Chain Reaction Cycling Club Winter Series 2008

Round 1 Race Report

Feb 08

They came from the North, South, East and West of the Emerald Isle…..all to ride on the much maligned Moneyscalp DH course…..still the home of the Winter League! After all the debate and gnashing of teeth 150+ riders turned up to ride on a natural flowy course that has had nothing but positive comments on the various DH/MTB websites. The debate on what happened to some of the course features will no doubt rage on but this event proved that there is still life in the DH scene. The turns bends rock garden and gnarly rooty sections all contributed to a great course which suited the newbies to DH and was still challenging to the established riders.

The weather certainly helped with sunshine being enjoyed for most of the day and the chill only really settling in towards the end of the second run when riders and spectators started to get the extra layer of clothes on and flap the arms about. The race itself was a credit to the CRC team who as usual had their finger on the pulse and it went really smoothly with the new timing kit proving to be a great investment.

The race itself!

U14

The U14s (the future of DH racing) started the ball rolling with a very healthy 11 competitors racing down the track on a variety of DH/MTB equipment and all a credit to their teams and parents. Dan Sheridan from EPIC was the clear victor with a 01:31.893 which was almost 10 seconds ahead of second placed Ryan Pointon and Christopher “Kipper”McGlinchy filling the third spot. Congratulations to all the U14 riders!

U16

Big changes in this category this year with a lot of riders moving up to the Juniors. Last years most consistent U14 rider Gavin Carroll has himself made the move up to the U16s and he took the win with a very impressive 01:25.159 from Michael McCann 01:31.479 and Matthew McDowell 01:32.102 whose close times suggest a close battle throughout the year. Sixteen riders in this cat shows that the healthy youth interest is being maintained.

LADIES

Four….yes 4…young ladies turned out for the ladies race…must be the best turnout for a long time. All 4 girls did themselves proud and all 4 finished both runs! Aiofe O’Donoghue made a triumphant return after being absent for most of last year and she as pushed all the way by Natalie Jedda who just keeps getting better and better. Una Mollin took third spot with Orla Power in fourth. Let’s hope that this is a sign of the times and that the ladies cat continues to attract more riders. Well done girls.

SUPER VETS

The Super Vets cat, reinstated for the Winter Series allowed the half century + guys to battle each other rather than have to contend with the youngsters in the Vets and that evergreen gladiator Peter Popham took the victory from Tom Sheridan (keeping it in the family) and Victor McMinn who made a welcome foray into the race scene.

VETS

One of the closest races saw Stevie Davidson renew old rivalries with Carl “Bananaman” Young with Stevie piping Carl by just over a second. Colin Finlay wasn’t far off in third place and Steven Graham and Joe Jackman finished the placings in 4 th and 5 th. It was great to see Steven Graham back racing again after his broken wrist that he suffered at Whitehorse at the end of last season and he’ll be hoping to get closer to the podium as the season goes on.

SPORT

Thirty one riders entered the very competitive Sport class and some of them should think about entering the Senior class as they wouldn’t be out of their depth. Lots of new names in this cat and the honours went to Nigel Glynn in 1 st with Tomek Kutej (hope that’s spelled right ) and David Pepper finishing the podium places in 2 nd and 3rd respectively.

SENIORS

The Seniors cat has been the largest one over the past few years and although not the largest on this occasion 23 riders made it very respectable with 4 seconds separating the top 4 riders. Ciaran O’Donoghue completed the family double (his sister Aoife won the Ladies) by winning this category from Alistair Beckett and Denis Corkery and it was so good to see riders from all over the country riding in this category.

MASTERS

With regular Masters Joe Ward, Michael Cowan and new Master Dale McMullan not competing the trio of Sean Herlihy, Ian MacIntyre and Bruce Murphy did battle, with Sean aka – “The Happy Fairy” aka “The Minister for Mountainbiking” taking the victory from Ian Mac. Epic are already raising funds for a shrine to the great man – O’Connell St. has already been renamed Herlihy St. Hopefully Sean, who is responsible for a lot of the good things that is going on in behind the scenes down south can persuade his partner in crime Richie “Savage” Byrne to “Don” his DH gear again rather than savagely lash poor unsuspecting riders on the Epic website…only joking Ritchie…really, honestly..ahhhhh.

JUNIORS

A massive 33 riders took part in the Junior category and considering the Killarney boys didn’t make the trip this is an amazing turnout. With the 2 most consistent juniors from last year (Jason Murphy and Ewan Doherty) not competing it was the always very fast Seanan O’Riordan who blitzed the opposition with a 01:19.731 which was also the 4 th fasted time of the day. Up and coming rider Greg Callaghan proved that the move up from the U16s was not going to overawe him and he was just over 3 seconds behind Seanan with Banbridges Jonny McKee following up on his end of last season form by taking 3 rd spot only 0.021 behind. Whilst there were other noteworthy rides I think Dave Keenan from Dublin deserves special mention. Here is a guy who has had more than his fair share of injuries and bad luck and sporting his new neck brace (it’ll catch on!) he finished fourth in this very competitive category – his best ever finish?

ELITES

Although missing Irish Champion Ben Reid, the Elite field was strong and included the Wolfe brothers, Dan and Ger, as well as Glyn O’Brien, Stevo Beattie, Paul Cummins and a welcome appearance by Colin Ross, who on his day is a match for anyone. Seventeen riders took to the course and Dan Wolfe proved too strong for the other riders setting the fastest time in both runs with his first run time of 01:16.478 winning the day. Glyn OB, looking for victory in the World Masters this year proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with and finished close behind on 01:18.065 and Stevo Beattie took third with 01:19.020. Ger Wolfe and Colin Ross finished just outside the podium spots in 4 th and 5 th respectively.

The event is no success without competitors and it’s the riders from all over the country who made the effort to travel to Moneyscalp that made the day the success that it was. It was particularly good to see the MAD crew from Dublin and we will hopefully see more of them throughout the season. There’s no doubt though that thanks has to go to the Chain Reaction Club who have once again put on a great event. In particular Tina, Michelle, Michael, Dale and Ian Mac deserve a special mention as well as the others that I have neglected to mention…you know who you are…...and I’ll get your names next time. Thanks to Paul (the paramedic) and all of the Marshalls who all have their part to play. Michael and Dale didn’t race ……… that shows commitment. Thanks goes to Ian “Johnny Cash” Brown who took over the MC duties from the lovely Nicola Ward who is in expectant mode at the mo. Whilst Ian may not be as sexy as Nicola his dark humour and demographic knowledge of where each rider came from went down a treat. Finally, thanks to all the spectators who helped create the atmosphere and also to the Forestry Service for allowing the event to go ahead. Hopefully with constructive dialogue and better understanding by MTBers and the FS a common ground can be found that will satisfy both parties and allow the great sport of DH to develop and thrive.

Roll on Sunday 24 th February and the second round of the 2008 Winter League!