Ormeau Park in Belfast was bathed in beautiful spring sunshine as riders from across the country gathered to take part in Round 1 of the Xmtb Spring Series. The host club has been synonymous with these pre-season races for many years. The set up is a great introduction to youth and senior beginners as well as giving the seasoned riders a good test. The track used was in the best condition ever making for great fast flowing racing. A big thanks again to Belfast City Council and the local park wardens for supporting the event.
Race day began as usual with the Under 6s fun race. A simple one lap race on a separate course with 18 riders lined up. Next we had the Under 8s race which was held over 3 laps aiming for around a 5 minute race. Ryan McBride (Banbridge CC) took the win in the boys’ race with Ryan McKeown (Trail Demons CC) second and Josh McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) third. In the girls’ race Aoife Craig (VC Glendale) crossed the line first ahead of Aoife Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) with Isla Doherty (Apollo Cycling Team) third.
The Under 10s started next with 4 laps of a longer course to negotiate. In the boys’ race Curtis McKee (Maryland Wheelers) took the win with James Armstrong (Dromara Cycling Club) second and Matthew Webb (Trail Demons CC) third. Aisling Smyth (Apollo Cycling Team) won the girls’ race with Emer Heverin (Kinning Cycles) second and Beth Campbell (XMTB) third.
The Under 12s course was longer again and the riders had to complete 3 laps. Ever impressive Aine Doherty (VC Glendale) managed to pass all the boys to take the overall win in this race.
Cara Moffitt (Phoenix CC) and Eimer Skelly (Carn Wheelers) finished second and third respectively among the girls. Reuben Maitland (Killinchy Cycling Club) was the first of the boys to finish, second overall, with Harry Hobbs (VC Glendale) second and Karl Rockett (Ards CC) third.
At noon we had races for the Under 14 boys and girls, Under 16 boys and girls and the women (junior and senior). The Under 14s had 3 laps to do and it was Oisin Ferrity (Island Wheelers) who took the win in the boys’ race as he finished ahead of Travis Harkness (Carn Wheelers) with James Webb (Trail Demons CC) taking third. Erin Creighton (XMTB) won the Under 14 girls’ race with Hannah Mullin (Trail Demons CC) second and Keela Smyth (Apollo Cycling Team) third. The Under 16 boys had 7 laps to do. Dean Harvey (Kinning Cycles) was in a clear lead until 2 laps to go when he retired. Ben Wilson (Dromara Cycling Club) had been lying in second place and was then rewarded with his consistent lap times to take the win. Ryan Skelly (Carn Wheelers) finished second with Chris Stewart (Maryland Wheelers) third. There were only 2 entries in the Under 16 girls’ race with Darcey Harkness (Carn Wheelers) proving the stronger against Maria McAllister (Island Wheelers). In the women’s race junior rider Niamh McKiverigan (Powerhouse Sport) finished well ahead of Trudy Brown (VC Glendale) with Jill McClements (Killinchy Cycling Club) third.
The final races of the day was for the Junior men, Senior A’ race men and Senior B’ race men. There was no fixed system between A’ and B’ racing for riders to chose except that the stronger riders rode the A’ race and the not so strong / newcomers rode the B’ race. The A’ race riders had 8 laps to do and the B’ race had 7. The Juniors started a few seconds ahead of the A’ race with the B’ race riders starting 2 minutes later.
Junior riders Lee Harvey (Kinning Cycles) and Drew Armstrong (Killinchy Cycling Club) lead the race over the first few laps until the A’ race riders managed to get up among them. There was a great battle between the top A’ race rider Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) and Lee with Graham takign the overall win by just 2 seconds. Drew finished third overall, just ahead of second place A’ race rider Clive Caldwell (VTT) with Enduro superstar Glyn O’Brien (Vitus First Track) finishing third in the A’ race. Competing in only his first cross-country mountain bike race, Barry Convery (Newry Wheelers CC) put on an impressive performance to easily win the B’ race. Neil Armstrong (Dromara Cycling Club) finished second with Mark Faloon from the host club finishing third.
Unfortunately there was no coffee afterwards as the coffee van had broken down on the way to the venue that morning.
Many thanks to all the volunteers from the Xmtb for hosting today’s event.
The next round of the Spring series takes place on Sunday 2 March 2018 in the same location. Details can be found on www.ulsterxc.com.
Commissaire: Martin Grimley
Results here
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
Bronagh Kirk (own site) – here
Belgium Project (Facebook) – here
Steven Lindsay (Facebook) – here
Richard Cowan (Facebook) – here