Date: Sunday 9 November 2014
Event: Ulster Cyclo-cross Round 6
Location: Seacourt, Larne
Host club: Team Madigan
Seacourt lies on the cliffs overlooking Belfast Lough on the outskirts of Larne. The Community Centre is situated behind the impressive Catepillar factory and boasts a great 3G football pitch, community hall, kitchen and changing facilities. The grass areas around the centre have been used by Team Madigan for the last four years. The course was modified from last year but still made use of the split level grass area set up; the short, steep, muddy climbs; as well as the infamous tight short gravel path at the far end of the course. The lead up to the event had seen days of heavy rain and it was expected that Round 6 of the Ulster Cyclo-cross series would be a mud bath, however, this was not the case. The course was greasy but largely dry and fast. There was one section close to the boundary fence which was muddy but this only formed a short section of the overall course. Race day was dry with hardly a breeze. The club had set up the short course as before which this year was only used by the Under 6s and Under 8s. The Under 10s and 12s were moved over to the senior course and got to use the upper section of the grass areas. This was a big step up from last year but the young riders did very well.
Riders started to arrive on site shortly after 9 am, however, the host club were immediately put under pressure as the centre was only opened by management at 9:30. This left the sign on crew little time to prepare for the tidal wave of riders descending on them but they coped well especially when over 200 had pre-registered. The first race of the day was for the Under 6s at 10:30 which started on time on the short circuit. The 12 riders had to complete one loop of the grass course finishing in front of a large crowd of spectators. Rhys Hepburn (Island Wheelers) won the race with Caitlin Hanna (Apollo CT) second and Odhran Ferrity (Island Wheelers) third. The Under 8s were then gridded on the start line in preparation for 3 laps of the same course. There was yet another battle between Harry Hobbs (VC Glendale) and Calum Hepburn (Island Wheelers) with both riders looking strong especially through the dismount area where their smooth technique made them look like professional cyclo-cross riders. On the final lap Harry pulled away from Calum to take the win. Curtis McKee (Maryland Wheelers) notched up another fine bronze winning performance. The girls race was missing Aliyah Rafferty who has won all the previous races this series. Lila McCann (Phoenix CC) seized the opportunity to take gold from fellow club member Tori Moffitt with Eva Daly taking bronze.
The Under 10s lined up on the senior course. They had to complete 2 laps of the upper grass area. With no Adam Rafferty at this race, fellow Island Wheelers rider Oisin Ferrity got the opportunity to take gold which he did in emphatic style. Shane Scullion, also from Island Wheelers, took second with host club’s Jay Mackness completing the podium for the boys. In the girls race Aine Doherty (VC Glendale) returned from illness to take the win ahead of Sophie Osbourne and Lily Brown to make it a full podium for VC Glendale. The Under 12s then lined up for 3 laps of the same course. With league leader Darren Rafferty not present this left Scott Roberts (Island Wheelers) and Shea O’Kane (Phoenix CC) to battle it out for top spot. Scott took the win with just a 10 seconds gap ahead of Shea. Christopher Stewart (Maryland Wheelers) completed the boys’ podium. In the girls race Maia Simmons (North Down CC) took her 3rd win of the series finishing ahead of series leader Cara McKee (VC Glendale) with cousin Ciara McKee (VC Glendale) taking third.
Next to line up were the Under 16s who started one minute ahead of the mountain bike men, then the mountain bike women and finally the Under 14s. The Under 16s and MTB riders had to complete 6 laps of the main course with the Under 14s having to complete 4 laps. Adam Duff (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) stormed ahead to take the win in the Under 16s male category with Shea Kelly (Island Wheelers) second and Matthew McAlister (Island Wheelers) third. In the U16 girls race Carn Wheelers riders Emma Elder and Niamh Skelly finished first and second with Molly McLarnon (North Down CC) not finishing this round. In the Under 14s race Caolan McKee returned to winning ways taking his 5th win of the series with last week’s winner Ben Wilson (Dromara Cycling Club) second and Ciaran Dixon (Phoenix CC) taking another bronze medal. In the mountain bike men’s support race last week’s winner, Sean Bradley (Carn Wheelers), repeated his success finishing well ahead of Joe Penny (Banbridge CC) with Thomas Hepburn (Island Wheelers) taking third. In the women’s MTB race Trudy Brown (VC Glendale) took her fifth win of the series finishing ahead of Martina Hawkins (Dromara Cyclng Club), a repeat of last week’s top two positions with Alison McMullan (North Down) taking third.
It was then the turn of the Cyclo-cross females race with the Cyclo-cross male’s B’race starting one minute later. Seven lined up in the women’s race and it was a good contest between Hannah Ormesher (DID Electrical) and series leader Claire Oakley (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) with Hannah coming past the finish line ahead on lap 1 of 7 but by lap 2 they were together and then Claire started to pull away from Hannah to finish 24 seconds ahead by the chequered flag. Gill Smith (Phoenix CC) put in a solid performance to take third. There were 42 riders in the CX B race which was also held over 7 laps. Pablo Alvarez (ChainReaction Cycles) took the win in a closely fought contest with Garth Young (Dromore CC) second and Paul Mawhirt (Dromara Cycling Club) third. None of these guys having made it to the podium in any previous round.
The final race of the day was for the Cyclo-cross men’s A’ race. 38 riders lined up for 8 laps of the course which was still holding up well after the previous races. Series leader Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles) lead for the first 3 laps before Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles) passed him to go on to take the win. Darnell held onto second place until the last lap when Matthew Adair (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) leap frogged Alex Donald (Phoenix CC) to take second with Alex taking third and Darnell coming in fourth, first unplaced Espoir. Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) finished 5th with David Vaughan 6th. First unplaced veteran was Aiden McDonald (Cuchulainn CC) who finished 7th overall with first unplaced junior going to Calvin Moore (Caldwell Cycles). John Bogues (Phoenix CC) was first unplaced Supervet despite being the worse for wear after his club’s annual dinner the night before.
At the prize giving the series leader’s jerseys, sponsored by ChainReaction Cycles, were presented to Claire Oakley and Darnell Moore.
After the races, the riders were able to use the hall and enjoy the food laid on by the catering team. Unfortunately the great changing rooms that the centre boasts were kept locked by the centre management. An issue which we hope will be resolved for next year.
This week’s raffle winner was Summer McGibbon (Apollo CT) who won a track pump. Many thanks to all the hardworking volunteers from Team Madigan for putting on a great event. Many thanks to ChainReaction Cycles for their support at this round and for the overall series. The next round will be at Ormeau Park in Belfast on Sunday 16 November hosted by Xmtb McConvey Cycles.
Results here (ver 2)
Commissaire – Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
David McVeigh (FlickR) – here
Bronagh Kirk (own website) – here
Alison, Powerhouse sport (Facebook) – here
Steven Lindsay (Google+) – here
Ian Johnston (Facebook) – here, here and here
