Irish National MTB Cross Country Championships

Sunday 22nd July 2007

Tollymore Forest Park

July 07 

Event Location:

Tollymore Forest Park- located at the foot of the world renowned Mourne Mounatins. Administration by the Forest Service NI, which is an agency within the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). Nearby towns are Newcastle , Castlewellan and the City of Newry . Approx I hr driving time from Belfast and 2hrs from Dublin . The currency in Northern Ireland is Sterling (£). The course is situated in one section of the Forest Park and is a mixture of fire roads and single track.

Organisation:

Banbridge Cycling Club

c/o 12 Woodvale, Loughbrickland, Banbridge , County Down , BT23 3RT , Northern Ireland

Race Director : Andy Potts

Emai l:andypotts60@aol.com

Tel : 07880736577

Race Web Site :www.banbridgecc.co.uk

Course Description:

The course is situated at the eastern end of the forest. The start/finish location is at an area known as Ivy Bridge . From the start the course travels for a short distance along a road before branching left up a small climb. On this section the course veers left onto a short section of single track, which appears to be a walkers/horse trail, in order to split the riders up before going back onto the forest road so as to lessen any potential conflict with other forest users.

Once back on the road the course continues along until a left hand turn at an old forest building, here the main climb on the course begins. At the top of this section the road levels out and after a short distance the route enters the forest for the main section of single track. This section traverses the slope of the forest linking together natural features such as ledges, old tracks and fallen trees. This main section has both downhill and uphill sections and ends with a fast flowing single track run which ends at a minor fire road.

The course crosses the fire road and drops down through the trees with a series of flowing, sweeping bends. This section ends at another forest road. At this point the course crosses the road and drops down to the direction of the river. Here the course is split in two, one section for senior riders and for safety reasons another section is for the Youth riders, it is further away from the river. The course ends at the point where the single track rises up to join the forest road at the Ivy Bridge .

The U-8/U-10 and U-12 riders will have their own small course located in the area of the Ivy Bridge .

The start line will be on the forest side of the Ivy Bridge . Riders will be graded into rows of five on the car park side of the bridge and will then be sent to the start by the race commissaire. No races will start should the riders not adhere to the five per row rule!

Race Regulations:

The event will run under UCI Regulations, supporting events will run under Cycling Ireland Regulations.

Riders for the Elite Race will be graded initially by the current UCI rankings then by National Series rankings.

National Series Rankings will apply to all support events. The Commissaries and/or the Race Organisation may decide to place a competitor on a higher grid position on the grounds of safety.

IMPORTANT

Riders must show a current Cycling Ireland licence otherwise a one day licence will be required. Apart from the Sports Mens/Sports Womens Classes, only current Cycling Ireland licence holders qualify for championship medals.

All competitors are reminded that training on the course while any race is in progress will lead to a rider being disqualified.

All competitors must ensure that they have signed on prior to commencing training and that their race number board is clearly displayed on the front of their bike.

Competitors observed cycling/warming up without a cycling helmet may be liable to disqualification.

All competitors are advised to be in the staging close to the start at least 15 minutes prior to their respective scheduled start; this is to allow the Commissaries and Race staff sufficient time to grid and brief riders. Riders not available for their respective call up will be slotted in as appropriate by the Commissaries. Riders coming forward to the Start when not called will be started from the back o the grid

Programme and schedule of competitions:

On Saturday the course will be open for official practice from 2pm - 4pm with registration open from 1pm – 4pm . On Sunday registration will be open at 10am and will close one hour before the start of the Elite race. The race programme is as follows:

11.30: U-12

11.31: U-10

11.32: U-8

12.00: U-16

12.01: Sports Men/Women

12.02: U-14

13.30: Elite Men

13.31: Elite Women

13.32:Juniors

13.33: Experts

13.34: Masters

13.35: Vets

Camping

Limited camping is permitted at the venue. Fires are not permitted on the camp site. Race press info will include details of guest accommodation in the area. The Forest Service fee for camping is £2.50 per person per night.

Parking

A levy of £3 per car per day has been placed on the car park by the Forest Service. The car park is situated 200m from the start/finish area.

Showers & Toilets

There are no toilets in the campsite/car park; however there are a number of toilet facilities in the main forest car park.

Directions

http://www.mapquest.co.uk/mq/directions/directions.do

The above link gives directions from Newry to Tollymore.

Directions from Newry are as follows.

From Newry take the A25 which will be signposted for Rathfriland/Hilltown, Castlewellan. Proceed to Rathfriland and remain on the A25 continuing to follow signs for Castlewellan. On entering Castlewellan, at the mini roundabout in the town , take right onto the A50 following signs for Newcastle . Two miles along the A50, Tollymore Forest will be signposted to the left, B180. Please follow signs which direct traffic to the main entrance to Tollymore.