Date: Sunday 2 September 2018
Event: Brian Kinning GP
Location: Orangefield Park, Belfast
Host club: Kinning Cycles
Sunday 2 September 2018 saw the opening event of the 2018/2019 cyclo-cross races in Ulster. The memorial race – GP Brian Kinning – is now in its second year and was again hosted by Kinning Cycles (and friends from other clubs) at Orangefield Park in east Belfast. The weather was bright and fine all day with outbreaks of warm sunshine. Not very cyclo-cross weather with hardly any mud to be seen on riders or bicycles.
The first race of the day was the Under 6s ‘fun’ race which was held over two laps of the short loop. The 15 young riders, along with parents, enjoyed the race and the snacks at the end. Next up were the Under 8s who were using the same track but had to complete 7 laps. This was a hectic race for the timekeepers as the lap was only just 30 seconds long and there were 14 riders. Rory McCool (Square Wheels) took the win in the boys’ race with Sean Heverin (Kinning Cycles) second and Eunan Campbell (Square Wheels) third. In the girls’ race Abbie Kinning (Kinning Cycles) was first with Annie Ervine (Apollo Cycling Team) second and Amelia Finnegan (Apollo Cycling Team) third.
The Under 10s race was up next which was held over a longer course. However, the riders were moving faster so the timekeepers were again under pressure. This race was based over 10 laps and saw Jamie Rockett (Ards CC) taking a comprehensive win. Padraig Doyle was second with Ryan McBride (Banbridge CC) third. Despite the girls’ starting on a separate whistle just after the boys, Emer Heverin (Kinning Cycles) managed to weave her way up through the bunch to finish third overall, first girl. Second girl was Maeve McCool (Square Wheels) with third place going to Poppy Hamilton (Shimna Wheelers Cycling Club) who had also raced the day before in Dublin.
The Under 12s course took in part of the main course, starting in the outdoor velodrome before heading off around the back of the velodrome through the trees and onto a tricky off-camber section. The riders then cut back towards the finish at the pit area. The riders were given 3 laps to complete of this challenging course. Karl Rockett (Ards CC) finished well clear of Curtis McKee (Maryland Wheelers) and Harry Hobbs (VC Glendale) in the boys’ race. Tori Moffitt (Phoenix CC) took the flag in the girls’ race with first runner up going to Aisling Smyth (Apollo Cycling Team) who was followed by Elisa Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team).
The next races were held on the full course. At 11:45 there were 5 race categories lined up in the velodrome ready to start. First away were the Under 16 boys, then the Under 14 boys, then the Cyclo-cross Women’s race, then the Under 16 girls and finally the Under 14 girls. In the 6 lap CX Women’s race Klaudia Bajolek (Scott Eurocycles) took the win ahead of Rachel Irvine (The Bike House CC) who is showing great early season form. Third place went to returning rider Fran Meehan who was showing off her new Kinning Cycles jersey after signing up this year to the club. First unplaced junior rider was Niamh McKiverigan (Powerhouse Sport).
In the Under 14 boys’ race Travis Harkness (Carn Wheelers) had a clear lead over Reuben Maitland (Killinchy Cycling Club) with Daniel Scott (Island Wheelers) third. Aine Doherty (VC Glendale) had been dominating the Under 12s category and moved up to Under 14s for the CX season to then continue her dominance with a great win. Keela Smyth (Apollo Cycling Team) finished second with Cara Moffitt (Phoenix CC) third.
Somhairle Owens Fisher (Omagh Wheelers Cycling Club) got his CX season off to a winning start taking the flag in the Under 16 boys’ race. Dean Harvey (Unattached) was second with Johnnie McAuley (Team Madigan C.C.) third. There were only 2 entries in the Under 16 girls’ race with Annie Roche (Orwell Wheelers) finishing well ahead of Grace Kearns (Dunloy CC).
Next up was the Cyclo-cross B’ race and Mountain Bike Men’s support race. This was held over 6 laps with gridding based on the registration time for the event. Early subscribers got front row positions. Paul Ferguson (The Bike House CC) had the early lead in the CX B’ race until James McCourt (Island Wheelers) passed and then pulled away to take the win. Paul finished second with Luke Joyce (Kinning Cycles) third, the ever-popular Bob Talbot (Harps CC) fourth, Sean McCourt (VC Glendale) fifth and road racing legend Fraser Duncan (Bike House CC) sixth. The mountain bike men started one minute behind the CX men but Lee Harvey (Unattached) was on a charge and managed to pass all of the cyclo-cross riders to take the overall win. Lee was using the event just as a final bit of training before heading off to compete in the World Cross-country championships in Switzerland. Second place MTB rider went to Jonathan Sims (Banbridge CC) with third going to Jonathan Dooey (MellowVelo).
The final race of the day was for the Cyclo-cross A’ race men. Gridding for the 7 lap race was based on the finish positions at the 2018 Irish National CX Championships which were held back in January at The Gap in County Wicklow. A breakaway group of four riders lead the pace on the day – Adam McGarr (Biking.ie), David Conroy (Scott Eurocycles.com), Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) and Niall Davis (Biking.ie). These four stuck close together until the end of the 5th lap when David Conroy surged off from the front of the group. The group couldn’t pull him back and he went on to take the win, which was a back-to-back win for him as he had won the day before at the first round of the Bike 7 series. Niall David has put in a lot of work for this upcoming season and finished a respectable second with Graham Boyd third and Adam McGarr fourth, taking the first unplaced Junior prize. Junior rider Sean Nolan (Navan Road Club) finished 5th with Barry Convery (Newry Wheelers CC) 6th overall but first unplaced M40 rider. Dominic McCartan (Apollo CC) was 7th with Brendan Doherty (VC Glendale) taking 8th and the first unplaced M50 prize.
After the races the riders could enjoy some hot drinks courtesy of Hills Mixtape and hot food courtesy of the VC Glendale team who were raising money to support Ellen Treanor’s cancer treatment.
Many thanks to Glenn Kinning and his team at Kinning Cycles along with all the others who helped contribute to running the race. The club wish to thank their sponsors Charm Wedding studio, Greenscape NI and Bio Racer GB.
Commissaires: Lisa Millar, Jim Adams and Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
Full results here
Photos
Richard Cowan (Facebook) – here
Bronagh Kirk (own website) – here
Video
Kinning Cycles (YouTube) – here
Other report link
Belgium Project here
