CycloCross Round 4 – Castle Park, Bangor
This week it was the turn of the ‘Bangorians'(NDCC) to host the 4th round of the Ulster CycloCross series. This was my first cyclocross race last year and the ability to use the Aurora Swimming Pool as a base kind of spoils you. I mean warm showers afterwards, Tea/Coffee & sandwiches indoors, no muck at the car park……is this really cyclocross??
Having said that it is good to be spoilt once in a while. The weather for this series has been kind and therefore the course was not a quagmire it certainly can be. This year the start finish was moved closer to the wooded area rather than down at the bottom of the hill. It consisted of the usual tight course through the roots and beechmast with a log thrown in for good measure. Alas someone forgot to bring the boards so no need to be off the bike unless like me who cant help but throw myself off the bike.
The first races saw Alex Harrower (11th Under 8 race), Fraser Harrower (9th Under 12 Race), Kelly Wilson (4th Under 14), Ben Wilson (3rd Under 14) and Max Melville (9th Under 16).
The MTB Support Race was as popular as ever with Peter Davidson(24th) being the first DCC rider in with Bryce Hetherington(31) & Gibson Chambers(38).
After the MTB Support race the CycloCross racers finally get to stretch their legs. First off is the Ladies followed a minute later with the B race crowd. Lisa finished 5th in a tough race.
The B race is as competitive as ever Richard C(17th), Brian Wilson(19th), John Shanks(32nd) & Graham Smyth(DNF but might be corrected). The start to the race was fast and furious in an attempt to avoid the normal bottle neck. With the usual crashes and complaints everyone raced around the course trying to avoid the tree roots with the opportunity to show everyone your bunny hop skills to get over the log. You can always tell when a tough section is coming up by the amount of people and cameras that are about. The course certainly would have suited the mountain bikers but I am told Moira will be a more traditional cross course.
The final race of the day is the CycloCross A Race – we have our very own Barry ‘Van’ Kellet the holeshot king. Alas today he got caught up in the bottle neck as we can see from this video below. With him now well back he battled through the crowd to take a well earned 11th place and keep his powder dry for Moira.
