What a race. Anyone who thinks that Downhill in Ireland isn’t alive and very, very healthy was obviously not at Moneyscalp on Sunday. 120 Riders turned up for the biggest ever winter league race. 120 Riders!!! That’s as many as the biggest races in the summer and more riders than the National Champs with the car park nearly going the whole way to Newry. There where tons of new riders and 1 st time racers who all did themselves proud, and with loads of regulars absent it’s set to be a really good year. Everyone looked great with new bikes and new kit all on display (or both if your Mark Dickson and a few others). There was a great representation from all over the country with some riders from as far away as Kerry making the trip. The Epic team from Dublin made a big impression along with the Bikecology team from Tyrone who looked great in their new kit. TC racing where also there in force with some mean black vans and some cool graphics.
The Track
Short and demanding, the Moneyscalp track was the perfect place to blow out the winter cobwebs and was expertly prepared by the Plush crew. It followed the same track as used in the summer NPS with a few new berms, some drainage and some top notch digging on the jumps and transitions. A week of no rain and a cold but beautiful January day made conditions dry and fast.
The Racing
U14
10 Brave young riders tackled the course and produced some well respectable times. Robert Duggan, the 3rd placed rider in last years NPS took the win by .05 of a second ahead of Stefan McConvey. Andrew Strun was only 2 seconds behind in a very respectable 3 rd. The rest of the field where all pretty close to the podium and have plenty to aim for in the coming races. Well done!
U16
Where did Ewan Docherty come from? All day people were saying, who’s he, or did you see that…. Ewan put in a fantastic time of 1.25 which would have placed him 6 th in Elite and won the Juniors. Ewan had some good results last year and will be the man to watch for 06. Johnny McLinchy and Matthey Coulier filled out the podium, both on a very good time of 1.33 topping a massive U16 category of 28 riders.
VETS
The Vets seem to get younger and faster every year and Carl Young showed he is wearing his age well with a surprise move up. Carl took the win ahead of a flat out Richie Byrne and fast Justin May. These results will give current National Champ something to think about as he recovers from injury (get well soon David McManus!) Tom Clogher showed that there might be life in the old dogs yet, by missing the podium by 1second.
LADIES
Abagail Hogg sent a big message out to Michele who has been having it all her own way for too long by taking the win by a narrow margain. With Aoife hot on their heels and all three within 3 seconds of each other its going to be a very interesting year in the ladies cat.
SENIOR
With last years fast men either not racing or moving up to elite we had a new look senior category. Ciaran Steger Hoey took a convincing win after moving up from juniors. Maybe he should be in Elite if he keeps going that fast! His time would have placed him 6 th! Moneyscalp local Conor Maginn seems to be back on form with a second place (and some bad dress sense, what was that white T-shirt about!) ahead of Stephen Byrne.
MASTERS
Some great racing here! No Marty McGuigan or Dave O’Hara so everyone expected a normal battle between Joe Ward and Mark Dickson. No one expected blast from the past, Kenny Cassles to race, let alone to be old enough to ride masters, but he did, and he is. Kenny showed he hasn’t lost much of the speed that made him one of Ireland's fastest Elite riders about 10 years ago, and took the win. Joe Ward was looking unusually smooth in second place with a very fast time and a second run puncture ruined any chances of changelling Kenny. Mark (factory) Dickson was very close behind with a very fast 1:29. There wont be any forgone conclusions in the Masters category this season.
JUNIORS
Rich Smith set out his stall with a convincing win and a fast time and was even seen pedalling at one point. Revolution rider, Seanan O’Riordan took a great second place on board a hardtail and will be hoping to threaten Rich when his Iron Horse Sunday arrives. Carl O’Sullivan completed the podium half a second behind.
ELITE
National Champion Ben Reid continued his dominence with an incredible 1.19, two seconds ahead of SPD wearing Glyn O’Brien who was super fast as usual. Andy Smith has started exactly where he left off at the end of last year with a great 3 rd place ahead of great ride by Jamie McCullough in his 1st race as an Elite. NPS winner Stephen Beattie nudged John Lawlor out of the top 5.
INJURIES
A big get well soon to all the injured riders on the day including U16’s Neil Dawson who ended up in hospital for what we think was an overnight visit for a burst blood vessel. Also Josh Murray who required the attentions of the paramedics following a crash in the bottom section.
An update on the ‘licence’ thing’
Here’s how your next race will work out with the new licences…..
If you bought a day licence at yesterday’s race
When you bought your first day licence you automatically became a ‘Standard’ member of Cycling Ireland and will receive a membership card in the post. Bring this card to every additional race and a day licence will only cost 10Euro.
Unless
You contact your club or Cycling Ireland and upgrade your ‘Standard’ Licence to a ‘Full Licence’. Therefore you’ll not need to pay any additional day licence fees. The cost of the standard licence will automatically be deducted from the cost of a Full Licence.
If you didn’t race yesterday and intend to race in the future – check out the ‘race Licences for Dummies’ article elsewhere on the website.
As usual the PLUSH crew pulled off a great event and a big shout goes out to everyone who helped with sign on, especially the very difficult task the Plush guys had with the new licence system…. Thanks to Honcho for all the help as well as the help from spectators who kindly volunteered to gather rubbish. Without the help of people like this the day wouldn’t have been such a success….
A full list of results is available HERE
