A great Enduro National Championships

The 2024 Enduro National Championships took place over the weekend of 3-4 August at Ravensdale in County Louth hosted by First Tracks. Glyn and Catherine O’Brien headed up the large team of volunteers to cover the 6 timed stages in the forest. This venue had hosted the 2022 National Championships.

Thanks to the Cuchulainn Cycling Club members for their work in preparing the trails. Saturday was practice day with all stages open for multiple non-timed practice runs. Sunday morning was a busy one with 200 arriving across the morning to start at their allocated time slot. The first riders started at 10:00 with the last riders setting off at 12:30. Riders had to complete the stages in the number order with only one attempt allowed per stage. Riders competing in the Challenger category had to complete stages 3, 4 and 5. Those in the E-bike category had to complete stages 1 to 5 with the additional uphill stage 6 included at the end. All other riders had to complete stages 1 to 5. The riders had a maximum of 4 hours to complete their stages.

The weather had been mostly dry for practice day. On race day the weather stayed dry until early afternoon when some initial light showers developed into more steady rain. Warm rain of course! The rain seemed to persist until the riders had all returned to the registration area to return their timing chips. The prize giving ceremony was then held in dry weather with the only soaking happening with the spraying of bottles of bubbly on the podium!!

In the Women’s category it was Leah Maunsell (Team Ballyhoura) who was again back on the top step of the podium. Leah has won every enduro national championships held in Ireland. Hannah Mullin (Gortin MTB) was second with Blaithin Sweeny (Limerick Mountain Biking Club) third, Meave Baxter (Cuchulainn CC) fourth and Shenna McKiverigan (Cycleology Racing Team) fifth.

In the Junior (14-16) race Aaron Meredith (Un-Attached Leinster) took the win ahead of Michal Michniacki (GAP MTB) with Freddie Connolly (GAP MTB) third, Luke Jennings (GAP MTB) fourth and Fionn O’Neill (EPIC MTB Expert Cycles) fifth.

Callum Morris (Gortin MTB) has been competing in Europe at the World Cups so was no surprise when he took the win in the Under 21 category. Last year’s winner Brendan Conroy (EPIC MTB Expert Cycles) finished second with Jake White (IMBRC) third, Oscar Durston (Un-Attached Leinster) fourth and Joshua Duddy (Un-Attached Ulster) fifth.

In the Senior category Gregory Callaghan (Gravity BC) took his third win in a row. Kelan Grant (Gortin MTB) was second (only 5 seconds behind Greg), Gary Donaldson (Team Caldwell Cycles) was third, Ben Wilson (Dromara Cycling Club) was fourth and Chris Brown was fifth.

Photo by Caroline Kerley

In the M30 category James Mac Ferran (Cycleology Racing Team) took the win. Steven Smyth (Un-Attached Ulster) was second with Gavin O’Connell (Team WORC) completing the podium. Damien McCormick (Mullaghmeen Mountain Biking Club) was fourth and Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) was fifth.

Sean Herlihy (Gravity BC) repeated his win from 2023 to get another national champion jersey. Andy Yoong (Un-Attached Ulster) was second with John Lawlor (Zero Gravity MTN Bike) third, event organiser Glyn O’Brien (First Tracks) fourth and Brendan Foley (Limerick Mountain Biking Club) fifth.

In the M50 category it was Joe Ward (Un-Attached Ulster) who was up on the top step. Stanley Callaghan (Un-Attached Leinster) finished second with Glenn Finnegan (Cuchulainn CC) third, John Durston (Hush MTB) fourth and Kevin Dalton (Team Ballyhoura) fifth.

There were also non-championship category races taking place.

In the Challenge 14+ race Agris Kramins (Cahir mtb) finished first with Jack Farrell (Un-Attached Leinster) second and Craig Elliott (Gravity BC) third.

In the Challenger Youth race (12-13) Jamie Harron (Belfast City BMX Club) was the fastest with
Oran Finlay (Un-Attached Ulster) second and Fionn Cummins Patton (IMBRC) third.

In the Hardtail 14+ category Brian Hutchinson was first with Oran McCandless (Un-Attached Ulster) second and Gancho Todorov (Un-Attached Leinster) third.

The Sunday Only 14+ category, as the name suggested, was for those who could only attend on Sunday and did not get the benefit of any practice runs at the stages. James Fleming took the win in this category with Cailan Lancashire (Lisburn BMX Club) second and Martin Butterly third.

In the Open 19+ category Xavier Arnold (Mullaghmeen Mountain Biking Club) was the fastest rider with Kai Pyyvaara second and Jamie Mottram third. There was one female entrant Audrey Gianotti.

Finally in the E-bike category, the winner was Calum Mackie with Chris Mallon second and Mark Maxwell third.

A big thanks to all those who helped pull this event together. Thanks to Coillte for the use of the forest and to Dunromin Caravan Sales and Stephen Donnelly for the use of the Rosewood site and parking. Thanks to Cycleology for doing the bike checks and bike repairs and to CM Racing for the bike supplies. Thanks to Last Lap Café for providing the refreshments and to the first aid crews for patching up the fallers. Wishing Drew Armstrong a speedy recovery after his crash during practice.

Commissaire: Martin Grimley

Results: here

Race report by Martin Grimley

Photos
Caroline Kerley (Facebook) – here, here
Eightynine media (own website) – here
Fran Hollywood (Facebook) – here
John Hammer – to follow