Ormeau Park, Belfast
Ormeau Park in Belfast was the venue for Round 5 of the Ulster Cyclo-cross Series which took place on Sunday 21 November 2010. A bright and dry morning greeted the riders and organisers to the venue that was last used back in the spring when the host club, XMTB McConvey Cycles, held their excellent 3 round mountain bike series. Belfast City Council again showed their support for developing all forms of sport in allowing access to the park. The club had used a lot of the course design from the spring series which remained in one section of trees near the main entrance to the park. For the main cyclo-cross event the organisers had set out a large part of their course on the grassy banks around the football pitches and along the park's boundary fence. The event had attracted 96 competitors, and, as in the other rounds, this included some more first time racers especially in the youth categories.
Racing got underway with the Under 8s race which had attracted 22 young riders to the start line on one of the park's tarmac paths. They had to complete two laps of the circuit which did include some tight single track sections through the trees but thankfully, despite the rain earlier in the week, there were only a few muddy sections. The riders had been gridded as per the current Ulster league standings and the large group got underway without incident. From the whistle Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) took the lead as they headed into the chicane at the top of the hill where the timekeepers were standing. He was followed by Daniel Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) and Shea O'Kane (Phoenix CC) and these three held their positions to the end of the race. Sarah Elder (Carn Wheelers) finished fourth, first female, ahead of three Dromara Cycling Club riders, Dillon Cook, Adam McCaughtry and Lewis Armstrong.
The next race was for the Under 10s with 12 riders lined up to complete 5 laps of the mini-course. Series leader Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC) got to the chicane first ahead of close rival Cathir Doyle (Carn Wheelers) and these top two positions did not change for the rest of the race. Craig McCarthy (Castlereagh CC) made his way up from fifth to take the third spot with Max Melville (Dromara CC) dropping back to fourth, Fergal McConvey (Newry Wheelers) fifth and Kathryn Doyle (Carn Wheelers) the first girl and sixth overall.
The Under 12s race started a little behind schedule but the 6 riders looked like they were trying to make up for lost time as they took off at a great pace from the start line. Greg Bell from the host club made it up to the timekeepers first to hold the lead for the first two of the four laps on the extended course but by lap 3 close rival Stuart Dunlop (Banbridge CC) took over the front position and went on to win the race. Jack Lamont from the host club was third with Rory Shannon (Banbridge CC) in fourth, Emer Maguire (Phoenix CC) fifth and Matthew McBratney (Ards CC) in sixth.
The club then had the prize giving for these first 3 age groups. Shortly after 11:30 the next set of races got underway for the Under 14s, Under 16s and MTB support race for riders aged 16 and over. These riders were provided with chip timing by Championchip Ireland and were gridded according to current league positions. The 4 Under 16s, all from the host club, were lined up first to complete 6 laps of the MTB course. Leaving a few minutes after them were the 20 riders (16 male, 4 female) in the mountain bike support race and they had 8 laps to complete. Finally the Under 14s set off and these 6 riders had to complete 3 laps of the course.
In the Under 16s race Chris Oakley from the host club made it 5 wins out of 5 finishing just ahead of club mate Martin McGauley who finished comfortably ahead of Chris Bell. Aimee Ogilby was fourth, one lap down on her club mates.
Ryan Orr (Juiced Orchard) has only entered 3 of the 5 rounds but had won the previous two rounds and today was no exception as he took the win in the Under 14s race well ahead of Alex Bell from the host club. Jonathan Collins (Dromara CC) got back onto the podium again taking third place ahead of Bronagh Maguire (Phoenix CC) who secured fourth place as per her last round. Mark Heaney (Carn Wheelers) was fifth with Aaron Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) in sixth place.
In the Mountain Bike Support race Robbie Lamont, one of the course designers from the club, showed his experience and strength by being first to the top of the climb to the timekeepers and charging ahead through the single track among the trees. Gareth Blair (ChainReaction Cycles) gave chase and was second for two laps until another rider from XMTB McConvey Cycles, Matthew Casey, came through to take over second position. This was Matthew's first race of the series but once into second place he slowly pulled away from Gareth. Stuart Ballantine from the host club seems to have forgotten to were his timing chip but thankfully the manual paper timesheets recorded his as finishing fourth overall. Ryan Walsh (Carn Wheelers) was fifth ahead of Ronnie Ogilby from the host club who stayed in front of series leader Cathal Doyle (Carn Wheelers) who was having continuous problems with the gears on his bicycle from the start line. First female was Andrea Harrower (Dromara CC), her fourth win of the series.
The club then held a prize giving for these races before the riders were gathered up for the main cyclo-cross race. The course tape was modified to steer the riders out of the trees and along the grass towards the man-made obstacles, in the form of planks, where the riders had to dismount and lift their bikes over the obstacle before remounting, all without losing momemtum or race position. This course was longer than the early set up and with the condition of the course getting a little more slippery with a couple of light showers the race was reduced from 10 to 8 laps. The 26 riders were gridded under the supervision of the race commissaire.
From the whistle the series leader Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) sprinted ahead of his close rivals to get to the chicane first. Once into trees there was little room for overtaking until the riders came out onto the grass. Matthew's nearest chaser on lap 1 was Glenn Kinning (Castlereagh CC), with David O'Neill (Swords CC) and Conor Campbell (Newry Wheelers) battling for third place. By lap 2 Matthew had stretched his lead by another 12 seconds ahead of Glenn with Conor Campbell now battling with Ray Brownfield (North Down) for third place. By lap 5 Matthew was 1½ minutes ahead of his closest rival which was Conor Campbell with Glenn having dropped back to third. On lap 6 Glenn dropped further back to 5th place and the order remained as Matthew, Conor, Ray, David, Glenn with Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers) taking sixth. Matthew finished in just over 55 minutes with a lead of just under 1 minute 40 seconds. Twenty three competitors finished the race.
The riders then had time to shower and then enjoy the hot soup and rolls provided by the club before the prize giving. Many thanks to all the members of XMTB McConvey Cycles for their hard work in running this event. A special thanks to Belfast City Council for the use of the park.
The final round of the Ulster Cyclo Cross series will be held on Sunday 28 November 2010 at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor and hosted by Newry Wheelers. This event will also double up as the Ulster Cyclo-Cross Championships and is being sponsored by Revolution Bike Store. For more details see www.UlsterCycloCross.com.
Commissaire: Michael Orr
Assistant Commissaire: Martin Grimley
Full results here
Report & photos: Martin Grimley
More photographs here
Video here
