Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor
Newry Wheelers hosted this years Ulster Cyclo-Cross Championships at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor on 28 November 2010. This event was also the sixth and final round of the 2010 Ulster Cyclo-Cross Series which has seen a great increase in numbers in all racing categories. Unfortunately for the host club the previous few days of heavy snowfalls and icy roads made for some slippery driving conditions which put some off from attending the popular venue. The park itself had had a fine blanket of snow from the day before but the morning of the event was bright, dry but bitterly cold. Sign on took place in the tennis pavilion with the racing starting further down the slope. Layers of clothing were the order of the day for both riders and spectators but the snow upon the mountains and forests surrounding the park was magical and set the tone of a great days racing.
At 11:15 the first race of the day took place with the Under 8s completing one lap of the mini course. The course was somewhat longer than they were used to but all 14 set off at a pace through the hedge and down the slope. It was the return up the slope that tested the riders with most riders having to jump off and push their bikes. First up the hill was Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) who took the win ahead of Daniel Donnelly from the host club with Phoenix rider Shea O'Kane in third. Dillon Cook and Lewis Armstrong (both from Dromara CC) took fourth and fifth respectively with Sarah Elder (Carn Wheelers) the first girl and sixth overall.
The Under 10s race was set for two laps of the mini course which required a big effort from all 4 riders and a lot of encouragement from the parents. Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC) was the first up the slope to take the win ahead of Michael McNicholl (Carn Wheelers) with Emma Elder third and Lauryn Heaney fourth, both from Carn Wheelers.
There were only two entries in the Under 12s race which would have been a close race but for Stuart Dunlop (Banbridge CC) having mechanical problems with his bicycle handing the win to Conor McLoughlin (Newry Wheelers).
The racing took a quick break for the first of the prize giving ceremonies at the tennis pavilion, before starting up again at noon. The Under 14s race attracted the largest field for the series so far with 9 lined up to complete 2 laps of the main course. Aaron Donnelly from the host club pulled out a comfortable lead to finish over a minute ahead of Craig Crawford (TSC). There was a sprint finish for third place between Ryan Orr (Orchard Wheelers) and James Mulligan from the host club with Ryan taking the final place on the podium by just over a bike length. There were only 2 entrants for the Under 16 race which was 3 laps of the senior course. Chris Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles) dominated the race finishing just under 8 minutes ahead of Declan Reid.
The mountain bike support race attracted 13 riders, (10 men, 3 women) and they had just 4 laps of the senior course to complete. From the start it was Robbie Lamont (XMTB McConvey Cycles) who set the pace opening up a gap of almost one minute on the first lap ahead of Ryan Walsh (Carn Wheelers). By lap 4 that gap had increased to over 3 minutes ahead of Ryan to finish in just over 32 minutes. Andrea Harrower (Dromara CC) had a very strong race on a course she thoroughly enjoyed to finish third overall. Shane Elder (Carn Wheelers) was fourth and it was a newcomer to racing Kerri Campbell (Newry Wheelers) who took fifth. Stephen McCamley (Castlereagh CC) and John McGuigan (Dromara CC) had a great battle for the first 3 laps until Stephen pulled away on the final lap to take sixth crossing the line just 5 seconds ahead of John.
At 1 pm the main cyclo cross riders gathered up to compete across 8 laps of the 2 mile course. The 45 riders were gridded using the current Ulster League standings with the 'big' names on the front row, Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC), Conor Campbell (Newry Wheelers), Ray Brownfield (North Down), David O'Neill (Team Worc), Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers), Glenn Kinning (Castlereagh CC), John Bogues (Phoenix CC) and Ray O'Shaughnessy (Bikepure). As this was his first Ulster race this season, ex-champion Robin Seymour (Team Worc) was placed on the second row of riders. On the whistle the bunch set off together towards the hedge for the first of two corners. At the second corner Glenn Kinning crashed taking out one rider and holding up half of the bunch. Matthew Adair took advantage of missing the crash to pull out an early lead. Robin Seymour and Conor Campbell gave chase and these three had a gap on the other riders by the end of lap 1. Unfortunately for Matthew he suffered mechanical problems on his second lap and made an illegal bike change outside the pit area which resulted in his disqualification. With Matthew out of contention Robin Seymour, Conor Campbell and Evan Ryan (Team Worc) formed a tight group of 3 and broke away from the chasers. Robin started pulling away from the other two at lap 3 with the gap increasing each lap and by the finish he was 36 seconds clear. Evan and Conor had a great battle for second place with Evan finally pulling clear from Conor on lap 6 with a gap of just 2 seconds which extended to 15 by the finish.
The most exciting racing came for placings 4 to 10 which seen 8 riders battling it out across the 8 laps with each lap a different rider in each of these positions. In the end it was teen sensation Cormac Clarke from the host club who took the fourth spot finishing just ahead of club mate Peter McConville. With Conor, Cormac and Peter across the line they took the team prize as well. Ray O'Shaughnessy was sixth, Ray Brownfield seventh, Andrew Newman (Team Worc) 8th, Glenn Kinning recovered from his crash to finish 9th with Greg May (Team Worc) completing the top 10. The first female to finish was Claire Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles).
Conor Campbell was the first Ulster rider therefore receiving the gold medal with Cormac Clarke getting silver and Peter McConville bronze. Peter also was the first veteran rider to finish which meant he got a gold to go with his bronze medal with silver going to John Bogues and bronze going to Stephen Moffitt (Phoenix CC). First junior was Jack Wilson (East Antrim Audi).
The riders then gathered in the tennis pavilion for hot drinks, sandwiches and snacks. Whilst all were enjoying the refreshments the snow started to fall heavily over Kilbroney Park. Race organiser Drew McKinley conducted the prize giving inside the pavilion but the podium had been set up outside with the winners getting the reward to standing behind their place numbers with snow falling from above. Participants and spectators then hurriedly made their way back to the car park to get home however the lane out of the park was steep and drivers had to take extreme care in exiting the park as the snow covered road was quite a challenge to drive on.
A big thanks to all the members of Newry Wheelers for putting on an excellent championship. Also our thanks goes to the event sponsor, the Newry based bike shop, Revolution Cycles. The next cyclo-cross event in Ulster will be the National Championships which will be held on Sunday 9 January 2011 in Lurgan Park. For more details see www.UlsterCycloCross.com. Bikepure are holding two cyclo-cross only events on 11 December 2010 and 28 December 2010 at Bellurgan Park near Dundalk. Click here for more details.
Commissaire: Aaron Wallace
Assistant Commissaire: Martin Grimley
Full results here
Report: Martin Grimley
Photos: Adrian Finnegan, Michael Armstrong, Martin Grimley
More photographs here
Video here
