Well, the Irish DH NPS 2008 is up and running and what a start to the season! The number of riders that turned out for the Winter Series was impressive...

Well, the Irish DH NPS 2008 is up and running and what a start to the season! The number of riders that turned out for the Winter Series was impressive but this turnout broke all records with a phenomenal 190 riders signing on to do battle not only with the course and other riders but with the elements themselves. Saturday was dry but cold but Sunday was just plain Arctic with riders experiencing rain, sleet, snow and a cutting icy wind along with the more than occasional glimpse of the sun….not that it ever got warm!

There was however plenty of heat generated on the track itself which lived up to its promise and tested all of the riders including the fast boys in Elite. Starting from the top it was straight off the fire road into the forest with a steep rooty chute followed by an off camber root filled and rocky section that kept everyone on the brakes.

A deadly steep right hander into a rock garden led the way to a steep wide left hand corner….again covered in roots. Another steep chute took the riders into a rough left hand berm, round two sharp right hand corners onto a drop, hit the boulders, jump the wee river and muddy section and back onto more tree roots. Into a right hander which you slid into and into another off camber section followed by a steep chicane, right hand berm, over a jump and then a tight hairpin corner before a rock jump out on to a fire road.

Heavy on the brakes with a tight right hand turn into the forest and into a set of very gnarly switch backs, down another steep chute, over a rock jump into a hairpin right, followed by a single track section, a very fast bomb hole corner, a tricky right hander and into a flat out straight section with two drops and this was followed by a fast pedally section – flat out for those who could still pedal!. Cross the second fire road, small drop, work your way through the tree stumps and rocks, pump the speed up before the jump into the finish field and then with nowhere to hide it was pump the legs time and a sprint to the finish line where the inimitable Ian Brown was holding court and bantering riders as they crossed the line in various states of physical disrepair – the hypo thermia kicked in later if you were brave or stupid enough to hang about in DH gear.

Elites/Juniors/Masters

The racing was tight in most categories and with Ben Reid being absent due an injury picked up in Portugal the previous week the Elites looked very open with the form book suggesting a battle between the Wolfe brothers Dan and Ger (Flow Racing) from Dublin and Greg O’Keefe (021 Racing) from Waterford. In the end it was the always very fast and too often absent Colin Ross who took the honours from local hero Gareth McKee (Banbridge CC) by a mere 0.207 of a second with Greg O’Keefe filling the other podium place. The young pretenders in Juniors just couldn’t match the Elites but still put up some respectable times with Irish Junior Champion Ewan Doherty (Wheelbase/Wiki Wiki Wheels) just piping last years U16 Champion David Graham (Banbridge CC) by 0.810 and Jonny McKee (Banbridge CC) following in third, just holding off Flow Racing’s Dave Keenan. The Masters was another tight affair with less than 5 seconds separating the top 5. Ace mechanic and “rookie” Dale McMullan (CRC) used his youthful exuberance to good advantage and took the win from Ian McIntyre (CRC) whose freshly shaven face gave him the aero dynamical edge over another rookie Mark “Sparko” Smyth riding one of Ian Macs old steeds. Joe Ward, making a welcome return to the local scene took 4^th just ahead of Michael Cowan (CRC).

Chris Mallen (Banbridge CC) took the Seniors with an impressive 2.19.357 and Ciaran O’Donaghue (IMBRC) continued his run of good form with second on 2:22.564 with Stephen Gormley (CRC) also impressing with a 2:23.324. In the sports cat Tomek Kutej took victory from Martin Sherry and Eamon O’Reilly. The Vets cat was also very tight and Carl “Banana Man” Young (West Coast Syndicate!) eked out a 0.227 win from Chris Hagan 2:56.892 and Joe Jackman (Epic MTB) on 2:58.524. Two seconds separated the Super Vets podium places with Tom Sheridan (Epic MTB) leading the way from Derek Cowan (CRC) and Peter Popham (Flow Racing). Maeve Baxter (Revolution) took the ladies crown and the £100 prize for biggest winning margin from the fast improving and totally determined Natalie Jedda (Epic MTB) and Aoife O’Donoghue (DCU).

U16/U14

A healthy U16 field saw Gavin Carroll (Flow Racing) dominate this cat in his distinctive red polka dot jersey (nice one!) from Gavin Kelly and Kyle Rimmer (CRC). Dan Sheridan (Epic MTB) continues to set the pace in the U14s most of whom seemed completely undaunted by what was undoubtedly a difficult course – keep it up guys – you are the future! Christopher McGlinchy alias Kipper is no slouch either and he is fast improving and it was refreshing to see Dan and Christopher bouncing about together after their race runs – no animosity, just good competitive friendship and long may it continue – ah… to be young again! Cameron Cornforth (CRC) finished a very respectable third. Without doubt all of the U14s deserve a mention, so well done to Niall McGovern, Lee O’Hare, Keith Ferris, Jack Shannon, Craig Rea (CRC), Adam Tarbett (Epic MTB) and Ryan Pointon. As Glyn OB would say “keep er lit”.

Considering there were two big sporting events (K-Capital Cup in Djouce Woods and the World/European Championships in Bangor) on. the turnout for the event was amazing and again shows the increasing popularity of DHing and the willingness of riders to ravel from all over Ireland to compete – it’s a credit to you all and there’s no doubt it gives organisers a lift and a buzz when they see their hard work being appreciated. Thanks to the Chain Reaction Cycle Team including usual suspects Tina, Michele, Dale, Michael, Ian Mac, Ricky Plush (allegedly retired from racing and now into walking his dog). All the other helpers including the Marshalls (hope they’ve thawed out) and uplift drivers without whom the event cannot function. Ian “Cuddly” Brown for his wit and running commentary (again Ian – hope you have thawed out) and a special mention to two local Junior riders, number 220 Richard Byrne (no relation to the savage that is Epic MTB) and 221 Tony Fearon for all their help in preparing the track prior to the event and their continued support over the entire weekends racing. Finally thanks to the Forestry Service for permission to use the land and my understanding is that this element of the organisation was smooth and hassle free – long may it continue! The next round is somewhere in the WicklowMountains organised by Flow Racing with rumours of a 3.00+ track. All will be revealed in due course!