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Ulster
mountain bikers head off for the first round of the Scottish XC
Series 2010 and to the British University and Colleges Championships |
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| Sunday 21 March 2010 Kirroughtree forest, Scotland Round 1 Scottish XC Series On the third weekend in March a large group of Ulster mountain bikers headed to Scotland to compete in the first round of the Dales Cycles 2010 Scottish XC series at Kirroughtree forest and to the British University and College Sport Championships (BUCS) in Ae Forest. XMTB McConvey cycles had two car and Banbridge CC had one car loaded with riders and supporters over on the Saturday so as to compete in the first races of the day which started at 11 am. The main party of riders came over on the Sunday morning boat and arrived at the forest shortly after 11 pm with the view to racing in the afternoon events which started at 2 pm. Many of the riders had been over to this race in 2009 and were impressed on how the already well run races had been improved upon from last year. The host club, The Break Pad had everything in place and had the support of the main sponsors for the series, Dales Cycles, as well as sponsorship from Buff, 2Pure, Clif, Lucozade, Orange Bikes and DirtSchool. On offer for the day were races for primary school children (P1-3, P4-5, P6-7 for both boys and girls), ten categories of women's races and eleven categories for the men. The biggest fields were for the Male Open Race (48) and Male Veteran Race (42). The weather had been favourable with just a slight shower before the start of the days racing but otherwise there were some pleasant outbreaks of sun which encouaged the riders to race in short sleeves and shorts. The course had been modified from last year with new sections added and more climbs, some very slippery after the early morning rain. The lap was over 5 miles long and proved to be tough on all the riders. The organisers had worked hard to create a great atmosphere with background music, commentator, free food for the racers, raffle tickets, prize draws to win a bike etc. Apart from having a great days off-road racing the Ulster riders had some success too with Matthew Adair (Banbirdge CC) taking 2nd in the Male Junior race, Paul McMenamin (Leisure Lakes) taking third in the Male Vets race, and both Liam McGreevy and Gareth McKee (both Banbridge CC) taking bronze in the cross-country and downhill races, respectively, in the BUCS championships. The following are some short summaries on how the riders go on. Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) – Male Junior Race (3 laps) Matthew was started on the front row of the field of 9 riders. There was no seeding of riders in this race. He had a good start up the fire road and was in second place going into the single track. He held second place behind Grant Ferguson who had won the Scottish series last year. Matthew’s comment after the race was “that was tough”. Kyle McEwan (XMTB McConvey Cycles) – Male Youth Race (2 laps) The first 5 in the field were seeded with Kyle starting on the second row of the grid. He had a good start and was in the first 10 at the top of the first climb. Into the single track he lost the front runners but ended up in a great battle with three riders behind him who he suspected as roadies due to the amount of abuse they were shouting. They were caught later on by the Junior riders. Towards the end he was caught by the three riders he was battling with and finished 14th out of 36 starters. Stuart Ballantine (XMTB McConvey Cycles) – Male Youth Race (2 laps) Stuart started on the 3rd row of the grid and had a good start up the hill. Going into the single track he was following two riders but lost them on the second lap. He struggled up the climb on the second lap but retained position to finish 17th overall. Stuart felt that the two laps were ideal for his level. Robbie Lamont (XMTB McConvey Cycles) – Male Vets (4 laps) Robbie was seeded and placed on the front row of the field. He had a strong start and was in the first three at the top of the climb. Paul McMenamin got round him just before the start of the single track. Robbie had a good battle with the riders behind him as they competed for 4th / 5th and 6th. On the 3rd lap he blew up but managed to hold onto 4th place to the end of the four lap race. The vets had been racing for over 2 hours and Robbie was not alone in thinking that this was “too much”. Phil O’Neill (Dromara CC) – Male Masters (4 laps) Phil started on the second row of the Masters riders and had a good climb up the fire road and was 7th or 8th at the top of the hill. Into the single track and he was fortunate to have a clear run and caught a few riders on the slippery climb. Phil started to get cramps on lap 3 but managed to retain position to the end to finish 6th out of 24 riders. His post race comments were “An enjoyable course, with lots of roots and nearly all rideable”. Paul McMenamin (Leisure Lakes) – Male Vets (4 laps) Paul started on the second row of the grid and managed to pass Robbie on the way into the single track. He was able to stay with the top 2 riders until they got back onto the fire road where the front two just “opened up” and left him. Robbie then passed Paul on the first lap but as they were going into lap 2 Paul went round Robbie again. On the third lap Paul caught up to the 2nd placed rider but couldn’t hold his wheel. Paul was pleased to finish 3rd. The two in front of him had finished 1st and 2nd overall in the 2009 series. Paul wanted to thank Paul “Papa” Adair for his words of wisdom at the start of the race. Jon Runciman (Banbridge CC) – Male Vets (4 laps) Jon started on the 3rd row of the grid and got off to a good start and easily kept up with the riders in front which he has put down to “winter training and rice pudding”. Jon was lying in 15th or 16th position at the start of the single track and managed to pass 3 or 4 on the way up the slippery incline. He was able to overtake some more riders on the 2nd and 3rd lap mostly on the fire roads. He retained his position to the end to finish 12th overall. Jon’s comment at the end was “I’ve never been as tired in my life”. Jonathan Buller (Banbridge CC) – Male Vets (4 laps) This was Jonathan’s first time in Kirroughtree and had decided to start at the back of the field. He felt that he had a good start and passed a few riders on the fire road climb. He then got stuck in traffic at the start of the single track. Jonathan was ahead of Willy Forsythe and Maurice Mayne at this stage. He struggled with the first lap and Willy Forsythe came past him towards the end of that lap. On the second lap he started to feel unwell after taking on two gels and had to get off the bike to be sick. He got back on and struggled away, catching a few riders and also getting passed by riders as well. He was glad to complete three laps. Willy Forsythe (Banbridge CC) – Male Vets (4 laps) Willy would have entered the Grand Vets race but it was on at 11 am and would have meant travelling over the night before. Instead he opted to race this event. Willy started at the back of the grid along with Jonathan and Maurice Mayne. He had a steady start behind the crowd but held back a bit so as not to get held up at the single track section. He passed a few riders on the forest road and caught Jonathan Buller in the latter half of the first lap near the chicken run after Jonathan had made a mess of the rock drop and came off the bike. Jonathan stayed behind Willy for the rest of that lap. At the start of the second lap Willy was pleased to pass a Royal Marine rider in a different category who was half his age. He picked off another couple of riders on the second lap before spying Stephen Prentice about three quarters of the way around. He was pleased to get past Stephen at the end of the second lap and to hear his torrent of shouts. On the 3rd lap Willy had a close battle with another rider who he was not able to shake until he came to a rooty section where Willy finally surged ahead to drop this rider. Willy then went flat out on the last mile of the 3rd lap but was passed by the leader of the vets race just before the finish line and therefore had to stop after the three laps. Willy said afterwards “I would have liked to have done all four laps.” Willy finished 36th out of the 42 riders). Maurice Mayne (Banbridge CC) – Male Vets (4 laps) Maurice started at the back of the field and found it hard to stay with the riders on the first climb. He was one of the last few going into the single track section. Maurice felt very positive on the roots and steep descents and was able to make progress on other riders. Maurice then took a bad cramp towards the end of the first lap and struggled past the feed zone. The cramp stayed with him until the end of the race but he was happy to finish. Maurice remarked “I was happy when Paul McMenamin passed me as I knew I only had to do 3 laps then”. Maurice also commented “It was a brilliant course but there is no let up anywhere”. Stephen Prentice (Banbridge CC) – Male Sports (3 laps) Stephen managed to get to the front row of the 12 riders in this category. Stephen felt the fire road climb was “not too bad” until he came to the steep section. At the single track he was lying mid field but managed to run past two riders on the slippery section. Stephen had an “ok” first lap but started to struggle on the second lap but managed to hold his position to the end. He was able to pull away from other riders (in different categories) on the downhill sections. Stephen wanted to thank the support he got from his fellow Ulster riders which helped him get through the race. The other Ulster riders had to take an earlier boat back home. They included: Ronnie Ogilby (XMTB McConvey Cycles) – 13th out of 48 in the Male Open race (2 laps) Aimee Ogilby (XMTB McConvey Cycles) – 6th Female Youth race (2 laps) Claire Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles) – Female Junior race (only entrant) – 3 laps almost 2 hours of racing Chris Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles) – 26th Male Youth Full results here Many thanks to The Break Pad and to the Scottish XC organisers for making us feel very welcome. The next round of the Scottish series will be at Contin on 25 April 2010. BRITISH UNIVERSITY & COLLEGES SPORT – MOUNTAIN BIKE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010 Liam and Gareth (Banbridge CC) went over on Friday 19th March 2010 to Ae Forest in Scotland which was holding this years British University Championships. Gareth competed in the downhill race on Saturday and Liam competed in the cross-country race on the Sunday. Liam was representing the University of Ulster and Gareth was representing Queen’s University Belfast but did not receive any funding for his trip from QUB. Liam McGreevy (Banbridge CC) – British University Championships XC Race – Championship Men Liam got off to a good start and was in the top 3 or 4 at the end of the first lap. He then lost contact with the leaders but was able to catch up later and overtook the rider in second place who then fell shortly after being passed. Liam then attacked soon afterwards on a downhill section trying to catch the leader before he had a high speed crash. He cut his knee badly and had to pedal one legged to the finish but still managed 3rd place overall out of 113 entrants. Gareth McKee (Banbridge CC) - British University Championships DH Race There was only one downhill championship race with no seeding and almost 300 entrants. Gareth had gotten in two practice runs on the Friday and a further one on the Saturday morning. It had rained on the morning of the race which had soaked the track. On his first flying run he caught up with two people in front of him who slowed him up but when he got to the bottom he was only one second off the fastest time. However, there were faster riders to come behind him and he ended up 9 seconds off the top rider on the first run. On the second run Gareth was able to get a one minute gap to start his race which would eliminate the problem of meeting other riders on the way downhill. He had a good top and middle section but fell off on the bottom section. He recovered quickly to finish 3rd fastest but had to wait for the rest of the riders to come down to see if he was able to retain 3rd which he did in the end. Summary of results Men DH 1 Rich THOMAS Bath 2:14.154 2 Jack READING Manchester 2:17.939 3 Gareth MCKEE Queens Belfast 2:22.922 Men XC 1 Hamish BATCHELOR Durham 1h56:50 2 Jon PYBUS Loughborough 2h00:41 3 Liam MCGREEVY Ulster 2h01:11 Report and pictures by Martin Grimley |
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