I took advantage of a weekend away up north(ish) last weekend to have a spin in the Ormeau Park CX race. This was round 5 of the Ulster CX series hosted Xmtb McConvey Cycles on a course that is used by Xmtb for MTB races.
First off was there was a big field in the MTB support race (about 50 riders) with some competitive racing , this race chewed up the track nicely for the following CX races. Also there were 5 under 6's, a whopping 22 under 8's, an equally impressive 21 under 10's, 10 under 12's, 7 under 14's and 5 under 16's - all out on a very 'crisp' Winter morning in Belfast (4 degrees in the carpark) - loads more 'youths'riding in the MTB support race. The future is bright in Ulster cycling. Great to see the variety of people racing on a Winter's day, especially the youngsters.
While there were 18 B category CX racers (riding 8 laps), oddly enough (and the opposite of the Fixx Series) there were nearly double the A category racers at 31. A racers were to ride 9 laps..... only 5 A racers made it to 9 laps.... with many being lapped twice, including myself. Yes I decided to try an A race to see what it would be like. Answer... no different to B, ride as hard as you can to the end. I ended up riding fewer laps than I might have if I had just gone in the B race though only getting 7 laps in.
The course was very good, being a bit more technical than any of the Fixx series courses this year so far, though St Anne's will be comparable. The course began on a road and quickly went into narrow combination of gravel tracks and sections under the trees which were twisty in places and greasy enough. Then the course broke out onto grass park, this was heavy going as the grass was soft, definitely not racing on the top. There were a few twists thrown into this section for interest. The represented about about 40% of the course. Then again back into the trees and a tough carry up a short steep sections - the surface here was hard underneath with a layer of greasy mud on top, my lack of studs was exposed here, but I wasn't alone. Then back into the combination of twisty narrow gravel track and muddy single track to the start finish area. There was also a pair of boards to be negotiated. There was about 4 or 5 sections of very muddy patches to be negotiated, hitting the right line through these and being in the right gear was crucial to getting through them OK, and of course avoiding traffic in the gloop to get through. These were like hitting quicksand and were energy sapping.
So all in all a good course with plenty of variation to keep interest and favour those whose brains were not starting to suffer from the over demand for oxygen being sent from the legs... in other words penalties for lack of concentration throughout.
So this was the closest (in my mind) to an XC MTB race so far this season.
For the record Roger Aiken destroyed the field, again.
Fair play to Xmtb McConvey Cycles for laying on a great days racing.
If anyone is interested photos and results are posted here:
http://www.ulstercyclocross.com/
First off was there was a big field in the MTB support race (about 50 riders) with some competitive racing , this race chewed up the track nicely for the following CX races. Also there were 5 under 6's, a whopping 22 under 8's, an equally impressive 21 under 10's, 10 under 12's, 7 under 14's and 5 under 16's - all out on a very 'crisp' Winter morning in Belfast (4 degrees in the carpark) - loads more 'youths'riding in the MTB support race. The future is bright in Ulster cycling. Great to see the variety of people racing on a Winter's day, especially the youngsters.
While there were 18 B category CX racers (riding 8 laps), oddly enough (and the opposite of the Fixx Series) there were nearly double the A category racers at 31. A racers were to ride 9 laps..... only 5 A racers made it to 9 laps.... with many being lapped twice, including myself. Yes I decided to try an A race to see what it would be like. Answer... no different to B, ride as hard as you can to the end. I ended up riding fewer laps than I might have if I had just gone in the B race though only getting 7 laps in.
The course was very good, being a bit more technical than any of the Fixx series courses this year so far, though St Anne's will be comparable. The course began on a road and quickly went into narrow combination of gravel tracks and sections under the trees which were twisty in places and greasy enough. Then the course broke out onto grass park, this was heavy going as the grass was soft, definitely not racing on the top. There were a few twists thrown into this section for interest. The represented about about 40% of the course. Then again back into the trees and a tough carry up a short steep sections - the surface here was hard underneath with a layer of greasy mud on top, my lack of studs was exposed here, but I wasn't alone. Then back into the combination of twisty narrow gravel track and muddy single track to the start finish area. There was also a pair of boards to be negotiated. There was about 4 or 5 sections of very muddy patches to be negotiated, hitting the right line through these and being in the right gear was crucial to getting through them OK, and of course avoiding traffic in the gloop to get through. These were like hitting quicksand and were energy sapping.
So all in all a good course with plenty of variation to keep interest and favour those whose brains were not starting to suffer from the over demand for oxygen being sent from the legs... in other words penalties for lack of concentration throughout.
So this was the closest (in my mind) to an XC MTB race so far this season.
For the record Roger Aiken destroyed the field, again.
Fair play to Xmtb McConvey Cycles for laying on a great days racing.
If anyone is interested photos and results are posted here:
http://www.ulstercyclocross.com/
