This weekend saw a huge turnout for Sligo’s first Mountain Bike race in 15 years. The race was run by the local Northwest Mountain Bike Club working closely with Coilte and I don’t think they could have done a better job. Race organizers Enda Maloney, Bryan Conlon and Kyle Malee had things organized down to a tee even the hard working course marshalls were delivered delicious packed lunches from Kate’s Kitchen. Chief Marshall Kyle Malee with the help of the officials from the Connacht Mountain Bike League made sure the race ran like clockwork. The course was 4.5km with 4 laps for elites, 3 for experts, 2 for the sports and one for the novice category. Ten minutes before the race started the clouds cleared and then sun came out. The first race off was the underage group. This race was ran on a shorter course with a great turn out in all age groups.
The Main event kicked off half way up the dreaded Union Rock Climb. At the top off the climb the riders turn into the testing Wildlife single track trail before another quick fire road section. This saw the riders drop into a steep section and through the technical flat section with a number of bridges, berms and more technical single track. At the end of this section the riders have a long climb up to the field trail that starts with a tricky gravel ascent into the field. The riders cross the field before hitting another fast downhill section with challenging drops and tough sections all the way down to river level before hitting the super long climb back up to the start finish area.
mooney The first category to start were the elites. This group was of particular interest with local rider Oisin Mooney taking part in his first race in the elite category since his recent promotion to this level. This not only means a higher level of racer but also a longer race. This didn’t bother Mooney who was already in joint second after two laps. His fan club who lined the climb to the finish were glad to see him pull away from his nearest rival and begin the chase for first place. Mooney chased hard on his final lap but couldn’t close the gap to first. He finished well ahead of third place with only an Omagh rider ahead of him therefore securing full points and first place for the Connacht League. This is a great result and will be a big boost to Mooney’s confidence as he begins his long season in the elite category. After Enda Maloney’s busy day and a job well done in the race director role he will be looking forward to getting back in the saddle at round 3 in two weeks time in Moore Hall.
Then we had the hugely competitive sports category with a host of local riders including Local Legend Bryan Conlon, Downhill Kingpin Cian Clarke, Terry Duffy, Carl Young and Northwest MTB adopted Brian Leonard. Bryan Conlon hit the front from the start and I think even surprised himself with his form after some recent training. His fitness combined with his skills gained from downhill racing stood to him in what was a very technical race managing to put some time between himself and second place rider Terry Duffy. Terry managed to close some of the gap on the final lap as he chased Conlon all the way up the gruelling hill to the finish line. In the end it wasn’t enough and Conlon held Duffy off for a well earned first place. Northwest Mountain Bike Club claimed first and second place in this category and narrowly missed taking the top 3 places when Downhill rider Cian Clarke put in an amazing cross country performance only to be caught on the last hill of the race giving him 4th place overall followed closely by Carl Young. This race also saw Brian Leonard take 8th place and other locals Dave Hickey and Ross Oogan take 9th and 12th in a hard fought race. Other Northwest riders with strong mid pack finishes in difficult conditions were Shane Banks and Mark Graham.
Next up we had the Novice Category. This category was far from novice and proved to be one of the most exciting races of the day. It had a huge mix of great riders including some of the best road racers in the Northwest, Old Mountain Bikers who dusted off their bikes for the race, Downhillers and xc racers with variable levels of experience. What made this race so exciting was that the amazing course was so challenging in every way. Where some riders made up time through fitness in the huge climbs others did the same through experience and technical ability in the long downhill tricky single tracks.
The winner of the race was Jake Mooney of Eire Og cycling club. He gave it everything from the very start and it paid off. Jake comes from a huge cycling family and had four of his cousins competing in the event. It’s safe to say he has cycling in his blood and his natural ability showed today. I can only imagine what he would be capable of with some proper training. He might even give his cousin Oisin a run for his money in the elites next season.
Second place in this race was road racer Micheal Devins also of Eire Og cycling club. This is another great result for a rider who is used to racing on the road not one of the most challenging off road tracks raced this season. Just outside the medals was Brendan Glynn of Northwest Mountain Club in 4th place. Another great performance from a Northwest MTB member. Graham Keighron also put in a solid performance to kick off his new season after an amazing 2013. Dave Nagle aka Johnny Holmes also deserves a mention in what was his first competitive mountain bike race. Nagle got off to a flying start but disaster struck when his bike caused him difficulties and lost him a number of places. He got back on track but struggled to overtake and regain the places on the thin single track. He finished in 6th place. Due to his amazing MC performance at the recent club table quiz he was back on the microphone shortly after the race to present the trophies to the riders. In this category we also saw Clive Hynes of Northwest MTB put in a good ride and Fergal Derrig and Fiacra Mooney get back in the saddle. Strong rides from all of the lads saw them finish well up the pack with Fiacra the only rider on the way up the killer Union Rock climb to crack a smile. Good man Fiacra!
Next up saw the experts take to the course with Peter Bannon and Jason Coulter flying the Northwest Mountain Bike flag. Hughie Devaney of Inishfree Wheelers another local rider also in the mix. Peter Bannon put in huge effort completing 3 laps in 76m 59secs. This saw Bannon take second place on tough 3 lap expert race.
Coulter suffered a puncture which left him well back the field but still managed to get the repairs done on the side of the muddy trail and continue to finish with a good time.
In the womens category Northwest Mountain Bike Club rider Cally Savage got her season off to a great start with a convincing win against some tough competition. Second place went to Betty Walsh-unattached and third went to Heidi Slater of Northwest MTB.
The best performance of the day goes to the Northwest Mountain Bike Members who made this amazing event possible. Race Organisers Enda Maloney, Bryan Conlon and Kyle Malee nailed the whole thing from start to finish. From an amazing course, set up and race to a spotless forest and a whole pile of happy mountain bike riders. All the course marshalls who spent all day in the forest also deserve a huge thank you. I can’t name them all as I didn’t see them all so don’t be offended but Marian Rolf, Blaithin Sweeney, Des Faul, Enda Clarke, Maeve Hayes, Shane Hayes, Donal O’Kelly,Holly Hunt and Eire Og Members Martin O’Hara and Tony Mooney and everyone else who helped out. Well done! and thanks for running an amazing event. Without you the race could not take place.
Chief Marshall Kyle Malee who loves the jobs you hate also spent the day busy organizing safety and anything else that needed to be done. He is pictured here delivering Kates Kitchen lunches to the hard working marshals. This also meant he had to give up his place in his first race on home turf in 15 years. Good job Kyle! Also an extra big thanks to everyone in Coilte for all their help getting the club into the forest, working on the trails and helping out with organization.Oh and Cafe Fleur, Kates Kitchen and Ballast signs. Thank you!
After the success of this event we are sure to see more mountain biking events in Sligo on the racing calender over the coming seasons. Keep an eye on the clubs facebook here for upcoming events and race results:
www.facebook.com/NorthWestMTB
Results of Round 2 of the Connacht MTB League at Union Wood, Silgo. 23/02/12. www.facebook.com/ConnachtMtbLeague
Elites: 4 Laps
1st: Gary McAleer – Caldwell Cycles – 83m 25s
2nd: Oisin Mooney – Eire Og – 88m 09s
3rd: Ciaran O’Hagan – Caldwell Cycles – 91m 03s
4th: Neil Martin – Connemara MTB – 102m 21s
5th: Hugh McCombe – Caldwell Cycles – 117m 48s
6th: Peter Jones – Lakeland CC – DNF
7th: Derek Fluke – Lakeland CC – DNF
Expert: 3 Laps
1st: Sean Holland – Connemara MTB – 73m 13s
2nd: Peter Bannon – North West MTB – 76m 59s
3rd: Dan Maloney – Covey Westport – 78m 12s
4th: Darren McGann – West Coast Wheelers – 81m 30s
5th: Peter Gillespie – Ballina CC – 84m 18s
6th: Dean Gillespie – Ballina CC -DNF
7th: Jason Coulter – North West MTB – DNF
8th: Hughie Devaney – Innisfree Wheelers – DNF
9th: Zach Johnson – U/A – DNF
Sports: 2 Laps
1st: Brian Conlon – North West MTB – 47m 22
2nd: Terry Duffy – North West MTB – 47m 32
3rd: Feidhlin Dignan – U/A – 50m 21s
4th: Cian Clarke – U/A – 52m 48s
5th: Cial Young – U/A – 53m 40s
6th: Fran Kearns – Connemara MTB – 53m 46s
7th: Michael Hopkins – Ballina – 54m 46s
8th: Brian Leonard – U/A – 57m 20s
9th: David Hickey – U/A – 57m 24s
10th: Colin Beattie – Donegal MTB – 59m 02s
11th: Sean O’Connor – Ballina CC – 59m 25s
12th: Ross Oogan – Eire Og – 62m 03s
13th: Shane Banks – North West MTB – 64m 11s
14th: Mark Graham – North West MTB – 70m 11s
15th: Andy Redhill – U/A – 72m 28s
16th: Shane Seerey – Medtronic Galway CC – 86m 52s
17th: John Prunty – Dongeal MTB – DNS
Novice Men: 1 Lap
1st: Jake Mooney – Eire Og – 23m 26s
2nd: Michael Devins – U/A – 26m 28s
3rd: Tommy Lane – Seven Springs – 26m 55s
4th: Brendan Glynn – North West MTB – 27m 14s
5th: Noel Kelly – Covey Westport – 28m 48s
6th: David Nagle – North West MTB – 29m 02s
7th: Alan Beattie – Donegal MTB – 30m 54s
8th: Mervin Grimes – Connemara MTB – 30m 59s
9th: Brendan Devaney – Ballina CC – 31m 27s
10th: Graham Keighron – North West MTB – 31m 33s
11th: Fergal Derrig – U/A – 32m 02s
12th: Gerry Kerrigan – U/A – 34m 05
13th: Geoffrey Watt – Donegal MTB – 38m 25s
14th: Clive Hynes – North West MTB – 38m 42s
15th: Fiachra Mooney – Eire Og – 38m 48s
Novice Women: 1 Laps
1st: Cally Savage – North West MTB – 33m 30s
2nd: Betty Walsh – U/A – 34m 00s
3rd: Heidy Slater – North West MTB – 51m 14s
Junior: 3 Laps
1st: Dylan Russell – Mullingar Lakeside – 47m 22s
Under 16: 2 Laps
1st: Calvin Moore – Caldwell – 45m 26s
2nd: Joseph Clancy – Connemara MTB – 50m 43s
3rd: Ronan Dirrane – Connemara MTB – 55m 57s
4th: Matthew Waters – U/A – 65m 25s
Under 14: 1 Lap
1st: Declan Maloney – Covey Westport – 25m 49s
2nd: Darragh Devaney – Ballina CC – 39m 16s
3rd: Scott Fitzsimon – Ballina CC – DNF
Under 12 Boys : 4 Short Laps
1st: Dylan Waters – U/A – 11m 10s
2nd: Joey Faherty – U/A – 11m 21s
3rd: Matthew Devins – U/A – 11m 54s
4th: Rowan Lane – U/A – 12m 21s
5th: Oscar Cowie – U/A – DNF
Under 12 Girls: 4 Short Laps
1st: Eva Lane – U/A – 12m 34s
Under 10 Boys:
1st: Neachtan Walsh – U/A – 6m 14s
2nd: Charlie Kelly – Covey Westport – 8m 23s
Under 10 Girls:
1st: Niamh Dirrane – Connemara MTB – 6m 22s
2nd: Emily Kelly – Covey Westport – 6m 42s
3rd: Amy Fitzpatrick – U/A – 8m 07s