MTB Spring League 2010
Round 1
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Xmtb McConvey Cycles MTB Spring League 2010 Round 1 |
Xmtb |
| Sunday 28 February 2010 Ormeau Park, Belfast North Down club XMTB McConvey Cycles hosted the first of their three round Spring MTB league on Sunday 28 February 2010 at Ormeau Park in Belfast. This league replaces their popular Winter League that they had long established in Castle Park in Bangor but due to ongoing works in the park that location is no longer available. The club has been working very closely with Belfast City Council to promote cycling, especially youth races, and the new location of Ormeau Park was an ideal venue with ample parking, toilets and shower facilities. The club had been setting up the course in advance and were out early making the final arrangments. To complement their hard work the weather had finally decided to be kind with a dry, crisp day with little wind helping to attract a large crowd to the event. The course had been set up in the woods above the football pitches in a self-contained area away from the passing public. The course designers, lead by Robbie Lamont, had developed a tight, technical course making full use of the sloped area and maximum use of the space available to create a course length of one mile. As the trees were still fairly bare from the winter, the spectators were able to view the action along the entire length of the course. Angela Oakley headed up the team of helpers at the sign on tent which had been set up at the finish line. The club had invested in a new set of professional looking race plates. Eamon McConvey set up the PA system to provide upbeat music to add to the atmosphere. These events have always had the focus of attracting youth riders into the sport and the clubs continued effort in this area was reflected in the number of youth riders who came along, many for their first time. The 2 lap (mini course) under 8s race was the first of the day and the start line was packed with 17 eager faces. Robbie Lamont started the race with the siren function of the loud speaker which ensured that the course was clear for the riders to pass. Banbridge Cycling Club is well known for its youth riders and it was Jack Baird from the club who finished first just 10 seconds ahead of club mate Christopher Curry. Behind the yellow shirts of Banbridge came three unattached riders, Caolan McKee who was third, Scott Swann, 4th, and Ben Wilson 5th. James Buller (Banbridge) finished 6th. The 4 lap (mini course) under 10s race was next to start and among the 9 competitors there was some seasoned racers including Stuart Dunlop (Banbridge) who took the win ahead of team mate Mark Buller with Dromara CC's Drew Armstrong taking third. Sam McCluskey (Team Madigan) was fourth, ahead of unattached rider David Evans and Ben Hanna (Dromara CC) who was 6th. The course designers had created an under 12s circuit which the 10 riders had two laps to complete. Banbridge CC continued to dominate with John Buller and Richard Baird taking the first two spots ahead of the host club's Greg Bell. It was another Banbridge rider Shannon Buller who took 4th ahead of the host club's Joel Smyth. Richard Spence (Ards CC) was 6th. The under 14s were up next and they had to complete 3 laps of the main course. There were 8 riders on the start line and it was Ryan Orr (Juiced Orchard) who took the win ahead of Alex Bell and Aimee Ogilby, both from XMTB McConvey cycles. Joseph Baird was the only representative from Banbridge in this race and he finished 4th ahead of Mark Evans and Gareth Kee, both unattached riders. The line up for the Under 16s race was dominated by riders from the host club, 7 out of the 10, and they also dominated the race standings with Kyle McEwan taking the win finishing 90 seconds ahead of Stuart Ballantine with Claire and Chris Oakley taking 3rd and 4th. Finishing one lap down was recent recruit Martin McGauley coming 5th ahead of Curtis Bell. Shortly after 1pm it was the turn of the adults in the 'fun' race where all levels of cyclists from Elite through to 'Sport' raced together. The starting line was again packed with 31 men and 5 women and they faced a tough 8 laps. From the siren it was Banbridge's Matthew Adair who took the lead closely followed by Robbie Lamont, Matt Casey and Eamon McConvey from the host club as well as Lance McCarthy (Castlereagh CC), Phil O'Neill (Dromara CC) and Paul McMenimen (Leisure Lakes). Paul unfortuntely did not complete his first lap after his seat broke. Matthew Adair lead for the first two laps before veteran rider Robbie Lamont took over the lead and held that lead to the end. Matthew Adair finished second. Matt Casey, Lance McCarthy, Phil O'Neill and Eamon Convey had a great battle for places 3 to 6. Lance finally took third ahead of Eamon McConvey with Phil O'Neill 5th and Matt Casey 6th. In the women's race it was Dromara CC's Val O'Neill who took the win ahead of club mate Julie McCorry. Eileen Regan, Karen McCorry and Florence Millar finished 3rd, 4th and 5th. Congratulations to XMTB McConvey Cycles for putting on a great event. The next round will be on Sunday 7 March 2010 in the same location. Sign on from 10:00. Many thanks to Angela from the club for passing on the list of results (see below). Full results here Report by Martin Grimley |
Photographs by Martin Grimley
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