Date: Sunday 15 December 2013
Event: Ulster Cyclo-cross Round 8 – Ulster Cyclo-cross championships
Location: Drum Manor Forest, Cookstown
Host club: Carn Wheelers
Carn Wheelers played host to the 8th and final round of the Ulster Cyclo-cross series, which also doubled up as the Ulster Cyclo-cross championships 2013, at Drum Manor Forest outside of Cookstown. This was the second year that the club had used this site and they had reshaped the course to make it shorter, faster and more flowing than the previous year. There was strong winds on race day morning with occasional showers and a cold chill in the air. The host club had the course well prepared and the first of the riders started to appear at 9:30am. Racing began at 10:30 with the support races for youth, with the Under 6s starting the day off. The club had set up the youth circuits within the event field in clear view of the spectators as well as having the young riders cycle up the fire road where they were cheered on by the crowd.
The Under 6s had one lap to complete, the Under 8s had 4 laps of the same circuit. The Under 10s and 12s shared a course completing 4 and 6 laps respectively. At 11:30 the Under 14s, 16s and mountain bike support riders lined up at the end of the fire road. Spectators were asked to step back as the riders charged up the fire road and then into the event field where their first challenge was the spiral before climbing out of the field, past the timing tent and then off into the forest. At 1pm the main event of the day took place. This was the A’ race men and women’s race which was also the Ulster championship race. Also joining in were the B’ race men who were not part of the championship but were racing none the less for series points. The course in the forest was very fast with plenty of fire road being used, broken up by short muddy sections to test the bike handling skills. The series leader Roger Aiken (Banbridge CC) was on fire again, graciously carving his way through the backmarkers. Chasing hard, but a good bit back, was Glenn Kinning (East Antrim) who has shown great form this year. Behind him was junior rider David Montgomery who has returned from University in England to show that he hasn’t lost any of his strength and skill. Ronan McLaughlin (An Post) was fourth overall but lifted the 3rd place Ulster Senior medal. James McMaster (North Down) was 5th with another junior sensation, Rory Maguire (Phoenix CC) finishing 6th. Phoenix CC lifted the team prize when John Bogues and Alex Donald crossed the line.
After the races the riders were able to enjoy hot soup and rolls, tea and coffee which were being dished out the catering volunteers. The riders could then make use of the bike wash and hot showers at this site. Many thanks to Carn Wheelers for putting on a great event and to the Forestry Service for the use of the venue. Many thanks to all the competitors for taking part in the series. We hope you enjoyed it. The next Ulster cyclo-cross race will be the National Championships which will be held on Sunday 12 January 2014 in Lady Dixon Park, hosted by Phoenix CC.
Cyclo-cross A’ race
1. Roger Aiken
2. Glenn Kinning
3. David Montgomery
Unplaced veteran – Jason Henry
Unplaced junior – Rory Maguire
Unplaced supervet – John Bogues
Cyclo-cross Females
1. Claire Oakley
2. Lisa Millar
3. Shenna McKiverigan
Cyclo-cross B’ race
1. Gary Jeffers
2. Sean Scullion
3. Raymond Kerr
4. Peter Morrison
ULSTER CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Ulster Senior Men
1. Roger Aiken
2. Glenn Kinning
3. Ronan McLaughlin
Ulster Women
1. Claire Oakley
2. Lisa Millar
3. Shenna McKiverigan
Ulster Juniors
1. David Montgomery
2. Rory Maguire
3. Darnell Moore
Ulster Veterans
1. Jason Henry
2. Des Woods
3. Sam Craig
Ulster team Prize
Phoenix CC
Full results here
Photos
Vincent Bradley (Facebook) – here
David McVeigh (FlickR) – here
Commissaire: Maurice McAllister
Assistant Commissaire: Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
