Cyclocross Round 3 – Windmill Park, Dungannon
So far the cyclocross series has had great weather and the ground has been hard and fast. This could not last so the night before the high winds and rain got the course ready. Thankfully on the day the race the weather cleared for the youth races and even the sun came out. The Island Wheelers had produced an excellent course and a great layout of food to keep everyone fed and watered during the day.
For Dromara CC it was a well represented event with Alex Harrower producing an excellent ride in the under 8’s to take 8th with Fraser Harrower also taking 8th in the under 12’s. Kelly Wilson was very unlucky to miss out on a podium with 4th place in the under 14’s, however young Ben Wilson took 2nd place in a very close under 14 race before arriving back to chastise Team Wilson’s top mechanic about a loose seat clamp (just can’t get the staff these days Ben ;-)).
In the MTB Support Race Peter Davidson, David Broome & Bryce Hetherington battled it out to take 25th, 26th and 27th respectively. Graham Beckett took 30th just ahead of Robert Davidson (31st) and Gibson Chambers (37th).
After the dry races the rain finally made a return just before the CycloCross ‘B’ Race and the Ladies Race to change the course and add a good dose of mud. With the course being a tad slippy compared to the practise loops. In the ladies race Lisa Millar fought well to get a third place in a tough race.
Lisa takes 3rd Place
In the B race Derek Graham produced an excellent ride in the slippery conditions to take 8th place after a very close sprint finish. Brian Wilson still recovering from his chastising put all that energy into a quality ride to take 12th place and show that great handling technique should not be underestimated. Adrian Booth took 14th, Richard Cowan 17th (away home to learn how to put a back wheel on when under pressure), Mike Barton 26th and Graham “I hate mud” Smyth (currently DNF but should be fixed to 20th). John Shanks managed a rather impressive DNF as you can see from the picture.
Anyone got a spoke key?
With Barry Kellett missing out on this round it was left to Martin Grimley to fly the flag for Dromara CC. Martin was delighted to see the rain and mud. However the first corner did not go quite as planned
I’ve got this under control……
Having recovered from this mishap he managed to finish 22nd overall in a very strong field. Clearly all this training has been paying off.
On a final note Dromara CC is organising Round 5 of the ulster cyclocross at Moira – If you can help out on Saturday or Sunday then please let Lisa/Martin know – Any help is very much appreciated. More information can be found on the forum.
