Date: Sunday 29 November 2009
Event: Ulster Cyclo-cross Championships
Location: Kilbroney, Rostrevor
Host club: Newry Wheelers
The 2009 Ulster Cyclo-Cross Championships were held today at the excellent Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor. Local cycling club Newry Wheelers hosted the event which also doubled up as the 3rd round of the 2009 Supercross Cup which attracted a field of riders from the south of Ireland. The week leading up to the event had been fairly dry which allowed the event to go ahead especially after the previous two cyclo-cross races had to be cancelled due to the recent adverse weather conditions. The morning of the event was cold with low cloud and drizzle which may have put some people off from coming along especially those bringing youth riders. Also the race schedule had not included a mountain bike support race which might also have accounted for the main car park being not as full as had been expected.
Sign on took place in the tennis pavilion with youth races starting at 11:30 for all age categories from under 8s up to under 16s. The club had created several variations of the course to accommodate the various age categories. The course itself was muddy and slippery on the corners but was holding up well under the early morning rain. Around 12:30 the prize giving took place for the youth riders with the club presenting some nice medals. There were only two riders in the under 8 category and both were from Banbridge Cycling Club. Chris Curry took the honours ahead of Charley Dunlop. In the Under 10s race it was another Banbridge rider, Stuart Dunlop who took the honours, ahead of Joel Smyth (XMTB McConvey Cycles) and Craig McCarthy (Castlereagh CC). In the Under 12s race it was TSC Racing’s Aaron Swan who finished first ahead of Luke Hanna from the host club and James Curry (Banbridge CC). Chris Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles) won the under 14s race ahead of Craig Crawford (TSC Racing) with Mark Downey (Banbridge CC) finishing third despite using road tyres for an off-road event. There were only two entries in the under 16s race with Mantas Spirgius (Juiced Orchard) getting another win after his success at the cyclo-cross event in Carrickfergus last month. Aimee Ogilby (XMTB McConvey Cycles) completed her first cyclo-cross race this season.
At 1 pm the main event took place with 43 riders lining up inside a small taped area on one of the beautiful open expanses of grass in the park. The rain had stopped and the sun was even trying to make an appearance. This did make the event more pleasant for the spectators and timekeepers. Wilber Aiken was given the task of starting this race which had some of the biggest stars of off-road cycling in Ireland including Connor McConvey, Roger Aiken, Lewis Ferguson, Ryan Sherlock, Matthew Adair, Joe McCall, Graham Boyd, William Mulligan, Peter McConville, Evan Ryan, Aidan McDonald, Glenn Kinning and Liam McGreevy. They had 7 laps of the course to complete which was not too dissimilar to the course used here last December for the 2008 Ulster Championships. As per those championships this was a battle between Roger Aiken (Banbridge CC) and pro rider Connor McConvey (De-Brink Ten Tuccher). After the first lap it was Aiken and McConvey followed by Lewis Ferguson (Curran Racing) on his own and then a bunch, led by Ryan Sherlock (MAD MTB) which included, Joe McCall (Rocky Mountain), Evan Ryan (Team WORC), Glenn Kinning (Castlereagh CC), Liam McGreevy (Banbridge CC) and Canadian Mark Pagell. At the end of lap two Roger was trying to stretch away from Connor but to no avail. As the laps continued the front 7 riders came together and stretched out a lead ahead of the rest. On the final lap Roger jumped off the front and took the win finishing 14 seconds ahead of Connor repeating the result from 2008. Ryan Sherlock finished just over 30 seconds behind this leading pair and behind him there was a sprint finish between Evan Ryan and Joe McCall with Evan taking the 4th spot. Glenn Kinning finished 6th overall but was the third Ulster rider home ahead of Lewis Ferguson with Mark Pagell, Liam McGreevy and Sean O’Tuathail (Bray Wheelers) completing the top 10. Newry Wheelers’ Peter McConville finished ahead of old rival Aidan McDonald (Revolution Bike Pure). Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) finished 16th and was the first junior as well as the third Banbridge rider to cross the line and therefore giving Banbridge the team prize. There were only two women racing in this event and it was Francine Meehan (Tullamore CTC) who finished 27th overall ahead of Claire Oakley (XMTB McConvey Cycles), but Claire won the Ulster women’s CX prize.
Many thanks to the hard working members of Newry Wheelers who set out a great course and provided some excellent post race grub.
See report, pictures and link to results here
