps to complete of the mini circuit. Local lad Cathir Doyle (Carn Wheelers) showed how much he had practiced on this course by beating Jack Baird (Banbridge CC) into the unfamiliar second place. Jack has won the first two rounds of the UlsterXC series. Third was James Buller, also from the Banbridge club with the host club’s Anna Russell taking fourth and Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) taking fifth. Meanwhile the sixteen Under 10s were sitting waiting on the line until the Under 8 race was over. This was the biggest field so far this season of Under 10s. There was not much room left across the tarmac road as the top riders squeezed in to get on the front row. They had 5 laps of the mini course to complete. On the whistle the pack ascended the slight hill before turning right and into the forest. This time there was no upset with current league leader Mark Buller (Banbridge CC) making his hat trick of wins ahead of Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC), with David Evans in third, Niall Doyle in fourth and Sam McCloskey (Team Madigan) in fifth. Racing then moved down to the main start/finish area with the Under 12s having to complete a half lap of the senior course. Six riders lined up for this event with the Banbridge riders John Buller and Richard Baird repeating their one/two as per the previous two rounds. Mark Evans from the host club was third with Banbridge’s Shannon Buller in fourth. The next group of riders to start were the Under 16s who had two laps of the full course to complete. Disappointingly there were only two entries, where the last two rounds had 12 and 10 respectively. It was a contest between Claire Oakley and Martin McGauley both from XMTB McConvey Cycles with Claire taking the win. Next up were the Sports riders with a large field of 33 men and 4 women. The Sports riders had to complete 2 laps of the main course and there was some close racing especially on the first single track climb. The long fire roads soon stretched out the riders and it was Nevil Smyth from East Tyrone Cycling Club who took the win ahead of Bob Talbot (Harps CC), with Gary Jeffers, also from the East Tyrone club, finishing third. Richard Archer was fourth, with time trial ace Simon Stockton (Team Madigan CC) fifth and Marcin Drozdziok sixth. In the women’s race it was another victory for Gill Smith making it three in a row for Gill with Julie Rea (ChainReaction Cycles) second, Anne Paul (East Tyrone CC) third and Dianne Keys in fourth. Setting off one minute behind the Sports riders were the Under 14s with 8 riders lining up to complete one lap of the senior course. With James Curry absent Marlena Drozdziok finally got the chance to get a win under her belt ahead of Karl Quinn and Ailbhe Kendal (Bann Wheelers). At the end of these races Carn Wheelers then organised the prize giving for all the youth races as well as the Sports and Women’s races. The main races of the day started around 1:50. There were no Elite Men or Elite women in attendance so the first races were for the Juniors and, as there was only one Expert, David Heaghey (East Tyrone), he raced alongside the two Juniors, Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) and William Boyd (XMTB McConvey Cycles). They had four laps of the senior course to complete with Matthew Adair taking the win ahead of William Boyd. There was a good turn out of Veterans with 15 lining up for their 4 lap race. One of the main names missing from the line up was William Mulligan who was away riding up the mountains of Europe. Paul McMenamin (Leisure Lakes) and Robbie Lamont (XMTB McConvey Cycles) were among the favourites to win the race but it was ex-Elite rider Aiden McDonald, now riding for BikePure and sporting the club’s new kit for the first time, who took the win with Paul second and Robbie third. Andrew Burns (Orchard Wheelers) was fourth, Brian Stewart (Phoenix CC) fifth and David Lawless was sixth. The biggest disappointment of the day was the number of riders in the Masters category which has seen 56 riders at round 1, 34 at round 2 and sadly only 3 at Davagh Forest. The three did not let the lack of numbers put them off and they sprinted off from the whistle and into the first corner and up into the forest. Taking the win was Lance McCarthy (Castlereagh CC) who finished ahead of Clive Caldwell (Omagh Wheelers) and Gareth Blair (ChainReaction Cycles). After racing was complete the prize giving for the senior riders took place. The riders were able to enjoy the great food laid on by Carn Wheelers with tea, coffee, buns, cakes as well as sandwiches on the go. Many thanks to Carn Wheelers for all their hard work in setting up and running this event. The next round of the UlsterXC series will be on Saturday 26 June 2010 at Dunmore Mountain just outside Spa in County Down. This event is also Round 6 of the Irish National Points Series and is hosted by Dromara Cycling Club. For more details see www.ulsterxc.com or www.irishxcmtb.com Full results here Commissaire(s): Ronnie Ogilby, Martin Grimley, Barry Russell Report & photos by Martin Grimley |      |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  Masters |
 Juniors and Expert |  Vets |
 Sign on and food tent |  Race organisers |