The weekend started early for a lot of competitors, with the pressure of being Irish National champion in most categories meaning you couldn’t get enough practice on the course.  Senior parking attendant, Tom Sheridan set up camp in the finish arena and from Thursday evening proceeded to get the weekend visitors into a flow of setting up the best pits on the DH calendar.

 

Throughout the weekend, some of the major mountain bike clubs in the country set up camp in the pits area, making themselves at home for the durations of the event.  Here are some of the pits.

 

 

 

Practice started early on Saturday morning with pre-entry proving to be working well .  The Monster truck and DJ played throughout the day in the pits area, and the atmosphere was fantastic.  By the end of the day, riders had completed as many practice runs as they could have hoped and the day seemed to go without a hitch.  Riders congregated in the pits area with plenty of stories of line choices and how the day went and talk about who the fastest riders on the day were.

 

Sunday morning uplifts started just after eight, with riders being escorted to the top of the hill with marshals.  Plenty of time for riders to check out some new lines as well as the competition before racing, which started at 12noon. 

 

Here’s how the riders fared:

 

U14

12 riders turned out to race for the title of national champion.  Following impressive wins at all five of the 2009 NPS events, the pressure was on 021 Racing’s Cameron Cornforth to continue his winning ways.  The pressure didn’t show however as Cameron took first place, almost 11 seconds ahead of second place with a time of 2.35.330.

Colin O’Donoghue stepped up his form of the 2009 season to take second place with a second run time of 2.46.261, ahead of Angus Fyffe, who completed his first run in a time of 2.50.196 to take third.  021 Racing’s Luke Cornforth completed his first run in a time of 2.51.007, two tenths of a second ahead of Flow Racing’s Adam Tarbett.  Adam, aka Tarbo also received the award of the best marshal who cheered up all riders at the top of the course on Saturday morning before he started his own practice! 

 

U16

A large Under 16 category with 23 riders turning out to try to claim the title of national champions.  First place by 2.763 seconds was MSC’s/Chain Reaction Cycles Christopher McGlinchy aka Kipper.  Kipper took the title with a second run time of 2.34.081.  Second place on the podium was Killarney’s Robert Duggan. 

Robert recorded a second run time of 2.36.817 to take home the silver medal ahead of third place Chris Murphy.  After the first runs Chris was sitting in second place, however, following the second runs, his best time of 2.38.175 placed him in third.  Trail Riders Eoin Grant took fourth place with a time of 2.40.047 with Chain Reaction’s Johnny McCartan finishing in fifth place with a time of 2.47.163.

 

Ladies

Six riders contested the ladies category with European champion Maeve Baxter coming out on top with a first run time of 3.02.162.  Epic’s Natalie Jedda stepped it up in her second run going five seconds faster, but it wasn’t enough for first place so took home the silver medal with a time of 3.08.921. 

Chain Reaction’s Michele McMullan managed a better second run with a time of 3.15.291 to take home the bronze position.  Aoife O’Donoghue, Epic’s Sylvia Gallagher and Chain Reaction’s Julie Rea completed the ladies category.

 

Supervets

Four supervet riders turned out to claim top place on the podium.  Senior car park attendant and race organizer Tom Sheridan managed to take first place 14 seconds ahead of his closest rival with a first run time of 3.01.947. 

Epic’s Karl Thomas registered a second run time of 3.16.213 to take home the silver medal, while Flow’s Peter Popham completed his first run with a time of 3.23.244 to take third place.  Meanwhile completing the auld boys category, TC Racing’s Tom Clogher completed the podium with a first run time of 3.46.727.

 

Vets

A very competitive vets category with the top three riders finishing in the same second.  After the first run, Chain Reaction’s Stevie Davidson was sitting in first place with a time of 2.38.951, almost 2 seconds clear of second place. 

However, following the second runs, Steven Graham stepped it up a gear to take first place with a time of 2.38.171, and Dublin Blazer’s Carl Young also stepped it up to register a time of 2.38.232, slotting Stevie into third place.  Potato Bred’s Colin Finley completed his second run with a time of 2.41.606, meanwhile Epic’s Brendan Masterson completed his second run in a time of 2.48.311 to take fifth place.

Unable to go fast enough for a prize, Victor Lucas is pictured attempting to claim one anyway!

 

Sports

Gareth O’Reilly continued his winning form in the sports category competing his second run in a time of 2.41.218, two seconds ahead of MBCC’s Brian O’Sullivan.  This was Brian’s best result of the year with a time of 2.43.349 ahead of Marek Szymanski. 

Marek completed his second run with a time of 2.44.739, only one tenth of a second ahead of Diry Habit’s Barry Langrell’s second rum time of 2.44.868.  MBCC’s Eoin Thomas completed the podium with a second run time of 2.47.427.

 

Senior

25 riders competed the national champs in a bid to be placed top of the podium.  With only his second race of the year, Cycle Inn’s Johnny Wilson completed his first run with a time of 2.27.722 to take first place on the podium.  James Reilly registered a quicker first run time of 2.32.787 to take second place . 

Niall Egan and UCD’s Rory Beirne both completed his first and second runs in the same second, 2.42 for the first run, and stepping it up a gear in the second run with times of 2.37.260 and 2.37.569 with Niall coming out on top and in third place.  Meanwhile 021 Racing’s Bobby St Ledger completed his first run with a time of 2.38.063 to take the fifth place prize.

 

Masters

A welcome return to racing to Andy Young (aka Honcho) who returned to racing following his step up to the masters category.  In a bid to avoid UCI points, Ireland’s top downhiller Kona/Sombrio’s Glyn O’Brien also braved the very competitive masters category.  

Following the first runs Glyn was sitting in first place with a time of 2.19.322, ahead of Honcho’s 2.19.692, however in the second run, Honcho stepped it up a gear and registered a time of 2.19.110, two tenths of a second ahead of Glyn to take the masters win.  Meanwhile, the usual master riders raced for third place with Chain Reaction’s Michael Cowan taking third place with a first run time of 2.24.545, four second ahead of teammate Chain Reaction’s Dale McMullan who completed his first run with a time of 2.28.370.  Potato Bred’s Joe Ward completed the podium with a first run time of 2.34.253.

 

Junior

Another very close category with first and second place only separated by two tenths of a second.  2Stage Bikes Greg Callaghan completed his second run with a time of 2.18.348 to take the junior national title, ahead of Gavin Carroll, who registered a time of 2.18.564. 

Bike Tart.com’s Davy Graham only manage to complete his first run with a time of 2.21.573 to take third place on the podium.  Loose Cannon’s Stephen Mellon managed to completed both runs in the 2.34 second with his second run of 2.34.126 being fastest to take fourth place.  Epic’s Gavin O’Connell completed his second run with a time of 2.35.298 to take fifth place on the podium.

 

Elite

Back to relaim his national title following missing out on it the previous year, Just Reid’s Ben Reid completed his first run with the fastest time of the day by over three seconds with a time of 2.09.614. 

Meanwhile, 2008 national champion, Bike Dock’s Colin Ross settled or second place with a second run time of 2.12.830, over three seconds ahead of third place.  Host Club Flow Racing’s Daniel Wolfe completed his first run with a time of 2.16.564 to take third place on the podium.  2Stage Bike’s Gareth McKee managed to complete a faster second run with a time of 2.17.659 to take fourth place ahead of Flow Racing’s Gerard Wolfe who completed his first run in a time of 2.17.955, just behind Gareth.

 

Mr Flow

 

The craic continued at the prize giving with some crowd surfing by some of the top elite riders, followed  by anyone else who wanted to join in before Rory Wylie of Cycling Ireland presented the national championships with their awards and national jersies.

 

In national championships the following prizes were award:

 

U14

1^st – Cameron Cornforth

2^nd – ColinO’Donoghue

3^rd – Angus Fyffe

 

U16

1^st – Christopher McGlinchy

2^nd – Robert Duggan

3^rd – Chris Murphy

 

Ladies

1^st – Maeve Baxter

2^nd – Natalie Jedda

3^rd – Michele McMullan

 

Vets

1^st – Carl Young

2^nd – Stevie Davidson

3^rd – Colin Finley

 

Masters

1^st – Andy Young

2^nd – Glyn O’Brien 

3^rd – Michael Cowan

 

Junior

1^st – Greg Callaghan

2^nd – Gavin Carroll

3^rd – Davy Graham

 

Elite

1^st – Ben Reid

2^nd – Colin Ross

3^rd  Dan Wolfe 

 

It’s worth acknowledging the work completed by David Morgan and Martin of NACC Events, who have allowed downhill racing in Ireland become accessible to all clubs wishing to hold a race.  Their service is as always very professional and efficient.

Also the presence of Monster with great food, good uplifts, a hotseat, great weather, the presence of OC Tuning and entertaining PA made the event a great success.

 

 

OC Tuning's new apprentice

 

Enjoying the hotseat

 

 

 

Overall the weekend was a huge success with one of the best tracks in the country.  Organisers get little thanks for organizing races I would feel I’m speaking to behalf of the downhill community when I thank Flow Racing, in particular Damo, Liam, Peter and the rest of the team who’s effort was very evident throughout the weekend.