The cobwebs were dusted off on Sunday 17th January 2010 when the masses travelled to Bree, Co Wexford for the first round of the 2010 Irish Winter League. 

 Following the last event held in Bree, during the 2008 Irish NPS, a similar track was used, however with some alterations making it more suitable to previous winter league tracks, great fun, fast but not too difficult which suited the numerous new faces to be seen sporting bikes and race gear.

 

 

The weather was changeable, with most riders arriving into Enniscorthy over the weekend being diverted due to the river bursting it’s banks on Friday and flooding most of the town, however, the rain didn’t seem to have much effect on the track, generally it was slippy in places but held up well.  Few managed to get over the big table top at the start, with most riders going around it, however, the roots at the end of the track caused plenty of upset for riders with many coming off including Michael Cowan who managed to damage his ribs landing on a stump during practice.

 

Another big injury on the day was Rob Davis who was carted off by an over-excited ambulance driver who only discovered his siren for the first time on Sunday (or was it at Rob’s request to put the nee naws on?).  Thankfully after a trip to A&E Rob was given the all clear but is suffering this week.  Unfortunately due to Rob’s crash the last few elites were unable to do race runs, however, this didn’t affect the overall standing and the results from the first round stood.

 

New clubs sporting their new kit included Epic MTB, who after 96 years have finally managed to get a DH jersey added to their list of achievements.  Chain Reaction Cycle’s also had their bling new kit on show which seem to have paid off as 3 of their riders took 1st place on the podiums.  Credit to both clubs, and I’m told some more new kit is due within the next couple of weeks.

 

Here’s how the rider’s fared

 

Under14

Eight Under 14 riders turned out to compete for top spot with all eyes being on Luke Cornforth to see if he could step it up for the 2010 season.  Unfortunately, newcomer Conn O’Sullivan managed to pip Luke to the post by over five seconds.  Conn completed his race in a time of 2.12.911 while Luke completed his second run in a time of 2.18.606.  The two Under14 riders were well ahead of 3rd placed Leon Spencer who managed a quicker second run with a time of 2.18.606.

 

Under16

20 riders turned out for the Under16 race however it was team Flow Racing who took the two top spots with Dan Sheridan clocking a time of 1.48.950 in his second run to take first place, while team mate Adam Tarbett was 18 seconds off the pace to take second place with a time of 2.07.238.  Only 2 seconds off Adam was the oldest of the Cornforth brothers Cameron, who registered a second run time of 2.09.660 to take home the bronze medal.  A great achievement for both Adam and Cameron considering this was their first race in the Under 16 category.

 

Ladies

The usual suspects in the ladies field were missing, but a full podium turned out in the form of Epic’s Silvia Gallagher, DCU’s Aoife O’Donoghue and Epic’s Orla Power.  Silvia managed to keep her position of first place during both race runs, a great achievement for the little girl who got a helping hand from her fellow competitors on the podium.  Aoife and Orla battled it out for second place with Aoife managing to take it in her second run with a time of 3.07.392 with Orla registering a quicker time in her second run, but not quick enough so she had to settle for third place.  Well done ladies.

 

Supervets

The supervets category got a lot bigger this year with five riders competing for top spot.  Epic’s Karl Thomas took top place in the podium with a time of 2.19.460, over 4 seconds ahead of second placed Flow’s Tom Sheridan.  Tom completed his first race since his crash at the 2009 World Masters Champs to register a time of 2.24.060 in his first run, ahead of new Supervet Banbridge CC’s Victor McMinn who completed his first run in a time of 2.29.236.

 

Vets

Newcomer to the category CRC’s Ian McIntyre completed his first (and only) run in a time of 1.53.2473 to take home his first (of many) Vets trophies. Epic’s Brendan Masterson and Banbridge’s Steven Graham battled it out for second and third place with close times of 2.04.789 and 2.04.921 respectively to complete the vets podium.

 

Sport

Less then 1.5 seconds separated 1st-3rd places in the sports category with Wesley O’Connor taking first place with a time of 2.02.967.  Second and third place medals are now being displayed in the new Wicklow Cycles as Brian Conway managed to take second place with a time of 2.06.293 and Barry Langrell registering a second run time of 2.04.095 to take third place.  It’s worth noting the resident ‘Sandbagger’ Gareth O’Reilly moved to senior category for the 2010 season.  Gareth will be missed at the top of the sports podium and here’s hoping we’ll see him at the top of the senior category some time soon.

 

Senior

A similar story to the sport category, with less than 1.5 seconds separating 1st-3rd place.  021’s Bobby St Ledger took top place on the podium with a first run time of 1.48.870.  Colin O’Leary, who managed to go quicker on his second run, and managed to hold on to his second place with a time of 1.50.048, while a fraction of a second behind Colin, Ashley Hemmingway managed similar times in both runs to take third place with a time of 1.50.107.

 

Master

CRC’s Dale McMullan had an impressive race winning his category by 2.692 seconds to take home the gold medal with a time of 1.45.303.  The Epic lads, Sean and Mark had a good race for second place with positions changing between the two rounds and Sean Herilhy taking second place with a time of 1.48.005 ahead of Mark Tiernan’s 1.48.954.  Sean stepped it up a gear in his second run and managed to pip Mark to the post for the first time since….. Ever.  Watch out Mark!

 

Junior

CRC’s Christopher McGlinchy moved from his Under16 category to race Junior for the 2010 season and managed to take his first win of the year at the first race.  Following the first run Kipper was in second place behind Gavin Kelly, however, he stepped it up in his second run and managed to register a time of 1.47.534 to take the win ahead of Flow’s Gavin who completed his first run in a time of 1.47.566, only 0.032 seconds behind Kipper.  Wicklow Cycles Eoghan Priestly managed to take third place on the podium with a first run time of 1.56.858.

 

Elite

Following Rob Davis’ crash, the times from the first run for the top 3 riders in the elite category held.  Ewan Doherty (OC Tuning/Eze Fitness) took top spot for the first race in the year with a time of 1.39.312, 3.5 second’s ahead of fellow camper, Balance Fitness’ Jamie McCullough, who registered a time of 1.42.848.  Flow Racing’s Seanan O’Riordan, who also took the Intervarities Cup took third place on the podium with a time of 1.44.264 to also take home the bronze medal.

 

 

Other people who had entertaining weekends was Dan Wolfe who came to watch the event, only to end up locking Paul Cummins’ car keys in the boot of his car leaving him spending the evening driving half way to Dublin to meet his ould lad with the spare keys.

Richie Byrne managed to grace the DH with his presence, but unfortunately wasn’t man enough to get his kit on, so instead he abused fellow Epic riders and made a funny video in the process.  It can be found here http://www.vimeo.com/8799757

 

Overall it was a great event, with credit to Mick Finn and crew in Bree.  We all hope to be back there soon.


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