Lady Dixon Park
Round 2 of the Ulster Cyclo-cross series took place in the pleasant surroundings of Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park in Belfast on a beautiful autumn day. This round was hosted by Belfast based Phoenix Cycling Club who held their first cyclo-cross race last year over in Barnetts Park. The club members were hard at work setting up the course from early morning. The club want to acknowledge the great support from Belfast City Council and the local parks managers.
Sign on opened at 09:30 and it wasn't long before the crowd started to build up of parents and other riders keen to get signed on. To help with the atmosphere of the day the club had purchased around 100 plastic whistles to give out to the young riders who had great fun with using them!
Racing got underway at 10:40 with the Under 8s which saw a big turn out of 23 riders, 17 boys and 6 girls around a short course through the trees close to the car park. The young riders received lots of support from the parents lining the course as they set off to complete 6 laps. Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) lead from the start to take the win ahead of Jonathan Campbell (Dromara CC) who finished second in only his second ever race. Shea O'Kane from the host club was third ahead of Adam McCaughtry (Dromara CC), Dean Harvey (Xmtb McConvey cycles) and Neil Kelso. First girl was Charley Dunlop (Banbridge CC) with Kayla Grimley (Dromara CC) second and Elena Samuel from the host club third.
Next up were the Under 10s with 18 riders, 13 boys and 5 girls and they had 10 laps of the short circuit to complete. Drew Armstrong (Xmtb McConvey cycles) had the best start to take the lead with Mark Buller (Banbridge CC), Cathir Doyle (Carn Wheelers) and Ben Wilson (Dromara CC) chasing hard. There was no change in the top 4 places and they were the only ones to complete all 10 laps. James Buller (Banbridge CC) was fifth with Lee Harvey (Xmtb McConvey cycles) sixth. Top 3 girls were Kelly Wilson (Dromara CC), Sarah Elder (Carn Wheelers) and Anna Mae Samuel from the host club.
The Under 12s then lined up for their race. The 9 riders (3 girls, 6 boys) had to complete 14 laps of the circuit. John Buller (Banbridge CC) managed to lap everyone else to finish in 10½ minutes. Just one lap behind John were Craig McCarthy (Xmtb McConvey cycles), Max Anderson (Orchard Wheelers), Max Melville (Dromara CC) and Dominic Bradley (Carn Wheelers). Among the girls it was Kathryn Doyle (Carn Wheelers) who came first ahead of Rebekah Ogilby (Xmtb McConvey cycles) and Emma Elder (Carn Wheelers).
The start line then moved down on the tarmac path for the 11:30 start of the Under 14s, Under 16s and mountain bike support races. First away were the Under 16s with the mountain bike support races going next and finally the Under 14s going last. The Under 16s and MTB support racers had 7 laps to complete with the Under 14s having 5. All races on the main circuit which ran along the top part of the park, over towards the trees at the top end before returning through the youth circuit and then out along the road section for a short climb. The course then looped back around to a fast run through the finish area.
In the Under 14s race Aaron Swan (TSC / BCC) reached the front on the second lap and held the lead to the line. Ryan Orr (Orchard Wheelers) and Joseph Baird (Banbridge CC) had a close battle for second with Ryan finally getting the edge over Joseph. Declan Mulholland (Clann Eireann) was fourth, Gareth Kerr (Xmtb McConvey cycles) fifth and Richard Baird (Banbridge CC) sixth. The only female entry was Shannon Buller (Banbridge CC) who finished seventh out of the 13 riders.
There were 11 riders in the Under 16s race with Robert Deegan (Epic MTB) making it two wins out of two finishing ahead of Aaron Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) and Daniel Runciman (Banbridge CC). Alex Bell finished ahead of Curtis Bell (both from Xmtb McConvey cycles) with Oliver Graham from the host club finishing sixth. The only female entry was Aoife Cameron-Mitchell (Ballymoney CC) who enjoyed her first race.
There was a big field of riders for the mountain bike support race with 42 lined up including 9 women. Ryan Walsh (Carn Wheelers) had the best start from the line and put on the best bit of bike control when he had to brake hard for the first left turn causing his bike to skid around wildly. Ryan's lead was short lived when John O'Neill went through with Darren Hughes (Harps CC) and Martin Grimley (Dromara CC) close behind. Barry Kellett (Dromara CC) moved up from 7th to 2nd with Darren holding 3rd and Martin managing to finish 4th after a long battle with Patrick Kelly (Carn Wheelers), Ronan Corrigan (Xmtb McConvey cycles) and Gareth Blair (ChainReaction Cycles). Patrick, Ronan and Gareth finished 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. The top 3 females were Andrea Harrower (Dromara CC), Kerryann Hughes (Harps CC) with Diane Wilson (Dromara CC) finishing third in her first ever mountain bike race.
At 1pm the main event took place, the cyclo-cross, with a record turn out of 60 riders lined up under the watchful gaze of camera lenses and video lenses including a cameraman from the BBC. John Bogues , race organiser, got the riders gridded on the start line for the 9 lap race. When the whistle blew the mass of riders sprinted up along the tarmac to the first left hand turn into the trees. From the line Matthew Adair shot off with Ryan Sherlock (Sportactive), Roger Aiken (Banbridge CC), Conor Campbell (Newry Wheelers), Evan Ryan (Team Worc) and Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers) the closest chasers. These six dominated the race. For the spectators the big draws were the plank jumps, where the riders were able to showcase their skills in either bunny hopping the boards or in the ability to dismount, lift their bike and then remount at pace. The other big draw on this course was a slippery, off-camber left hand turn which seemed to challenge many of the riders and caused numerous unplanned dismounts!
Roger took the lead after the second lap and held this to the line putting on a fine display of riding composure and taking his second win out of two events. Matthew finished a strong second with Ryan third which was a reverse of the finishing order at the first round at Lurgan Park. Conor was unable to finish the first round race but made up for that disappointment with a fourth place at Lady Dixon. Peter was fifth and the first veteran with Evan sixth. Mark McKinley (Sportactive) was 7th with Tim Edgar 8th. Gerry McCabe (Cuchulainn CC) was 9th, (2nd veteran) and he came in in front of the first junior Cormac Clarke (Newry Wheelers) who was 10th overall. Eleventh was Andrew Newman (Team Worc) with first SuperVet (men over 50) Johnny McCabe (Cuchulainn CC) finishing 12th overall. There were just 2 female entries with Val O'Neill from the host club finishing just over a minute ahead of Gill Smith.
A big thank you to the hard working members of Phoenix Cycling Club for setting up and running an excellent event. The next round will be at Seacourt in Larne on Sunday 23 October and will be hosted by Team Madigan.
DROMARA CC RESULTS
CYCLO-CROSS - Luke Ireland - 18th
MTB SUPPORT - Barry Kellett - 2nd
MTB SUPPORT - Martin Grimley - 4th
MTB SUPPORT - Brian Wilson - 9th
MTB SUPPORT - Andrea Harrower - 16th, 1st woman
MTB SUPPORT - John Shanks - 22th
MTB SUPPORT - Adrian Finnegan - 25th
MTB SUPPORT - Diane Wilson - 26th, 3rd woman
MTB SUPPORT - Derek Melville - 34th
MTB SUPPORT - Nigel Collins - 38th
MTB SUPPORT - Debbie Irvine - 39th
MTB SUPPORT - Jenny Melville - 40th
MTB SUPPORT - Alwynne Shannon - DNFed
UNDER 16 - Jonathan Collins - 8th
UNDER 12 - Max Melville - 4th
UNDER 10 - Ben Wilson - 4th
UNDER 10 - Kelly Wilson - 9th, 1st girl
UNDER 10 - Sam Duncan - 18th
UNDER 8 - Fraser Harrower - 1st
UNDER 8 - Jonathan Campbell - 2nd
UNDER 8 - Adam Mc Caughtry - 4th
UNDER 8 - Zak Tsoutsas - 10th
UNDER 8 - Dean Grimley - 13th
UNDER 8 - Christopher Duncan - 16th
UNDER 8 - Scott Wilson - 17th
UNDER 8 - Kayla Grimley - 18th, 2nd girl
Commissaire: Aidan Higgins
Assistant Commissaire: Ronnie Ogilby
Full results here
Report & photos: Martin Grimley
More photographs here
Video here
