XMTB - Spring League MTB 2010

Xmtb McConvey Cycles
MTB Spring League 2010
Round 3

Xmtb

Sunday 14 March 2010
Ormeau Park, Belfast

Ormeau Park in Belfast was the place to be for Ulster off-road cyclists as XMTB McConvey cycles held the third and final round of their Spring mountain bike series. This series was designed as an introduction for those new to the sport and as a 'fun' event for those who have tried off-road racing before. The series has been a complete success with new riders appearing at every round and leaving with smiles on their faces. This final event had attracted 100 riders despite it being Mothering Sunday. The great turn-out was also helped by a dry, bright morning with some early sunshine as per the previous two rounds.

To add to the challenge of the event and to keep the riders motivated, the race course had been modified so that the riders were racing in the opposite direction to the previous two rounds. The course length for the senior riders was still around 1 mile and all self-contained in a small area of trees away from the passing public who were also out enjoying the park. The ground was still firm despite some light rain over the previous two days. As before, the club had set the course up the night before leaving less work to do on the morning of the event. There were rumours circulating on the morning of the race of some night-time practicing on the course despite these events being classed as 'fun'.

The first race of the day took place at 11:30 with 22 Under 8s eager to complete two laps of the mini course. The organisers lined up the riders based on their results over the previous two rounds with the faster ones on the front row of the grid. With the new course direction the riders were faced with two uphill sections which lead to some bottle necking but the team of marshalls were on hand to help push the riders up the tricky sections to keep the race moving. The race was won by Banbridge rider Jack Baird, who also won in Round 1, second was Jude Lundy, who won in round 2, and third was Christopher Curry (Banbridge CC) who finished narrowly ahead of club mate James Buller. Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) was 5th with Shea O'Kane (Phoenix CC) finishing 6th.

Next up were the under 10s who faced 5 laps of the mini course, one lap more than the previous round. As before, the riders were placed in a starting order before race organiser Robbie Lamont sounded the siren to start the race. Mark Buller (Banbridge CC), who had finished second in rounds one and two improved his position to take the win 27 seconds ahead of club mate Stuart Dunlop, who had won in round 1, with Sam McCluskey (Team Madigan) taking third after Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC) took a tumble but managed to recover to take fourth just 5 seconds ahead of Craig McCarthy (Castlereagh CC). David Evans (Carn Wheelers) was sixth.

There was a reduced field of under 12 riders with just six showing up for this round, down from the 10 that had competed in rounds one and two. Perhaps a few wanted to sacrifice their racing and stay at home to pamper their mum! The riders faced 5 laps of the short course, one more lap than they raced at the last round. John Buller (Banbridge CC) had another close battle with club mate Richard Baird as per round one with John just taking the win 4 seconds ahead of Richard. Greg Bell from the host club finished third with Shannon Buller (Banbridge CC) the only other rider to complete all 5 laps.

The under 14s also faced an increase in the number of laps they did, now up to four laps of the main course. To add to the challenge it started to rain in the middle of the race which sent spectators diving for cover. With the absence of Ryan Orr (Juiced Orchard) who had won the first two rounds, it was Banbridge rider Joseph Baird who took the win comfortably ahead of Alex Bell and Aimee Ogilby, both from the host club. It was Luke McCallum's first race of the series and he did well to finish fourth ahead of Mark Evans (Carn Wheelers), with Gareth Kerr finishing sixth.

The rain had eased off by the time the under 16s and adults gathered to start their events. This round had the lowest turn out of under 16s with 7 lined up for the 6 lap event and, as before, the majority of these riders were from the host club, 5 out of 7. Kyle McEwan took his second win of the series to finish over a minute ahead of Stuart Ballantine who in turn finished almost three minutes ahead of club mate Chris Oakley. Chris was only 17 seconds ahead of his sister Claire who finished fourth.

In the adult race there were 42 men and 4 women squeezed into lines along the tarmac path. They faced 8 laps of the main course which had become slippery on the corners from the shower earlier in the day. As expected, this was going to be another battle between the young Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) and the experienced veteran Robbie Lamont (XMTB McConvey Cycles). Racing for the first time in this series was top cyclo-cross rider Lewis Ferguson (Curran Racing) who was out to challenge Matthew and Robbie. From the off Matthew took the lead with Robbie close behind. The top two positions never changed for the eight laps with Matthew slowly increasing the gap on Robbie to finish over 2½ minutes ahead. Lewis made a slow start for the first two laps before holding the third spot for the remaining six laps. Graham Boyd from the host club made his way up to fourth position by lap 3 and held it to the end. Lance McCarthy (Castlereagh CC) took 5th ahead of Tomasz Michalski (XMTB McConvey cycles) who improved on his 8th position in the last round to finish 6th and then collasping onto his knees after crossing the finish line. Matthew Casey from the host club took 7th just 5 seconds ahead of Mark Forrester (Team Madigan) who recovered quickly after a fall on his first lap. Luke Ireland was just two seconds behind Mark with Eamon McConvey from the host club finishing an excellent 10th and the last rider to complete all 8 laps.

In the women's race it was the experienced Ciara MacManus who was racing for the first time in this series who took the win. Val O'Neill (Dromara CC) who won the first two rounds was unfortunate to have a punture on the way to the race and arrived too late to compete. Julie Rea (Chain Reaction Cycles) repeated her second position from round 2 ahead of Gill Smith who made her return to cross-country racing having been away from the scene from over 10 years. Gill's comment after the race was "it is a lot harder than I remember". Hopefully we will see more of Gill racing this year.

After the race the riders were invited down to the Ozone Centre for tea, coffee, a huge array of sandwiches and sugary treats. Once the bellies were filled the prize giving got underway. Before the ceremony, club chairman Jeff Ballantine made a short speech thanking Belfast City Council for the use of the park, the cycle shop McConvey Cycles for their sponsorship and to the members of the club who had worked so hard in organising these events. Prizes for the overall series were then handed out by Robbie Lamont and Angela Oakley to the following riders:

Under 8s
1. Jack Baird (Banbridge CC),
2. Jude Lundy (unattached)
3. Christopher Curry (Banbridge CC)

Under 10s
1. Mark Buller (Banbridge CC)
2. Stuart Dunlop (Banbridge CC)
3. Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC)

Under 12s
1. John Buller (Banbridge CC)
2. Richard Baird (Banbridge CC)
3. Greg Bell (XMTB McConvey Cycles)

Under 14s
1. Joseph Baird (Banbridge CC)
2. Alex Bell (XMTB McConvey Cycles)
3. Ryan Orr (Juiced Orchard)

All of the above received a nice trophy, medal and a cycling gift set from McConvey Cycles. Medals were then given out to all under 8s, under 10s, under 12s and under 14s who had taken part in the events. Prizes were also given out to the following riders:

Under 16s
1. Kyle McEwan (XMTB McConvey Cycles)
2. Stuart Ballantine (XMTB McConvey Cycles)
3. Chris Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles)

Fun (male)
1. Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC)
2. Robbie Lamont (XMTB McConvey Cycles)
3. Lance McCarthy (Castlereagh CC)

Fun (female)
1. Val O'Neill (Dromara CC)
2. Julie Rea (Chain Reaction Cycles)
3. Florence Millar (North Down CC)

Congratulations again to XMTB McConvey Cycles for putting on a great event and well done to all the riders. Many thanks to Angela from the club for passing on the list of results (see below). The club will next be organising the first round of the Ulster XC series at Lady Dixon Park in Belfast on Sunday 9 May 2010. There will be races for all youth categories as well as the standard categories for the adult racers.

Full results from round 3 races here

Overall results here

Report by Martin Grimley

Photographs by Martin Grimley