Dromara Wrap up Ulster Cyclocross Series in Style

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It is hard to believe that the 10th and final round of the Ulster Cyclo-Cross Series has come around. It was not that long ago that we where all in Lurgan discussing what lay ahead. This years series has certainly produced some excellent racing with the courses certainly not as mucky as last year. The final round hosts were NDCC and they held the course in Castle Park with a new course to test the riders.

First up as always we had Aoife Kellett who tackled the U8 girls course. The course had a long draggy section which tested everyones legs never mind the U8’s. The first lap left Aoife off the pace and battling to hold on to 5th place but like her dad who doesn’t know when to quit she lit the after burners and put in a fabulous last lap only to miss out on 4th by a slender 2 seconds. A performance she should be very proud off as she rounded the series off in 4th place.

In the U10’s James Armstrong had a tough race and battled through a large crowd to snatch 13th place. James has been consistently up there in the U10’s race and should be well pleased with his 8th place for the series.

In the U12’s Benjamin Quigley dug in to battle this tough course and captured another 12th place. It was that sort of determination that meant he capulted himself into 10th place for the series. In the U14’s Fraser Harrower is really producing the goods week in week out as he took another great 8th place. With all the points added up he took 9th place in the series and I am sure will look to better that next season.

The MTB Support race saw Neil Armstrong take to the start line and produce a battling performance to take 9th place which would help him secure a clear 4th place for the series. We shall have to wait and see if Neil is a true convert to the off road scene as the XC gets started in March. In the female MTB Support race Andra Ungureanu took a brilliant 2nd place on the podium as well as securing a 4th place in the series. Looking forward to seeing what this young lady can do in next season’s XC events.

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The Men’s B Race saw 8 Dromara CC members take to the start line with the ever young Paul Mawhirt making his debut this season. It was a hard fought race for the first Dromara rider to make it home. Gibson Chambers rocked off at the start and was closely followed by Paul Watson. John Shanks took a more measured approach at the start and as the laps counted down *queue the Jaws music* he would overhaul both Gibson and Paul Watson before the finish line to take 15th place and the bragging rights. Paul Watson finished in 16th place and Gibson in 18th place just showing how close it was. Paul Mawhirt has certainly not lost his CX touch with a great 25th place finish with Robert Davison not far behind in 30th. Mike Barton battled to an excellent 36th place just ahead of the ever young Bryce Hetherington in 41st and John McGuigan in 46th.

The Main race of the day saw 7 members of Dromara CC pit themselves against some of the best cx riders. Nathan Mullan and Barry Kellett both had great starts but Roger Aiken who has been in great form would soon ride into the distance. Barry had to work extremely hard to hold onto his 3rd place as Chris Mcglinchey would finish a mere 9 seconds back. Behind that main battle there was Davy Broome carrying the Dromara CC Team flag and with a fantastic last lap would pass Johnny Bogues for 21st place and take the team prize. The battle behind was purely for pride as Graham Smyth, Richard Cowan, Derek Graham and Peter Davison gave it their all. When the dust had settled and Michael Mullan and Robert Davison could finally rest from doing the pits Richard Cowan took 25th place, Graham Smyth 26th, Peter Davison 29th and Derek Graham 41st. Many thanks to the Pit crew who were over worked on this round.

With the race over it was clear that Barry Kellett had done enough to secure a fantastic 2nd place for the series with Peter Davison taking the top Espoir rider. All in all a super performance from all the Dromara CC riders. Next week will be the Ulster Championships up at Mallusk with the Team prize up for grabs and Barry Kellett hoping to bag a medal.

Finally many thanks go to NDCC and their volunteers who helped setup the course, do the sign on, marshal the event and generally look after everyone.

Credit for the photos goes to the Belgium Project who are always out and about taking great pictures. Many Thanks.

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