Kellett takes podium at Falls CX and takes 2nd in the overall series
I suppose it had to come to end sometime, the Ulster Cyclocross Series final race was at Falls Park. VC Glendale put on an awesome course and provided the weather to match.
Alex Harrower was holding his own in the under 10’s with a brilliant 14th place. In the under 14 Ben Wilson managed a third place with some smooth riding through the difficult muddy conditions. Max Melville got a top 10 finish in the under 16’s race. With Ben’s third place points added he managed to claim 2nd in the Under 14 Ulster Cyclocross Series 2015.
In the Ladies Race Diane Wilson who has been quietly producing some excellent results managed to put in a super performance to snatch third place. With these results she may have to get her own CX bike for next year.
The B Race has seen a closely fought battle within the Dromara Stable. Marty McAnulty arrived with slick shoes and slick tyres with a look in the eye that suggested he planned to skate over the mud – alas this didnt work. Davy Broome has been enjoying the cyclocross this year and decided on a new tactic of slowing everyone down by lying down on the first corner – lucky for him we caught all the action.
Davy Broome having a roll in the muck
The good news is that Davy got up from that and made his way through the field to take 8th just a few seconds behind Graham Beckett. John Shanks continued to have his bad luck with another puncture however this time he had a few spare wheels allowing him to get going again to take 13th. Behind him Paul Mawhirt took 17th, Robert Davidson 20th, Mike Barton 24th and Stephen Nugent completing the team with a 40th place. The ride of the day was from Paul Watson who had a tremendous ride and was very unlucky to not get a podium and had to settle for 4th.
Paul looking fully focused
The last race of the day saw Barry Kellett attempt to take a the Ulster Cyclocross Series win. Although it looked an impossible opportunity to take the conditions suggested that anything could happen. His main concern was to stay ahead of Graham Boyd to secure 2nd place. As it turned out Rodger Aiken produced a supreme performance to claim the victory and the overall series but behind him the race for second was on with McClinchey, Kinning, Boyd and Kellett fighting for it. By the last lap Graham Boyd had faded meaning Barry just needed to make it to the finish line but with McClinchey tiring quickly and Kinning in sight Barry made the push for second only to be out sprinted by Kinning. A fabulous performance to take 3rd meant he secured second place in the Ulster Cyclocross series – Awesome.
BVK battling for a podium
With all that excitement at the front the rest of Dromara had mechanical after mechanical as Zak, Derek and myself fell foul to clingy mud however Nathan had a great ride after securing a pit bike for the day and taking 22nd place for the day.
Nathan loving the muck
Finally a shout out to all the helpers of VC Glendale who produced an awesome course and superbly run event. Next week is the Ulster Nationals with the Irish Nationals be run by us on the 10th January. More details to follow.
