Winter League final round - Bigwood
Sunday 12th March 2006
March 06
The final round the the Plush Winter League 2006 takes place this weekend in Bigwood Forest, between Newry and Warrenpoint. The track was built by local crew Glyn O ’Brien, William Prescott and a few others and following the second round of the winter league, has attracted plenty of visitors from all parts of the country.
The Track
The track is fairly short, sub two minutes for the faster lads. Starting on the hillside behind Clady Quarries, a sprint through a wide section of track that leads down to a massive bomb hole. Out of the bomb hole, and on towards a small step up, followed by a left turn and down towards a sharp S bend section, which can be straight lined. From here it is a test of fitness, a pedally section that takes you over a fallen tree, followed by a small rock garden, another section of singletrack led to the second rocky section, after a few switchbacks, the track turns a sharp right, just above the quarry face.
Through a gap in a stone wall, with another singletrack sprint and across the first fireroad. Back into the woods, with a sharp right hand turn, followed by a sharp left and up over a mound of earth between two trees, from here it’s on the pedals again to the left hand turn that leads down to the drop, staying off the brakes to keep the speed up and over a jump which leads into a right hand berm.
From here your out into a wide section of track, with a few roots to catch out unsuspecting riders, and turn left and drop down into the last berm on the track. This is followed by a sprint across the fireroad and down into the last wooded section, a loose right turn that tends to catch out a few riders, a few pedal strokes, and a rocky left turn that leads to the finish line.
The second round attracted 124 riders from all over the country, who all came out during a murky wet weekend, however weather for this weekend is expected to be slightly better. Bring the mud tyres anyway....
So who’s going to win?
Bearing in mind that the organisers have stated in the event of a draw - the Bigwood Result will count today's the final league position.
U14s - The race is on between Kyle Rimmer, Stefan McConvey and Robert Duggan for podium positions. It looks likely that Kyle will take top spot but Stefan is still in the running. However, with Robert only having raced in two rounds, his third round is vital and he could still steal first place.
U16s - It's undoubtedly been a runaway contest for Ewan Doherty as he's already taken the first three wins, with a third likely as nobody has come close in the first three rounds. Look out for second and third position - there up for grabs by anyone really as the top five competitors have competed in all three rounds so far!
Vets - Probably the closest contest at the minute! Carl Young is currently sitting in podium position, with two wins and one second and Richie Byrne in second position with one win and two seconds, however, if Richie were to win and Carl take second, Richie would be in with a chance of podium position due to the Round 4 Deciding Round' Rule. Looks like third position is Tom Cloghers!
Ladies - Abagail has already taken the win with three wins in a row, although second and third are still up for grabs between Michele and Aoife.....
Seniors - Due to the senior round having such a large turnout, this is the only category that 5 prizes will be provided for. Pete McDonagh is sitting in second position after only attending two out of three events. If he puts in a good result on Sunday he's likely to take top spot, provided Ciaran Steger Hoey doesn't beat him to it. It's all open for the rest of the positionposition - Alister Beckett, Conor Maginn and Conor Mansell. One to watch on Sunday!
Masters - Looks likes the first three has already been pre-decided between Kenny Cassles, mark Dickson and Joe Ward...... It just depends in which order. This is sure to be one of the most competitive categories on Sunday!
Junior - Again Richard Smith has run away with the first three rounds, so 2nd and 3rd position is being battled out by Seanan O'Riordan, Stephen Gormley, gareth Mckee, Carl O'Sullivan, plus a few others. With a good result Paul Cummins or Dan Wolfe could be on the podium... Watch this space.
Elite - After the performance in Moneyscalp it would be a pity not to see Colin Ross attend Sunday's race. he's definitely a good Irish talent and shouldn't be missed, however it's unlikely Colin will pick up a podium position. With a win Glyn could take the podium position although Ben will be pedaling twice as hard to make up for two second positions in the league. Andy Smith is likely to pick up third place, but he should watch out for the guys sitting close behind!
The day's format
Following the tight schedule following round three in Moneyscalp, the organisers are aware that a 30 second gap is sometimes not substantial and hope to be able to provide riders with a one minute gap between riders. This however will be decided on race day as it all depends on the number of riders that turn out on the day.
Schedule is the same as usual, sign on starting at 9.15am and closing at 10.45 sharp. Riders are reminded they are not suppose to be on the course without signing on, and any riders that haven't signed on by 10.45 will not be allowed to do so. Sign on lists will be provided for course organisers at 11am.
Racing is then due to start at 12 noon sharp. Any riders who are not at the start line for their race run on time is putting the whole event in jeopardy. If any riders are not intending to carry out their race run, please let the organisers know in advance either at the start or finish line so this can be accounted for during timing.
The format for the Moneyscalp Winter League Round 3 is as follows:
9.15-10.45 SHARP sign on
9-11.30am practice
12.00-2.30pm 1st run
2.30-5.00pm 2nd run (depending on numbers)
5.00pm - Prizegiving
Prizegiving
If everything goes to plan on the day, Plush intend to hold a prizegiving shortly after the race ends. Plush have asked us to make riders aware that it will take some time to allocate points to riders and work out the final rankings so it may be some time before the Prizegiving ceremony.
There will be a range of prizes including some donated by last year’s NPS sponsors Zealoptics! We'd like to thank sponsors Red Bull, ZealOptics and Plush Cycles.
The timekeepers endeavour to call out everyone’s time as they cross the finish line, however, this is not always possible. If you haven’t received your time, be patient, they will without doubt be available on IrishDH on Monday night.
Cycling Ireland membership & race Licences
Plush are aware that membership cards are slowly trickling out of Cycling Ireland. They have a list of everyone who purchased standard membership over the first two round and anyone who has, will automatically be entitled to purchase a 10 Euro day licence. However, anyone that hasn’t raced before should be aware they will be expected to pay 25 Euro for a standard Cycling Ireland membership and should see the person responsible for race licences at sign-on.
Riders will need to purchase a day licence before they go to sign on to receive their number plate. Please make yourself aware of the queue for licences prior to sign on.
Anyone who hasn't race yet and doesn't have a licence should read RACE LICENCES FOR DUMMIES.
Number Plates
Anyone who hasn’t attended any of the last two winter league rounds won’t have seen the flash new number plates Plush have had printed. All riders are asked to ensure they return their number board after their second run (or first run if they don't intend on completing their second run). These numbers will be assigned individually to riders and those riders who do not return their number board will be charged £5 replacement fee.
Cost of entry
Seniors/Masters/ Vets/Ladies/Juniors £15 Stg or 20 Euro
U14/U16 £10 Stg or 15 Euros
+ RACE LICENCE
Plush, Torches & Litter!
Courtesy is expected at Bigwood and all riders and spectators are asked to bring your litter home. If there are no bins available please inform a member of the Plush crew who will happily provide you with some binliners. Please bear in mind it usually takes organisers at least an hour after the race has finished to gather people’s rubbish. With a one minute gap and prizegiving, the organisers shouldn’t be expected to sieve through the forest with a torchlight bringing people’s litter home. If you feel you can help with this in any way please ask an organiser for a binliner!
Minibikes
Thank you to riders who have adhered to this rule so far. As usual mini bikes are not permitted in Bigwood – please leave them at home. (Both at the event and afterwards)
Weather
As usual with it being winter we can almost predict it to be raining, although things could change. keep an eye of the weather for Bigwood HERE!
Directions
Big Wood is on the Newry-Warrenpoint Road MultiMap Link HERE . If stuck for directors try the AA route planner for details.
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