Manchester Road Trip
Manchester Road Trip 29th & 30th June 2013
When British Cycling produce their BMX calendar at the start of the year the nerds in BMX Ireland have a look see and start to plan the now annual Irish BMXpedition across the water. You can imagine the huge excitement in the halls of BMX Ireland when Manchester’s Platt Fields was back was on the table and scheduled during the school summer holidays. Easy decision!
The Platt Fields track is a favourite of the early Irish BMX adventurers, after racing many tracks over the 2010 and 2011 seasons it was decided that we liked the track so much that we talked Shay into building our own version at home.
Tackling a BMX track for the first time particularly at a British National can be a daunting prospect as there is very little practice time … 700 riders chomping at the bit and a ticking clock equals no learning curve. Having the Manchester track back on the roster meant that any rider familiar with the Ratoath track would have a better chance of surviving.
So the Irish ‘team’, 29 riders and assorted groupies, packed their gear, polished their bikes and set off on various planes and boats (smart people on the faster one) to the home of the Red Devils, British Cycling and The Curry Mile only to find Fridays practice session called off due to the track being water logged … less practice time! Noooooo!
Race Day. What’s really impressive at the UK nationals other than the riding of course, is how efficiently the races run other than the odd crash or rider protest. 680+ riders works out to a lot of moto’s, sometimes three of which are on the track at the same time. British Cycling and the UK clubs have this down to an art.
So how did we do? Pretty good considering. For most of the Irish riders this was only their second or third trip to a UK National but for some it was their first. There is a lot to get your head around your first time out but for an old pro at the UK race scene like Corey Waller in the 7′s it’s no problem at all, 6th place in the A final on day one and 1st in the B final on day two after a crash in the semi.
In the 9′s we had three riders, Ryan Quinn and Lee O’Sullivan both making it to the quarters on day one with Niall ‘Air Davis’ sitting it out with a mystery ailment. On day two both Lee and Niall made it to the quarters, Ryan Quinn had a better day making it all the way to the B Final where he ended up 6th.
Quarters for those that don’t know are easier to get into (depending on entry numbers) than get out of. Making it out of the knock out stages is no easy task.
The 10’s saw Morgan “The Machine” Kearney and Cian O’Sullivan use day one as a practice day but both stepped it up on day two getting out of their moto’s. Morgan had some impressive crashes but seems to be made of rubber the way he bounces back up!
Luke Edwards was quietly going about getting out of his moto’s on day two but got unfortunately his day finished in the quarters.
The 13’s saw Adam Davis, Matthew Campbell Aaron McNally and Leon Curley all getting out of their moto’s to the dreaded quarters. Adam had some impressive races, winning a moto or two, we’ll be keeping an eye on him!
Sam Murphy and Mathew Malone both made it to the quarters in the 14′s on day one with Eoin Corrigan and David Dorney both getting moto’d in a very tough group. Day two saw the real Eoin Corrigan turn up putting in some good laps but his day ended with a wrist injury and possible concussion in the quarters. Sam and Matthew hung up their helmets after the quarters too.
Aaron Edwards in the 15′s took a fine 7th in the B final on day one in a very competitive group. Good result and some good moto finishes too. Jake Campbell soaked in the whole experience and will be back again.
The 17-29’s saw John Ward in a massive group that nearly had 1/8th’s. Very hard to make a dent in. We need to put John on a protein and carb diet to build up those leg muscles, he’s got the skills in abundance.
The Vets class saw Lar Massey take an 8th in the B final after deciding he was bored with the track and left it for part of the race! Eamonn Wyer, Stephen Clancy and Shay McNally’s day ended in the moto’s. Lar sat out day two, still feeling the effects from the near career ending crash a few weeks earlier in Ratoath. The real Mr. Wyer turned up on Sunday, himself and Eoin Corrigan must have had a chat after day one. Lighting quick out of the gate all day, Eamonn ended up 6th in the B Final.
It has emerged that Eamonn has been cheating on his 20″ with something called a cruiser. Anyway, it turns out he has been riding both behind our backs. On day one he rode it to 4th in the B final of the 45+ class and 5th in the B final on day two. We don’t condone this type of behaviour at all …
Tom Campbell was also out repping for the elderly gentlemen in the 45+ cruiser class too.
Abby Steacy was right in the thick of it all weekend in the 9-10 girls. Day one saw her in the B Final finishing 7th and an impressive 5th in the B Final on day two. We see A finals for Abby in the not too distant future. Jade Gaffney, one of the youngest girls in this class is one to watch for the future.
The 14 girls had Katie O’Neill take a 5th in the B on day one and the same on day two. Katie is only a whisker away from making the A final, her rightful home. A bit more leg speed down the first straight and she’s there.
Our other A finalist was Alison Murphy in the 30+ Women’s cruiser class. A 5th on both days. Alison can go faster … we want a podium Alison not you snuggling up to Curtis Manaton!
The new World Number One, Kelvin Batey was on fire in the Elite Class, impressively winning some moto’s and ending up 6th on day one but upping it on day two to make it on to the podium with a third.
So lots of results, lots of races, lots of action, huge improvement over the last major BMXpedition to Braintree last year. There is a substantial improvement in all our riders, they are now in the hunt rather than out the back. Those that got moto’d need to get out of their moto’s, those that got quartered need to get out of their quarters, those that got B finals need to get A finals, those that got A finals need to get podiums …. It’s a hard sport but those that made the trip know what they have to do to progress back at home, ride up an age group or two, race the boys, clear those jumps, practice what you are weak at, train, train harder, then train again.
When are the 2014 UK venues announced …
The full results from Round 6 (Day 1) can be seen HERE
The full results from Round 7 (Day 2) can be seen HERE
See UK Series overall standings HERE
Photos from the Manchester National can be seen HERE (BMX Ireland facebook) and HERE (British Cycling flickr)
