Date: Sunday 25 October 2009
Event: UCX Round 2
Location: Kilroot
Host club: Team Madigan
Team Madigan hosted the second round of the Ulster Cyclo-Cross (UCX) Series at the same venue as last year, opposite Eden Playing fields in Carrickfergus within sight of the Kilroot power station. The club had faced some fairly wet and windy conditions setting up the course on Saturday and it was perhaps these conditions which lingered into the start of Sunday morning that put off many of the regular participants from coming along. The club are indebted to the land owner Nigel Dobbs for use of the field which had been well prepared by the farmer just a few weeks before the event to provide a course which was less muddy than last year. The club also had the added hassle of road works on the main approach road to the site which added to a slight delay in riders arriving to the start line. Sign on was again in the council changing facilities building which allowed for hot showers and rooms to supply race admin and catering.
Racing got underway shortly after 11 am with junior races. The under 8s had one lap of the small course to complete and it was Dromara CC’s Drew Armstrong who got his first win just ahead of Shea O’Kane (Phoenix CC). The under 10s had to complete two laps of the small course and it was the host clubs Sam McCluskey and Kendal Mackness who took first and second place respectively ahead of Matthew McBratney (Ards CC). The under 12s tackled three laps of the small course with Aaron Swan (TSC) taking the win ahead of Greg Bell (XMTB McConvey Cycles) and Connor Mallon (Dromara CC).
Around 12 noon the mountain bike support race got underway with a disappointing 7 male and 2 female riders. The males had to complete 6 laps of the main course with the females doing half this distance. From the whistle Matthew Casey (XMTB McConvey Cycles) took the lead and retained it right to the end. Martin Grimley (Dromara CC) fought a close battle with Philip Bremner (BRC) and Kyle Houston (Castlereagh CC) before Martin stretched a lead after 4 laps to claim second. Philip and Kyle stuck closely to one another for the remaining laps before Philip out sprinted Kyle to the line to take third. In the ladies event it was Dromara CC’s Caroline Patterson who took the win marking two wins in a row.
The under 14s and under 16s started just after the start of the mountain bike support race. The under 14s had to complete two laps of the main course while the under 16s had to complete 3 laps. In the under 14s race it was Craig Crawford (TSC) who took the win ahead of Curtis Bell (XMTB McConvey Cycles) with Dan Runcimann (Banbridge CC) not able to repeat his win from round 1. In the under 16s race it was Mantas Spirgius (Juiced Orchard) who rode a strong race to finish ahead of club mates Kyle McEwan and Stuart Balantine (XMTB McConvey Cycles) who was also not able to repeat his win in round 1 of the series.
After the support races were completed around 30 riders lined up for the main cyclo cross racer among them several riders from southern clubs. The males had 9 laps of the course to complete and the two females, Francine Meehan (Tullamore CTC) and Val O’Neill (Dromara CC), had 6 laps to race. Bill Mackness from the host club got the riders underway just after 1 pm. It was a fast paced start as the riders charged up the climb to the top of the field. By the end of lap one it was Ryan Sherlock (MAD MTB) who had stretched out an impressive lead over a small group containing Lewis Ferguson (Curran Racing), Glenn Kinning (Castlereagh CC) and Liam McGreevy (Banbridge CC). As the laps counted down Ryan retained his lead spending more time each lap carrying his bike over the more muddy sections. Liam McGreevy took a tumble and retired from the race leaving Lewis Ferguson to leave Glenn Kinning to try to close down the gap to Ryan. On the final lap Lewis made a last ditch attempt to catch Ryan with a spirited attach which had the spectators cheering but unfortunately for Lewis, Ryan had created a wide enough gap to see him cross the line first. Glenn Kinning finished third ahead of junior rider Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC), Niall Shannon (Maryland Wheelers), and Graham Boyd (XMTB McConvey Cycles) with Grey May (Team WORC) finishing 7th. Robbie Lamont (XMTB McConvey Cycles) finished 8th overall and took the Unplaced Vets prize. Pat O’Hare (Chain Reaction Cycles) took 9th ahead of William Mulligan (Banbridge CC). In the women’s race Francine Meehan finished ahead of Val O’Neill.
Many thanks to the hard working members of Team Madigan who provided a great race. The showers were most welcome, hot enough to remove all the mud, with excellent soup and loads of sandwiches, cakes and biscuits for afterwards. Davy Ross conducted the prize giving.
Results here
