Round 3 of the 2021 Ulster Cyclo-cross Series took place on Sunday 31 October 2021 at the private cyclo-cross venue called ‘CyclocrossNI’ which is located just outside Portadown. James Wilson, landowner, has been developing the site over the last year and it has been well used as a cyclo-cross training venue. The site is based across two fields. The lower field had the start area – a wide gravel base, as well as the pits. The upper field is on a hill and this had a course weaving back and forth across the incline. The upper field had steps, a sand pit, a set of rollers and a bridge as well as the double slalom gravel descent to the lower field. The upper field has had an enormous amount of work done to it, including lots of drainage set into the ground. The night before the race there were heavy overnight rains with strong winds waking people up around 4:30 am. The lower field got very waterlogged and was affectionally known as ‘the swamp’. Needless to say, the riders were very muddy.
This event was hosted by Apollo Cycling Team. The club had previously ran their annual cyclo-cross race at Lurgan Park. Every year the club had to be on site before sunrise to build the course from scratch and then take it down at the end of the day. Lurgan Park is a popular location for families which demanded a large marshalling team to control the interaction points between general park users and cyclists. The CyclocrossNI site offers the club a private venue with no general public access. The majority of the course was already setup and had the specific cyclo-cross features in place. All-in-all the site was well received by the racing community.
Given the date, there were plenty of riders and spectators getting into the Halloween spirit arriving with their faces painted. Race day started overcast but it wasn’t long before the sun came out and made for a very pleasant day. On the site there were horses in a large shed who were, no doubt, looking out on the cyclists wondering why they weren’t allowed to play in the mud too!
To start the day there was a line up of 9 young riders in the Under 6s race. Their course was two laps of a short loop, past the steps, over the rollers and sharp turn back through the wooden enclosure to the start line. They were presented with a Halloween themed goodie bag at the end. All youth, up to Under 12s, were given the goodie bags.
The Under 8s race took in a longer section of the upper field, over some wooden jumps before returning through the wooden enclosure to the start line. They had 4 laps to complete. Benjamin Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club)
had won the Under 8s race at the McCrystal track the day before so was happy to take another win today in the boys’ race to complete his weekend. Callum McRoberts (Banbridge CC) finished second with Jackson Coakley (Powerhouse Sport) third. Ruby Millar (Square Wheels) won the girl’s race, her third win out of the three rounds this year. Fiadh Craig (VC Glendale) was second with Lucy Reynolds (Un-Attached Ulster) finishing third.
The Under 10s used the same course as the Under 8s but they had 8 laps to complete. Taking an impressive win in the boys’ race, to make it a clean sweep for the season so far (3 wins out of 3 races), was Daragh Quigley (Foyle CC). Ewan Ewart (Belfast City BMX Club) finished second with William Sunderland (Lisburn BMX Club) taking third place. Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) also continued her clean sweep when she won the girls’ race. Abbie Kinning (Kinning Cycles Cycling Club) finished second with Emily McClintock (Lisburn BMX Club) third.
The Under 12s course took in the outside loop of the upper field, through the sand pit and then down the slalom to the lower field. They had 5 laps to complete. Repeating his win from Round 2 was Josh McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) with Eunan Campbell (Square Wheels) second and James Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) completing the podium for the boys’ race. In the girls’ race Aoife Craig (VC Glendale) took a comfortable win over Clodagh Quigley (Foyle CC) with Katie Turner (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) completing this podium.
After the usual break for practice the riders lined up for the Under 14s/Under 16s/Women’s race. With 5 categories competing at once this is always a tricky race to follow and timekeep. The Under 14s and Under 16s are aiming for a 30 minute race for the leaders with the leading Women to finish around 45 minutes. Aisha Gannon (Breffni Wheelers) crossed the line first in the Under 14 girls category with Emer Heverin (Kinning Cycles Cycling Club) second and Cara Suckling (VC Glendale) third. In the Under 14 boys’ race Curtis McKee (VC Glendale) followed his usual tactic of getting up close to the leading Under 16 boys. This worked again giving him the win in the Under 14 boys’ category. Caleb McGreevy (Apollo Cycling Team) finished second with Rian McCrystal (Bellurgan Wheelers) taking third place. In the Under 16 girls’ race it was Lucy Brown (Phoenix CC) who took the chequered flag. Zoe Lindsay (TC Racing) finished second with Mya Doocy (Navan Road Club) completing the podium. In the Under 16 boys’ race Samuel Coleman (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) got his second win of the season to keep him top of the league table. Conor Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) finished second with Seth Dunwoody (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) taking third. Visiting rider Hannah McClorey (RFDA) from Great Britain, who won yesterday at the McCrystal track, completed her successful weekend with another race win. Stephanie Roche (Scott Quanta Racing) finished second with Niamh Stephens (Team Giant Dublin) taking third. Judith Russell (Phoenix CC) finished fourth and took the first unplaced Masters prize.
Next up was the Men’s cyclo-cross A’ race. This was held over 6 laps. Leading from the start was Darragh McCarter (Spellman-Dublin Port) who had won at the McCrystal track yesterday. Current series leader Alan Bingham (Newry Wheelers CC) finished second with Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles Cycling Club) taking third. Ronan O’Flynn (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) finished fourth and took the first unplaced M40 prize. Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) finished fifth with Jason Henry (Inspired Cycling) finishing sixth and taking the first unplaced M50 prize. Tadhg Killeen (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) took the first unplaced Junior prize. There was no team prize for this round as the required number (at least three teams of three riders) was not met.
The last race of the day was the Men’s B’ race which was held over 5 laps. John Lord (Breffni Wheelers) had to work hard to keep ahead of his club mate Bryan Gaffney (Breffni Wheelers). This was a close battle with only 3 seconds separating them at the end. Eoghan McGuigan (Un-Attached Ulster) took third with Matthew Sinton (Portadown Cycling Club) fourth, Gary McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) fifth and Edward Kearney (Phoenix CC) sixth. John, Bryan and Eoghan are now obliged to race in the A’ race for the remainder of the season.
A big thanks to all the volunteers from Apollo Cycling Team for hosting the race, to the Belgium Project for providing race commentary and to James Wilson for the use of the site. The next round will be held at Ecclesville in Fintona on Sunday 7 November and will be hosted by Omagh Wheelers. See details on www.ulstercyclocross.com.
Results here
Commissaires: Jim Adams and Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
The Belgium Project (FlickR) – here
Toby Watson (Facebook) – here
