Sunday 13th of May saw our young off-road riders in action at Round 3 of the HSBC British National Cross Country series at Glentress Scotland. Nestled on the steep banks of the Tweed Valley this was very much a course for the climbers and the strong technical riders.
Practice day on Saturday had seen wall to wall sunshine but heavy overnight rain would see our riders in the 9 am race face an even more challenging outing.
First up were the Under 16 boys where Kinning Cycles rider Dean Harvey charged back from a heavy first lap crash to 11th position after three gruelling laps. Ben Wilson represented Cycling Ulster with his best result so far in an impressive 21st place while Carn Wheelers Ryan Skelly bounced back from a few crashes to complete his first race at this level in 29th.
Under 14 boys saw Carn Wheeler Travis Harkness travel overnight from helping his BB football team become British Champions. With only time for one practice lap Travis battled to 30th in his race.
Under 16 girls had Cycling Ulster rider Darcey Harkness shrugging off the effects of a heavy crash at Tollymore to dig deep and record an impressive 13th place finish.
XMTB rider Erin Creighton is chasing her older brother hard as she bids to become the best rider in the Creighton household and she recorded a strong 10th place in under 14 girls.
Next race saw Shimna Wheelers veteran Brian Steele put his front row start to good use finishing in 9th place in a massive field of vets.
Next Cycling Ulster rider up was Niamh McKiverigan in Junior Women and she continued her upward trend with 7th position as she raced strongly through the tailenders in the elite women’s race who were on track at the same time. Niamh also moving up to 5th in the series as a first year junior.
Junior Men would see Cycling Ulster riders Thomas Creighton and Lee Harvey on the front row. Unfortunately a strong race for Thomas was interrupted by a puncture while in a podium position. A long run back to the pits ensued before climbing back through the field to 8th place.
First year junior Lee would have one of his best races as he fought for 4th position only just loosing out as he cramped up in the sprint to the line. 5th place and his first visit to a UCI C2 podium just reward for his efforts.
Thomas currently sits in 2nd place in the series with Lee close behind in 4th.
Graham Boyd would have another solid race to 12th place for McConvey Cycles in the Elite race.
All in all a great event as our young riders continue to get to grips with racing with some of the best youth and juniors in Europe.
Thanks to team managers Simon Curry and Nicola McKiverigan, rider coach Gareth McKee and mechanic Gareth Skelly for giving up their time.
