Winter League Round 3 - Moneyscalp

Feb 06

A very cold February day brought 124 competitions, plus probably as many spectators to Moneyscalp for the third round of the Plush winter league 2006. Coincidentally, 124 was the same number of competitors that turned out last week, however, there were many regular faces missing, and just as many new riders turning up to compete as Jim Smith organised plenty of riders with first time licences! This left the Plush crew again under pressure to get everyone home before dark, and opt for hectic 30second gaps between riders. As usual the event was fantastic with plenty of scandal, craic and some serious racing

The track

No fire road sprint this time, straight off the fire road and into the woods for some high speed tree-lined singletrack. Try and hold it straight for the big rock garden, hop the ditch (avoid the big white tree root) and rail the berm into some tricky root infested ‘on the brakes’ corners. Back on the power for a short stright and jump as far left as you can to join the round 1 track. It was the same as round 1 the rest of the way down. Conditions where ideal with moneyscalp as dry as it gets and the course riding super fast.

U14

A bad run including a big crash in his first run made Kyle Rimmer more determined than ever to pick up first place on his second run of 1.37.52 with Stefan McConvey following close behind on the same second with 1.37.9. Robert Duggan completed the podium with third place on 1.41.29.

U16

Ewan Doherty took his usual top spot with an impressive time of 1.15.88. Johnathon McGlinchy took second place with a time of 1.18.97 with David Graham in third clocking 1.20.97.

Vets

An unusually small turnout for the vets, left all entrants with a podium place. Epic guru Richie Byrne took first place with a time of 1.29.27, beating net Vet Carl Young who put in a time of 1.32.83 to take second, followed by regular, never one to miss a race, Tom Clogher on 1.44.47!

Ladies

All eyes were on the ladies this week. With Michele missing the second round in Bigwood and Abagail taking the win, rumours were circulating of Abagail doing the jump at the end of the Moneyscalp course in an attempt to dominate the ladies field…. And that’s just what she did, congratulations to Abagail on her win of 1.46.28. Michele followed with a time of 1.52.20 followed by Aoife who was suffering with a leg injury all week but still clocking a respectable time of 2.11.74.

Senior

It was suspected that when the top riders from 2005 moved into the elite category in 2006, the senior category would somehow get less exciting… who could be more wrong…. The senior category is getting very exciting with the top ten constantly altering. Ciaran Stegar Hoey managed to put Peter McDonagh off the top spot in his second run, and Peter, winner of round 2 seniors, claimed second position with local lad, Conor Maginn taking third position…. Looks like the music in the early hours did you the world of good Conor!

Masters

Joe Ward was sitting comfortably in first position after the first run, however this wasn’t going to be for too long… Once Mark Dickson got word that Joe might get the better of him, he stepped up a gear in the second run to clock a 1.17.37 with Joe losing out at 1.17.71. A first run time of 1.19.44 put Kenny Cassles in third position.

Junior

All eyes were on Richard Smith who once again got pedalling down Moneyscalp (yes Rich, it had to be done somewhere to get that time) of 1.12.05. Richard was followed by Dan Wolfe, who was under pressure to get down the course in time for his brother to get back up on the same bike! Dan clocked in at 1.13.53 and Gareth Kee finished on third with a first run time of 1.18.03.

Elite

As usual he turns up somewhere every year and he did it again this year. When word got round that Colin Ross was in town the top guys knew he was the one to watch, and they were right. The closest contest of the series, Colin clocked the fastest time of the day with 1.08.43 followed by the usual podium placed Ben Reid on 1.09.000. Andy Young clocked a first run time of 1.09.090 to take third position with Stephen Beattie and Andy Smith all on the same second to take fourth and fifth. It’s great to see so many Elites racing.

It’s at this point that we note due to the spreadsheet incorrectly ranking the positions of the elite riders, the ladies confess they read out incorrect positions on the day, however, everyone’s time was read out correctly previous to the order being read out! They would sincerely like to apologise to anyone for any confusion caused!

The Craic

Where do we start – what a race

Firstly some of the Killarney lads turned up sporting their new kit. Not many lads could get away with wearing pink, but actually pulling it off and looking good in it… Congratulations lads, your sponsors (all of them) must be very proud of you, and thanks for making the long trip!

Jim Smith managed to get hold of a hill walker and had him almost signing on the dotted line to becoming a Cycling Ireland member, until he confessed he only had a tenner with him, to which Jim replied ‘You’ll not get very far on that, it’s 25 Euro for a day licence and then you’ve your entry fee’. Luckily enough, the walker, who was dressed from head to toe in lycra was saved as someone pointed out there was a walking event a couple of miles down the road.

Speaking of Jim Smith, everyone will know Colin Finley who starts you off at all the Plush events. Colin had prior engagements for the Bigwood race and Jim volunteered to take his place. Unaware of who he was, Jim proceeded to inform Colin of his experience at Bigwood and what would be the best way to manage the start line…. However, the look on Jim’s face was priceless when he realised Colin was at it for six years and Jim was the ‘new guy’. Nice one!

Maire Usher (courtesy of Alan Clogher) showed she could easily be the voice of Irish Downhill racing by doing a fantastic job on the PA, covering for Nicola who still managed to make an appearance and help out despite a heavy flu.

Steve Bell was looking fast – when he sprinted down the track on his first run someone commented ‘someone has stolen Steve Bells bike!’

Victor Lucas swapped his big lens for some big travel and showed he hasn’t lost the skills.

Thanks again to the Plush crew for a great event - So next time it's off to Bigwood for the final round of the winter league, can you believe it - check out IrishDH for a preview prior to the event...

The final round will be really important, as potential ties in the winter league tables are inevitable... All riders should be aware best 3 of 4 round counts and in the case of a points tie, the round 4 Bigwood result will decide who comes out on top.... Lets see a massive turnout.