THE Ulster Cyclocross season headed to St Columb’s Park, Derry, on Sunday for round six, hosted by Foyle CC.
A chilly morning greeted the kids who made the long trip up, but they all wrapped up and headed off undeterred to practice their respective courses.
First off was the club’s highly competitive U-6 contingent. Anna Armstrong, Fiadh Kellett and Hugh Hetherington all put in great rides on a tough, draggy course. Their sore little legs were rewarded with excellent Halloween-themed goody bags at the finish line.
Our next rider off was Aoife Kellett in the U-10 category on a tough loop with plenty of elevation and tricky forest sections. Aoife put in one of her best rides to date and was toughing it out in third place for the entire race until the last corner when she narrowly lost out in a final sprint to the line, to finish fourth by less than a second.
Next up was the in form James Armstrong who put in the best ride for Dromara on the day with a superb effort to come away with first place again this week, with a comfortable gap at the end of 30 seconds. Well done James, an example for the rest of us to try and follow.
Martina Hawkins took a respectable sixth place in the elite ladies’ race with consistent lap times. Andra Hamilton continued her return to racing just making it into the top 10 in the same race with a solid ride.
Our B race squad was light on numbers this week, but Paul Hamilton and Brian Kellett also continue to show form on the rise, slugging it out to take 13th and 14th respectively after a long hard close race.
Both must be looking to make the top 10 before the league ends in two weeks time. John McGuigan came home in 38th place, putting some distance between himself and a few target men.
In the A race Neil Armstrong was our top finisher with 21st place. Jack Ferguson came in 26th with a noisy bottom bracket impeding his performance. Richard Cowan finished in 30th place.
Next week the league series travels to Donard Park, Newcastle, hosted by Shimna CC.