The 2007 Irish DH season got off to a flying start this year with Epic hosting the first event in Cloon Wood, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.

The weather made the event, with the track being dusty (a far cry from the usual sights at Cloon), as well as the Easter break turning out a record 181 riders for the event.

Here's how to riders fared:

Under 14

Gavin Carroll continued his winning form from the winter league with a second run time of 1.57.126 to take first place. This was followed by Robert Duggan in second place with a time of 2.15.362, just ahead of Keelan Grant's second run time of 2.16.937. Liam Williams took fourth place with a first run time of 2.24.739, just ahead of Kyle Rimmer's second run time of 2.26.433.

Under 16

The Under 16's turned out to fight for top position, with David Graham coming out with first place with a second run time of 1.50.720. Greg Callaghan followed two seconds later with a time of 1.52.750, while Gavin Kelly registered a similar time in both runs, his second run slightly faster with a time of 2.01.109. Bikecology's Marc Potts took fourth place with a second run time of 2.02.938, followed by Conor O'Neill with fifth place and a time of 2.04.718.

Women

Four ladies turned out for the first round, with Chain Reaction Cycles's Abagail Hogg taking first place with a time of 2.39.606, six seconds ahead of First Tracks/Revolution's Maeve Baxter who registered a second run time of 2.45.694. Chain Reaction Cycle's Michele Macartney registered a second run time of 3.09.756 to take thirst place, while Banbridge CC's Joanne McCallum also had a better second run to take fourth place with a time of 3.17.909

Vets

With eight competitors, the vets category has never been so full, with the 'old' boys fighting it out for top position. Team real Cycles/Commencal's Stevie Davidson had a first run time of 2.03.410, taking the win by six seconds ahead of First Tracks/Revolution's Aidan McDonald! Chain Reaction Cycle's Michael White managed to complete his second run time nine seconds ahead of his first, to register a time of 2.10.692, knocking Carl Young off the podium! Carl had two similar runs, with his first being the better with a time of 2.16.17.

It's worth mentioning the remaining riders last year would have competed in the supervet category (over 50) with Chain Reaction's Derek Cowan with fifth place, following TC Racing's Tom Clogher, Epic's Tom Sheridan and finally Steven Graham!

Sport

Derek O'Donoghue had the fastest time in the sport category, with a second run time of 2.02.924. TC Racing's Thomas Clogher registered a second run time of 2.11.310 to claim the only podium for TC Racing! Joe Collier registered a first run time of 2.19.036, followed a fraction of a second later by Pat Collins with a time of 2.19.100 to take third and fourth place respectively. Fifth place was fought out by Ray McCann and Robert Ferguscon, with both riders sharing the same second registering times of 2.22.278 and 2.22.352 respectively.

Senior

42 riders battled it out in the senior category, with Killarney's Ben Mullen taking top place with a time of 1.47.569 on his first run, and a nasty crash in his second run meant he wasn't able to finish! MTBRider's James Burns took second place with a first run time of 1.49.353, while Rory Beirne took third place a second behind James with a time of 1.50.589. Back after a injury break, Team Real Cycles/Commencal's Peter McDonagh took fourth place with a second run time of 1.51.594 while Chris Mallen finished in fifth place a second behind with a time of 1.52.324.

Master

Chain Reaction Cycle's Michael Cowan took first place on the day with a second run time of 1.47.239, with Marty McGuigan following a second later with a second run time of 1.48.332. Chain Reaction's Ian McIntyre (aka McGinty) took third place with a time of 1.49.497. Epic's Sean Herilhy finished in fourth place to register a time of 2.00.873 while CRC's Mark Dickson took fifth place with a time of 2.02.812.

Junior

Ewan Doherty took first place by a second ahead of Killarney's Jason Murphy with a time of 1.46.488. Jason managed a first run time of 1.47.282 to take second place, while Team Real Cycles/Commencal's Karl O'Sullivan took third place with a time of 1.48.515, with Epic's Colin Franklin in fourth place, registering a second run time of 1.49.646. Johnny McKee took fifth place, a fraction of a second ahead of Cathal Hickey with a time of 1.52.474.

Elite

Ireland's finest Ben Reid turned up on the day, to run away with first place by almost six seconds with a time of 1.33.935. A fantastic run and a great performance. Epic's Ger Wolfe followed to take second place, with Team Real Cycles/Commencal's Stephen Beattie taking third place with an injured hand with a time of 1.42.799. Chain Reaction's Dale McMullan took fourth place with a time of 1.43.114, just ahead of Gareth McKee who had a first run time of 1.43.796 to take fifth place.

The craic

The craic was good throughout the weekend with the Easter holidays meaning riders turning up on Friday to check out the course and do some sneaky practicing!

The craic continued on Friday night with the Bikecology, Killarney, MBC and CRC crew (plus a few more blow ins!) singing songs over the camp fire til the early hours! This tradition continued on Saturday night, with Denis forgetting the marshmallows, however, all was not lost as Gareth Pritchard aka Sponge blasted out the tunes on the guitar and kept everyone relaxed for the next day's racing. 'What a Guy'

A lot of people stayed in Cloon, with the grades of accommodation changing from the Killarney lads night on the fireroad, to the converted vans - right up to the camper van hotel block! However, does your accommodation improve your racing speed???

First race of the year means riders are off to show off their new bikes, with Michele Macartney's Socom taking centre stage, as well as Maeve Baxter's Ironhorse and Colin Franklin's Santa Cruz. I'm sure there was many more I didn't see - good luck with them all - hopefully we can keep the mud off them in Cork too!

Good to see the vets category full with Aidan McDonald leaving his XC days to show the DHers how it's done and Daddy TC Tom Clogher with a return to racing - however I hear rumour next season the club may be renamed as TCJ Racing if Junior keeps up his winning ways!

Congratulations to Epic on holding the first race of the year, and a bike thanks for anyone who sponsored prizes for the event.

The next race will be held in Clashnacrona, Co Cork on 5/6th May 2007! Watch the site for more information. See you all there.