Below are some short reports from five riders who have competed in off-road cycle races outside of the island of Ireland.
DISCIPLINE: Downhill
EVENT: Scottish Downhill Association Round 1
LOCATION: Glencoe
DATE: 26/27 June 2021
CATEGORY: 17-18 boys
RESULTS: https://www.rootsandrain.com/event9057/2021-jun-27-sda-1-glencoe/results/
I was at the Scottish downhill at glencoe on the weekend and got 4th and only 2 seconds of the win and 0.1 secs of podium against a lot of the fast Scottish riders which is promising and giving me confidence going into my next race, I can’t wait for all the races to start happening with the help of your support.
Thanks Daniel Lappin
DISCIPLINE: Cross-country
EVENT: HSBC British XC Series Round 2
LOCATION: Sunnybank Farm
DATE: 3/4 July 2021
CATEGORY: Female Youth
RESULTS: http://results.smartiming.co.uk/view-race/mtbseries2021round2femaleyouth/
It felt so good to be finally travelling over to the UK after two years. We had a long day travelling on Friday where we later checked out the course and I was able to get two laps of practice before so I knew what to expect when racing. The course was very challenging with steep climbs and descents. Because I missed the first round it meant I was gridded 13th. Luckily there was a long climb at the start which meant there was a lot of time to make up places before the single track. I was able to get up to 2nd after the first lap only seven seconds behind the leader. So with my very good start I just tried my best to ride in my own rhythm and was only caught by the girl behind on the last lap where we had a tight battle right to the line where I was able to finish 3rd place. I am really happy with my performance considering I haven’t raced MTB in two years and the level of girls in the UK is so high. Thanks so much Cycling Ulster for making the trip possible it means a lot.
Aine Doherty
DISCIPLINE: Cross-country
EVENT: HSBC British XC Series Round 2
LOCATION: Sunnybank Farm
DATE: 3/4 July 2021
CATEGORY: Male Juvenile
RESULTS: http://results.smartiming.co.uk/view-race/mtbseries2021round2malejuv/
Due to this being my first British xc championship round & joining it on the 2nd round, I had to start well down the grid and not knowing any of the guys on it I had decided to push hard from the start to gain position on the long climb before we entered the single track. This got me up to 14th on lap 1 so same plan lap 2 seen me progress to 8th , so on lap 3 my dad was doing bottles for me , he told me I was now 5th , this was hard for me to work out as I was by this stage mixed up and passing the U16 boys , I kept pushing on the technical decent sections and climbs to do what I could, this seen me finish in 4th place which I was pleased with as I went over with no expectations and with not competing on a mountain bike for nearly 2 years .
I would very much like to thank cycling Ulster for the help and support to enable me to complete in this event.
CURTIS McKEE
DISCIPLINE: Cross-country
EVENT: HSBC British XC Series Round 2
LOCATION: Sunnybank Farm
DATE: 3/4 July 2021
CATEGORY: Male Youth
RESULTS: http://results.smartiming.co.uk/view-race/mtbseries2021round2maleyouth/
4 laps in total. A very hot day on a hard climbing course. Starting on the 3rd row he got a good start but lost a few places on the opening lap. Got into a rhythm and had a good battle with 3 others. Enjoyed the experience.
Daniel Scott
DISCIPLINE: Cross-country
EVENT: HSBC British XC Series Round 2
LOCATION: Sunnybank Farm
DATE: 3/4 July 2021
CATEGORY: Male Youth
RESULTS: http://results.smartiming.co.uk/view-race/mtbseries2021round2maleyouth/
Due to missing the first round of the HSBC British National XC series I started round two from the third row of the grid. This meant I had some work to do early in the race to make up ground. After a good initial start, I had managed to make up some positions in the first few corners.
I paced myself on lap one of this very demanding course due to the elevation and wanting to conserve energy early on. By the end of lap one I had moved my way up into the top 15.
Lap two allowed me to up my pace and pick off a few more riders. Having a clear run on the decent in lap two allowed me to close more ground.
By lap three I was leading a battle for 6th position coming in to the decent, unfortunately a small error caused my bike to become tangled in the course tape and I lost contact with this group. This meant I now had to work extremely hard on the final lap to make up lost ground.
On the final lap I regained lost time on the long climb and made my way back onto the group, starting the decent in 9th place. Whilst pushing for 8th I made contact with a lapped rider, causing me to crash and costing me a position. I pushed until the finish, just shy of catching the two riders ahead of me, but it wasn’t enough. This meant I had to settle for 10th spot.
I was happy with me result given the circumstances of the race.
Many thanks to Cycling Ulster for their support enabling me to compete once again on the British Stage.
Travis Harkness