Great results at Ormeau Park cyclocross race for Carn Wheelers
After a few weeks of miserable weather round 7 of the ulster cyclocross league at Ormeau Park was a dry affair even if it was cold making it a bit more pleasant for both riders and spectators although the course was still muddy and a hard slog in places.There were multiple podium finishes for our youth riders and a real strong series of finishes for our senior riders .
The race format for all rounds being the same meant that Jay Gibson was the first man at the start line for Carn and with a course a bit longer than some Jay got stronger as the race progressed and claimed a strong 7th place Finish. There were 3 boys in the under 8 race with Patrick Elliott , James Russell and Riley Gibson, all 3 lads rode superb races with Riley continuing has strong vein of form with a strong 3rd place finish Patrick was next man home in 7th with James coming home not to far behind.
In the under 10 girls race Eimer Skelly had her best race of the season to date with a superb 1st place in what was a very tight race throughout but Eimer showed nerves of steel to bag the win,the last of the morning races was the under 12 race and once again we were represented by Frank and Tom Russell Travis Harkness and Curtis Neill these 4 boys have came on in leaps and bounds this season and today was no exception with Travis taking 3rd place with Curtis in 6th followed closely by Frank and Tom Russell.
racing then moved to the early afternoon races with Carn well represented in the under14 and under16 races the under14 had 3 and a 1/2 laps to do of the full course including all obstacles ridng for Carn in the under14 were Ryan Skelly in the Boys Darcy Harkness , Sarah Elder and the in form Katie Neill . In the boys race Ryan rode superbly well to come home in a great 5th place ,in the girls race Katie came home in 4th despite feeling unwell today Sarah was 5th having been in 3rd until she tangled with the course tape and Darcy was 7th .
In the under 16 race the ever improving duo of Anna Russell and Emma Elder had 6 and a 1/2 laps to do and as the race progressed both girls were really impressive today with Emma taking the lead in the 1st lap and Anna having a great battle for 2nd place throughout the race Emma solo'd home for the win and Anna was just pipped for 2nd on the last lap coming home in 3rd .Well done to all our youth riders today once again a real credit to the club .
The cyclocross women's race and the men B race were next to the line with Mairead McCrory lining out for Carn Wheelers in the women's race and once again showing impressive form despite some mechaincal gremlins which cost her at least one place she still finished in a very strong 8th place . In the B race Nigel Gibson Gareth Skelly and Rodney Young were involved with all 3 riders having strong races Nigel was the first of the 3 men to finish in 22nd place with Gareth next home followed by Rodney there was another large field of 75 riders in the B race with the 3 carn riders in the top half of the field .
Finally it was time for the A race however we were a man down before the start when Stephen Walsh had a rear hanger break on his final practice lap however we still had 5 riders at the start line Johnny Taylor , Joe McCrory , Ryan Walsh ,Barry Russell and Shane Elder conditions were a little more tricky now though the course had held up better than some of late as the racing unfolded it was Johnny who proved to be the strongest Carn rider in the A race with a superb 11th place finish Barry wasn't to far behind in 16th Joe was the next man home despite having some mechanical trouble with Ryan next home followed by Shane .
This was once again a great turn out of Carn Wheelers who all seemed to enjoy the challenging course prepared by the XMTB McConvey cycles team our thanks go to them for putting on a superb event which was nicely finished off with hot dogs and warm soup to heat us all up in the cold air .Next week the cyclocross team travel to St. Colomb's Park in Derry a new venue hosted by Foyle CC see you all there folks
