Ulster MTB League Craigavon 7th Sept
Sunday 7th of September saw the Carn Wheelers MTB crew make the trip to Craigavon Lakes for the last round of the Ulster MTB league. As always the club were there in big numbers from the under 8 to the over, errr, maybe better just say the seniors riders.
As always racing got under way with the youth riders and the first Carn Wheeler to race was Eimer Skelly . Eimer had really bad luck at the start when a coming together with another rider resulted in a tumble but despite being injured Eimer got back up to come through to a brilliant 2nd place finish.
Next to the line were Travis Harkness , Curtis Neill and Eva Gordon. All 3 riders have been on the up all year and are showing real promise. The 2 boys rode really well again today to finish in the top end of the results just missing out on the podium. I think next season we will be seeing a lot more from Travis and Curtis who have continued to improve in their first year in under 10 racing. And as for Eva, well what else could you do on your birthday but climb onto the top step of the podium with another fine victory. I did hear that a birthday cake was in attendance but hmm hmm Eva i didn't get any.
The under 12 riders were next up with Ryan Skelly racing for the boys and Darcy Harkness , Katie Neill , Sarah Elder and new recruit for the club but no stranger to us all Sara Doyle making her first appearance in the Carn Wheelers colours. Welcome to the club Sara we are delighted to have you on in our youth team. As usual the u12 racing was flat out from the whistle and it has to be said all riders rode tremendously well and should be proud of their performances again today Ryan held on to the top riders throughout the race and finished his season strongly and in the girls race Sarah Elder took a hard earned 2nd place followed closely by Katie ,Darcy and Sara well done to you all on a great season .
In the under 14 race Niall Skelly , Anna Russell and Emma Elder lined out with all 3 having to do 2 3/4 length laps of the adult course as always Niall rode with great grit and determination to finish his season well with ever improving form in a really quality field of riders well done Niall , in the girls race Anna and Emma were in great form once again with Emma taking the race win and Anna finishing in 3rd despite loosing time after being pointed in the wrong direction by a race official a great recovery Anna well done to you and Emma .
Representing Carn Wheelers in the under 16 race were Sean Bradley and Niamh Skelly they had 3 full adult laps to complete on a course which despite being not very technical was still very demanding due to the increased speed involved as always with both riders they were straight into the fight and riding hard with Sean chasing hard after the leaders and Niamh closing in on another podium finish as Sean came sprinting to the finish to claim a fine 5th place the effort used was clear for all to see as he more fell off the bike than stepped off and it was no different for Niamh as she claimed 2nd place on another superb day for our youth mtb riders.
On behalf of the club I would take this opportunity to thank all the youth riders for doing the club proud all year keep up the hard work over the winter and we can look forward to 2015 season and continued fun and success ,also thanks to the parents who take the time to travel the length and breadth of the country to let these great kids take part in the sport they all seem to really excel at and more importantly enjoy.
Now it was time for the senior riders to take centre stage and first up for the Carn crew were the senior 4 men Gareth Skelly Matthew McCombe and Paul Taylor as always the men were all geed up and ready for the off ,however bad luck was to strike early for Matthew as he picked up a flat wheel in the first half lap , Gareth and Paul continued to do battle over the course of the race with both men finishing really strongly as they have done all season. There may be a step up for these men next year.
Next race was the senior 3 with Nigel Gibson, Steven Mulholland and Martin Bradley taking to the line. All 3 have been going well of late with Martin always pushing hard for podium places. It has to be said the lack of technical features on the course didn't play to these 3 men strengths or any of our senior riders to be honest but never the less all 3 men gave a great account of themselves with Martin riding hard as usual and just missed the top 3 but claimed an excellent 4th and hot on his heels were the ever improving Nigel and Steven - their form could be a big bonus in the upcoming cyclocross season if they continue to ride as they have done of late and again there could be a step up in category for some of these men .
Our final senior competitor was Barry Russell who was competing in the senior 2 race. The field was full of fast quality riders as always and as always Barry was equal to the task as he took up the challenge of 4 hard fast laps this was another tough race with battles throughout the field with Barry coming home strongly in the top 10 .
Again i would like to thank the senior riders for their efforts throughout the season with many of these riders also having youth riders to organise in the early part of the day which makes race preparation a lot more difficult however when the whistle goes its 100% effort at every race no matter what and they always do our club proud well done men .
Thanks to our hosts today Apollo cycling club who put on another top event we can now look forward to a short break before the cyclocross season and the fun begins once again .
Shane.
