Date: Sunday 1 November 2015
Event: Ulster Cyclo-cross Round 4
Location: Seacourt, Larne
Host club: Team Madigan
A sunny November day even provided unseasonable warmth at Seacourt in Larne for Round 5 of the Ulster Cyclo-cross series. Team Madigan have used this site for the last 4 years which includes an excellent hall, changing and kitchen facilities. However, due to a mix up by the centre management booking system, the club was unable to gain access to the hall and had to make a last minute decision to have sign on located at the back of the building – in the open-air. Thankfully the day stayed dry and the volunteers manning the sign on desks were able to carry out their function as they were kept busy with over 300 riders taking part. The car park filled up very quickly as the convoy of cars arrived from all across the country made easier with the new road now open from Belfast. The course designers made great use of both grass areas on either side of the centre. The small grass area was used for the Under 6s and Under 8s, with the rest of the races taking place on the main grass expanse which had two levels and made good use of the steep bank connecting both levels.
The first race of the day was for the Under 6s which had 22 riders lined up for one lap race with medals available for all riders at the finish line. The Under 8s then gathered up, firstly to be gridded on the line, then set off for 3 laps of the short course with the boys starting on the first whistle and the girls on the second just a few seconds later. In the boys race Fionn McCloskey (Roe Valley CC) finished well ahead of Harry McCann (Island Wheelers) with Scott Hepburn (Island Wheelers) third. In the girls race, Lila McCann (Phoenix CC) took the win ahead of Aisling Smyth (Apollo CT) who narrowly finished ahead of Harriet Abraham (Trail Demons CC).
The next races then moved over the large grass area with the Under 10s who had two laps of a course which stayed at the top level. Daniel Scott (Island Wheelers) had a comfortable win ahead of Reuben Maitland (Killinchy CC) with Oran Anderson (VC Glendale) taking third. Aine Doherty (VC Glendale) not only won the girls race, but, as per the race at Necarne a few weeks before, she finished ahead of all the boys, despite starting the race a few seconds behind them. Cara Moffet (Phoenix CC) had another second place, her fourth of the season, with Eimer Skelly (Carn Wheelers) was third.
The Under 12s then lined up for 3 laps of the same course, which was a bit shorter than they were used to, but still provided a great race between the Island Wheelers riders who took the top four positions. Scott Roberts took the win ahead of Oisin Ferrity with Adam Rafferty third and Shane Scullion fourth. In the girls race the battle between the Trail Demons CC continued with Lily McGibbon winning this round ahead of Hannah Mullin. Chloe Ferrity (Island Wheelers) took the final place on the podium.
The next races took place at 11:30 with the Under 16s heading off first, followed one minute later by the Under 14s with the men’s mountain bike support race starting one minute later. The U16s and MTB men had to complete 6 laps of the full course with the Under 14s completing 4 laps of the full course. In the U16 men’s race Thomas Creighton (XMTB McConvey Cycles) had a gap of over 2 minutes to his nearest competitor PJ Doogan (Errigal CC) with Conor Halvey (Powerhouse Sport) taking third. In the girls’ race Emma Elder (Carn Wheelers) finished just ahead of Summer McGibbon (Trail Demons CC) with Niamh McKiverigan (Powerhouse Sports) finishing third.
Ben Wilson (Dromara CC) won the boys’ Under 14s races with Darren Rafferty (Island Wheelers) second and Ciaran Dixon (Phoenix CC) third. Maia Simmons (North Down CC) was back to winning form in the girls’ race with Maria McAllister second and Katie Neill (Carn Wheelers) third.
There were 26 in the men’s support race which was won by junior rider Sean Bradley (Carn Wheelers) who finished well clear of Scott Maitland (Killinchy CC) with John Scott (Island Wheelers) third.
The next races took place around 12:45 with the cyclo-cross and mountain bike women beginning two minutes ahead of the cyclo-cross B’ race men. Both sets had to complete 7 laps of the full course. There were 12 women in the cyclo-cross race with Shenna McKiverigan (Powerhouse Sports) leading from start to finish. Claire Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles) was riding well in the early part of the race but pulled out leaving the fight for second place to come from Diane Wilson (Dromara CC) and Kathryn Aiken (Banbridge CC). Diane took second, despite it being only her first race of the season, with Kathryn finishing just over 30 seconds behind. In the women’s mountain bike support race, Trudy Brown (VC Glendale) took another win with Evan Bradley (Lakeland Wheelers) second and Alison McMullan (North Down CC) third. There were 65 riders in the men’s B race which was Raymond Dunlop (Lakeland CC) taking the win narrowly ahead of Gary McCullough (Team Madigan) with Mark Kendall (Banbridge CC) third. All three riders have now been upgraded to the A’ race.
The final race of the day was for the men’s cyclo-cross A’ race which took place just after 2 pm. There was a minute’s silence at the start of the race to respect the passing of Francie Doone (Apollo CT) who had died while taking part in a charity event the previous Sunday. Racing got underway for the 66 riders with the expected battle between Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles), Roger Aiken (Team Asea) and Lewis Ferguson (North Down CC). Glenn set his stall out early and took the lead by lap 2 and continued to increase that lead over Roger with Lewis taking third ahead of Barry Kellett (Dromara CC) [4th] who battled with Graham Boyd (XMTB McConvey Cycles) [5th] and Ray O’Shaughnessy (Cuchulainn CC) [6th]. First unplaced M40 rider was Jason Henry, first unplaced M50 was Des Woods (Newry Wheelers CC), first unplaced Espoir (Under 23) was Craig Rea (Phoenix CC) and first unplaced junior was Xeno Young (Powerhouse Sport).
After the races, the riders were able to enjoy the food and drinks laid on by the club in the open air. The prize giving took place in the same location with the usual raffle taking place afterwards which was won by Marcus Cromie.
A big thanks to the small number of volunteers from Team Madigan who put on the event. Many thanks to the series sponsor – ChainReaction Cycles Flagship store in Belfast. Round 6 will be at Ballymacormick Park in Bangor. For more details see www.ulstercyclocross.com.
Report by Martin Grimley
Commissaires: Martin Grimley, Lisa Millar and Gary Sheils.
Photos
Steven Lindsay (Facebook) – here
David McVeigh (FlickR) – here
Richard Cowan (Facebook) – here
Caolan Hawkins (Facebook) – here
Toby Watson (Facebook) – here
Derek Cowan (own website) – here
