CycloCross Round 5 – Moira Demesne
Well that was quite a weekend for Dromara CC – it takes special people and a great bunch of volunteers to get a CycloCross event to run like clockwork. With all the planning in place the Saturday crew were first up with rakes, brushes and fence posts.
A quick discussion on where the course was going and what areas needed cleared was given from Martin. After this the hard work began. As you can see below no volunteer is too young.
In the saturday morning crew it was always handy to have a national champion showing he can clear leaves with the best of them. #raceprep 
With barriers put out and the area fenced off it was off to get those final adjustments to the bikes done before race day. On Sunday morning there was plenty to do with the course requiring taped, tents erected, timing equipment setup & sign on organised all before the first race off the day at 10:30am. With all hands on deck the course was ready for the mass of racers young and old.
Looking as good a course as any top pro race
The Sign On was frantic as always with quite a few on the day competitors. Emma & Bernie’s Sign on team had everything under control with everyone getting their appropriate number & timing chip.
Emma & Bernie’s Sign On team in action
By 10:30 the first of the childrens races was about to start. The Under 6 race saw a couple of Dromara’s young starlets Toby Hazelton and Rylee Broome showing a real appetite for racing. In the under 8 race Alex Harrower took 7th in the boys race and Lexi Broome took 6th in the girls race. Fraser Harrower battled bravely to take 9th in the under 12’s. In the under 14 girls race Kelly Wilson took a well deserved 4th with her brother Ben Wilson having a stormer in the the Under 14 race to take first place.
After the childrens racing was finished it was time for the Mountain Bikers. It is not often you come to a race and someone asks you if you have a spare saddle but with Martina Hawkins damaging her saddle on the first practise lap the panic was on. Thankfully Zak stepped up to lend her his saddle for the race which resulted in Martina holding off the series leader Janice Hepburn to take second place with Jacqueline Wade taking a super 7th place.
Martina grinding out a great 2nd place
In the mens MTB Support race Graham Beckett showed that he still has too much power for his new MTB by snapping his chain on the second lap. This left Peter Davison and David Broome to fight it out to see who would be first DCC rider home. Peter managed to hold David off by 3 secs to take 18th & 19th respectively. Paul Watson took 23rd with Marty “I’m the QA” McAnulty taking 27th.
Marty taking out the competition
With MTBers really churning up the course it was next up for the CycloCross Racers. The ladies race had a record 12 entrants with our very own Lisa Millar hoping to get one over on Gill Smith and get a podium. Alas it was not to be with her retiring due to a very painful back injury. Hope the back gets better soon Lisa.
The ‘B’ Race is next up and it has to be said that this is becoming a very competitive race for the DCC competitors. Naturally the early talk was about how no one had been on a bike all week and a few coughs were given to prove they had been a bit under the weather. Then there is the gridding which was not too important with a wide start and 300m sprint to the first corner. When the gun went and we all headed for the first corner it was important to avoid a few bikes with people falling everywhere. The race was a very tight affair and I am delighted to say that I managed to snatch a 3rd place splitting the two NDCC boys – currently I am avoiding anyone who mentions upgrade.
What is an upgrade??
Paul Mawhirt had a great race taking 9th with Graham Smyth not too far behind in 11th. Brian Wilson(19th), Mike Barton(21st), Adrian Booth(25th), John Shanks(28th), Derek Graham(30th) & Gibson Chambers(36th) proved that DCC have a very strong cyclo cross group. Do we get a team prize???
The final race of the day saw the Top CycloCross Riders go head to head. With Martin Grimley directing proceedings he decided not to race. Zak Hanna had been building his cyclocross bike up for weeks and has created a secret cyclocross training ground at home. After a recommendation from Brian Wilson that the ‘A’ Race was for him he stepped up to the challenge – good work Brian. Alas the Moira muck finally destroyed his race but hopefully the bike will be fixed up and ready to use for Larne.
That left young Barry Kellett to show how this course can be tamed – since it was a home race he decided half way around the first lap to get off and work at his bike before starting a superb comeback through the field. With many DCC supporters shouting encouragement and giving plenty of helpful advice like “Keeper lit”. These wise words propelled Barry to take an awesome 4th spot in a very elite field. This of course wouldnt have happened without his highly paid pit team #pro
With the race over it was time to clear up and get the prize givings finished. It was a great turnout by Dromara and many thanks needs to go to all the volunteers who stepped up to make this the great event that everyone keeps talking about. Special thanks needs to go to those who spent the whole two days working at this event – you know who you are and without you this race wouldnt have happened. From the reports I have heard and read suggests that Dromara CC really know how to put on an event.
Full results can be found here
