Ulster Cyclocross Championships a big success in Maghera

The Ulster Cyclocross Season drew to a close in Maghera with the Ulster Championships held at the old Maghera High School grounds and hosted by the Carn Wheelers . 

The club had seen the potential in the old high school site last year and worked closely with the council to secure the venue for this years championships the site lends itself perfectly to the sport with several different elevation levels and multiple surfaces all of which makes a great course however due to all the recent rain leading up to race day the going was really tough with lots of the course waterlogged resulting in very muddy conditions however cyclocross racers are a tough lot and this is what they love about the sport.

The first race of the day was the under 6 race and for Carn Wheelers Daithi Walsh making his racing debut finished 2nd with Jay Gibson not far behind racing then moved to the under 8 and after a great race Riley Gibson finished 3rd with team mate Patrick Elliott in 4th. Our only rider in the under 10 race was Eimer Skelly who finished her season with a hard earned 4th place ,racing then moved to the under 12,s where Travis Harkness had a strong 4th place finish with Curtis Neill coming home in 6th. 

The racing then moved onto the full course with the under 14 doing 3 laps in the boys race Ryan Skelly finished in 5th place and in the girls race Katie Neill rounded out a great season with a 2nd place finish with  Darcy Harkness in 6th and Sarah Elder being unable to finish after a crash. 

The under 16 riders had 5 laps to do and Cathir Doyle and Anna Russell were taking part for Carn Wheelers this was Cathir's first cyclocross race of the season and he registered a strong 5th place finish in a strong field of riders and Anna rounded out an ever improving season with an excellent 2nd place finish.

Once again our youth riders have excelled all season long with some outstanding results in every round and always showing great sportsmanship and respect for other competitors throughout representing the club with great pride well done to you all.

It was now time for the mtb support race with Sean Bradley and Dean Lockhart taking to the start line as the race progressed Dean began to feel unwell and had to withdraw on the 3rd lap however Sean had no such trouble and romped home for a very impressive victory. 

The first cyclocross race of the day was the Masters race with Damien Doyle , Tony O'Doherty , Barry Russell and Shane Elder racing for Carn Wheelers conditions had now deteriorated resulting in lots of running through a now heavy muddy course, unfortunately for Barry mechanical trouble  meant he had to withdraw during the 2nd lap and after 5 energy sapping laps the other men crossed the finish line with Shane in 15th place Damien in 16th and Tony in 23rd strong ridng from all 3 men in a field of very strong riders .

Running alongside the Masters race was the Elite womens race with Mairead McCrory taking part as the season has progressed Mairead has continually improved and today was no exception with Mairead taking a superb 3rd place finish .

The final race of he day was the the Elite men race which included the Junior men race we had 4 riders taking part Joe McCrory ,  Nigel Gibson , Johnny Taylor and Marc Heaney the elite's had to complete 6 laps of the course and all 4 men battled well with Johnny our first man home in 14th place with Joe and Marc in 16th and 17th and Nigel a little farther back in 24th place strong racing from all 4 men in what was truly the cream of ulster cyclocross . Marc strong race meant he had secured a 2nd place in the Junior men race a great result  in what was his first cyclocross race of the season .As with the youth riders this has been a great season for our senior riders with some great results throughout a tough season and with the Carn Colours being well represented at every round well done to all who raced throughout the season.

As with all events that the club runs it was once again a really fantastic event which was enjoyed by all with nothing left to chance and everything running to plan this only happens due to good preparation which started months in advance of the event .A big thanks goes to Ryan Walsh and his team for the preparation leading up to and during the event also a big thanks to all who gave up their day to help out with various jobs throughout the event  without all the volunteers behind the scene these events just wouldn't happen