Date: Sunday 30 June 2013
Event: Ulster MTB XC Championships
Location: Gortin Glen, Omagh
Host club: Caldwell Cycles
Many thanks to recently formed Caldwell Cycles club for hosting the 2013 Ulster Mountain Bike (cross-country) championships. The event was held in Gortin Glen Forest Park, located 6 miles north of Omagh and the club wish to thank the Northern Ireland Forestry Service for providing permission. The team, lead by course designer Paul McMenamin, worked hard to create a challenging trail through the forest using the fire road climbs and plenty of natural forest single track. The course on the Saturday before the race was in super condition with plenty of grip under the bicycle wheels however, come race day, there were some very heavy showers which affected certain parts of the course forcing the riders to dismount and run through. All races began on the public road which was closed for the period of the race. This provided a great long sprint start to the first corner of forest. The team had built two of the “3 bridge” sections over the flowing river making for a beautiful backdrop for the photographers. Sign on and catering was provided in the cottage with ample parking at the History Park.
81 youth riders, 2 juniors and 77 seniors took part. Stock medals were provided for the podiums with the actual medals being provided at the Cycling Ulster awards dinner in January 2014. For the seniors, the club had laid on bottles of bubbly to spray on the crowd and the fellow podium riders. The club received a huge amount of support from Caldwell Cycles shop and it was evident in the number of pedestrian barriers on site, traffic cones, bales of hay and course tape. There was a large banquet of food provided including hot soup and plenty of tea and coffee.
Congratulations to all the riders who took part. Next month the National MTB XC championships will take place in Garvagh Forest on 21 July 2013.
Results
Here
Photos
Michael Armstrong (FlickR) – here
William Boyd (Facebook) – here
Lisa Millar (FlickR) – here
Eymard Brennan (Facebook) – here
Caldwell Cycles (Facebook) – here