Date: Sunday 3 November 2019
Event: Mallusk Cyclo-cross
Location: Mallusk Playing Fields, Belfast
Host club: Kinning Cycles
In 2018 the City of Belfast Mallusk Playing Fields played host to the first UCI C2 cyclo-cross race held in Ireland. In 2019 the UCI level race did not take place but host club, Kinning Cycles, still held a cyclo-cross race at the venue. The expansive site is mostly dedicated to football but there are plenty of space between pitches, on banks, and up steps to create a great course. The start/finish was held on a section of the car park. With the host club providing 250 pedestrian barriers and a finish line gantry, the set up made it look like the UCI race from before.
The morning started dry with a mist hanging over the site. The sun did come out and it stayed bright for most of the day’s racing with grey clouds only appearing when the site was being packed up. The recent rains however, made parts of the course muddy with testing conditions on the grassy banks.
The first race of the day was for the Under 6s who had two laps of a short course to complete. The 16 young riders seem to have enjoyed the challenge and were rewarded with a goodie bag at the end. The Under 8s started on the main start line. They completed 3 laps of their course. In the boys’ race Ewan Ewart (Belfast City BMX) lead from start to finish with Jack McGahan (Square Wheels) second and Dylan Campbell (Unattached) third. Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) continues her great season with another win under her belt. Cassie Rocks (Island Wheelers) was second with Ruby Daly (Phoenix CC) third.
The Under 10s course took in part of the adult lap. They had 3 laps of this challenging course to complete. Josh McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) took the win in the boys’ race when he finished ahead of Ryan McBride (Banbridge CC) with Rory McCool (Square Wheels) third. Leah Hepburn (Island Wheelers) won the girls’ race with Skye Spence (Shimna Wheelers Cycling Club) second and Eva McLeish (VC Glendale) third.
The Under 12s used the same course as the Under 10s but had 5 laps to complete. Taking the chequered flag was Rhys Hepburn (Island Wheelers) with Adam Ward (Bann Wheelers CC) second and Joshua Gallagher (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) completing the boys’ podium. Elisa Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team) had a comfortable win over Maeve McCool (Square Wheels) with Sarah Jane Rocks (Island Wheelers) completing the girls’ podium.
After prize giving the next races lined up. Samuel Coleman (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) won the Under 14 boys’ race which was held over 3 laps. Seth Dunwoody (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) was second with Karl Rockett (Ards CC) third. There were only two Under 14 girls on the start line, both from Phoenix CC. Tori Moffitt beat her club mate Eva Daly. The Under 16 boys’ race was an exciting affair between Shane Scullion (Island Wheelers) and Travis Harkness (Carn Wheelers) with Shane keeping ahead to the finish line. Travis finished second with Curtis Neill (Carn Wheelers) third. Erin Creighton (McConvey Cycles) was the only entry in the Under 16 girls’ race and together with the only entry in the Women’s mountain bike support race, Leona Farrell, competed along with the cyclo-cross women. Rachel Irvine (The Bike House CC) was initially leading in the CX women’s race until Junior rider Darcey Harkness (Carn Wheelers) came through to take the win. Rachel finished second with Judith Russell (Phoenix CC) taking third. First unplaced Junior woman was Maria McAllister (Island Wheelers).
The Men’s Cyclo-cross B’ race took place next along with the single entry in the Men’s mountain bike race, Sean McIntyre (Caldwell Cycles Omagh). Sean did start behind the 51 cyclo-crossers but managed to weave his was up to second overall. After the 5 laps it was Colm O’Byrne (Unattached) who took the win in the Men’s CX B’ race as he finished well clear of Paul Ferguson (The Bike House CC) with Jamie Gregg (Dromore CC) third, Edward Kearney (Phoenix CC) fourth, Damian Lagan (Inishowen Wheelers) fifth and Warren Campbell (Dromore CC) sixth.
The final race of the day was for the Men’s Cyclo-cross A’ race. This was held over 6 laps. Leading from the start was Espoir rider Thomas Creighton (McConvey Cycles). He was chased all the way by fellow club man Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles). Ex-senior champion Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles Omagh) finished third with current M40 champion Alan Bingham (Newry Wheelers CC) finishing fourth and taking the first unplaced M40 prize. Race organiser Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles) had to settle for fifth with a grimace on his face due to back pain. Darragh McCarter (Donegal Bay CC) finished sixth. First unplaced junior prize went to Ciaran Dixon (Team Type 1 Junior Team) who was 9th overall. First unplaced M50 was Des Woods (Newry Wheelers CC).
After the races, the riders could enjoy some pizza cooked on site. Well done to all the riders and a big thanks to Glenn Kinning, the rest of the Kinning Cycles Club and to the friends from other clubs who helped to put on this great event. Many thanks to Belfast City Council for the use of the site and to the sponsors for supporting the event.
The next cyclo-cross race in Ulster will be Round 5 of the Ulster Cyclo-cross series which takes place at Donard Park in Newcastle hosted by Shimna Wheelers on Sunday 10 November 2019. Kinning Cycles are not resting on their laurels as they are hosting an indoor cyclo-cross event on Monday evening (11 November 2019) at the E-trax circuit near Moira. See details of both events on www.ulstercyclocross.com.
Commissaires: Jim Adams and Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
Full results here
Photos
Richard Cowan (Facebook) – here
George McNeill (Facebook) – here
Video
Kinning Cycles (YouTube) – here
Other report link
Belgium Project here
