Barnett's Park, Belfast
The picturesque Barnett's Park near the river Lagan in Belfast was the venue for round 4 of the 6 round Ulster Cyclo-Cross Series. This round was hosted by Phoenix Cycling Club who haven't held an event like this for a number of years but John Bogues and his team stepped up to the challenge with enthusiasm and determination. Car parking was behind the Georgian mansion, Malone House, with changing facilities proved a short distance away at the Queen's University Dub Pavillion. The Under 8s, 10s and 12s course was laid out near the car park among the mature trees with the main course in the park itself making use of the wide open grass fields with a few tricky climbs thrown in. The event had been sponsored by Belfast cycle shop, Bike it, who had erected their feather flags, gazebo and work stands and had brought along some nice shiny bikes to tempt the racers and spectators. Sign on had been set up in a large gazebo overlooking the park and chip timing had been provided by ChampionchipIreland. The riders were greeted to a cold but bright morning with little wind which thankfully remained throughout the day.
First race of the day was for the Under 8s and this event had attracted a large field of 26 riders, 16 boys and 10 girls, who had to complete 3 laps of their circuit. The riders were gridded as per the current Ulster league standings which brought the seasoned riders (even at their young age), to the front line. Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) took the win, his second of the series, ahead of series leader Daniel Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) with Shea O'Kane from the host club finishing third. Sarah Elder (Carn Wheelers) was the fourth to finish, first female, with Jack Brynes fifth and Adam McCaughtry (Dromara CC) in sixth.
The Under 10s then lined up for their 5 lap race with a field of 10 riders 7 boys and 3 girls. There was a very visible increase in pace from the line compared to the under 8s and it was Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC) who took the early lead which he maintained right to the finish to complete his third consecutive win. Cathir Doyle (Carn Wheelers) was second ahead of Craig McCarthy (Castlereagh CC) with Max Melville (Dromara CC) fourth, Michael McNicholl (Carn Wheelers) fifth and Kathryn Doyle (Carn Wheelers) first female and sixth overall.
The Under 12s race followed and the 4 boys and 1 girl had 7 laps of the same course to complete. The race pace went up another level with these riders who sped around the twisting course easily. Greg Bell (XMTB McConvey Cycles) led from the start to take the win again with Stuart Dunlop (Banbridge CC) and Jack Lamont (XMTB McConvey Cycles) providing the same top 3 as last week. Emer Maguire (Phoenix CC) was fourth with Matthew McBratney (Ards CC) just off the pace on his first race in the series.
Prize giving then took place for the Under 8s, 10s and 12s conducted by Duncan Cameron from the host club.
At 11:30 it was time for the Under 14, Under 16 and MTB support races which were held on the main course. First away were the 20 senior riders for the mountain bike support event, among them 3 female competitors. Leaving one minute later were the five Under 14s and alongside them were four Under 16s, all from the same club (XMTB McConvey Cycles). The senior MTB race was dominated by the legend of off-road racing Robbie Lamont (XMTB McConvey cycles) who blazed his way around the course keeping ahead of strong riders like Gareth Blair (ChainReaction Cycles) and Jason Henry, who normally rides in the main cyclo-cross event but had to opt for the MTB support race as he was heading straight for the airport after the race. Cathal Doyle (Carn Wheelers) finished fourth, the only other rider to have completed all 7 laps. First of the female riders was Andrea Harrower (Dromara CC).
The Under 16s had 5 laps to complete and it was in-form rider Chris Oakley who took the win making it four out of four for the series. Behind Chris was his club mate Martin McGauley who finished second despite this being his first race of the series. Curtis Bell was third with Aimee Ogilby fourth.
The Under 14s race was over 3 laps of the course which suited Ryan Orr (Orchard Wheelers) who lead from start to finish, his second win in the series. Current league leader Alex Bell (XMTB McConvey Cycles) was second with Aaron Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) third, Jonathan Collins (Dromara CC) fourth and Marc Heaney (Carn Wheelers) fifth.
Duncan Cameron conducted the second set of prize givings after this race in time for the main cyclo-cross race to start at 1pm. John Bogues got the 22 riders (20 men, 2 women) gridded using the current Ulster league table. The course was set at the top of the hill with a fast descent to the first obstacle with Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) the only one to bunny hop this on the first lap. This followed a further descent to a short chicane before traversing the slope to a sharp and slippery right hand turn. The course then dropped to its lowest point, a muddy section between the trees before the riders started on the first grassy climb with a 'plank' obstacle at the top to ensure that every rider had to dismount. The course then levelled out before the next steep climb up to the plateau for a short 'rest' before a muddy section through trees with another climb. The riders were then glad to hit the gravel path which led upwards to the start/finish area for a short burst through a single track section of trees before looping around to face the final run in to the finish line.
By the end of lap one series leader Matthew Adair had pullled out a lead of 8 seconds over his closest rival Conor Campbell (Newry Wheelers) who had finished fifth the previous day in a cyclo-cross race in Dublin (Round 3 of the Stevens Supercross series). Behind these two were a group of 3 riders David O'Neill (Team Worc), Cormac Clarke (Newry Wheelers) and junior rider Jack Wilson (East Antrim) who were just 4 seconds behind Conor. By the end of lap 2 Matthew had stretched his lead to 11 seconds and Conor had increased the gap to third place rider Cormac. The top 2 were out on their own with the big battle for positions 3 to 7 changing lap after lap between Cormac, Jack, David as well as Ray Brownfield (North Down) and Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers) who had also raced the previous day. Coming across the line in just under 50 minutes was junior rider Matthew Adair, Conor Campbell finishing just over a minute behind with Ray Brownfield taking third, David O'Neill fourth, Cormac Clarke fifth and Peter McConville sixth just 50 seconds separating third to sixth. Jack Wilson finished seventh and took the junior prize and Val O'Neill (Dromara CC) took the woman's prize.
Many thanks to all the members of Phoenix Cycling Club for all their hard work in running this event. A special thank you to Belfast City Council for the use of the park and to David Livingstone from Bikeit cycles for sponsoring the event.
The next round of the Ulster Cyclo Cross series will be held on Sunday 21 November 2010 at Ormeau Park in Belfast and hosted by XMTB McConvey cylces. For more details see www.UlsterCycloCross.com.
Commissaire: Jack Watson
Assistant Commissaire: Ciara MacManus
Full results here
Report & photos: Martin Grimley
More photographs here
Video here
