Kinetica Munster XC Series Round 1 Report
Sunday January 29th saw the first round of an exciting new Mountain Bike race series kick off at Tracton Woods near Carrigaline in Co. Cork. The event was hosted by www.mbcc.ie which is one of Corks growing Mountain Bike clubs.
Despite some pretty wet weather in the days preceding the race a large crowd attended on the day with 109 adults signing on throughout the categories and 45 Youth riders racing. The trail was a testing course as the rain created a very muddy atmosphere. This was to be winter time Mountain biking at its best. Over the years MBCC have developed a fantastic club resource at the woods through Coillte where members can enjoy their training, sport and competition.
This years Kinetica Munster XC Series has 5 rounds of racing at the end of which overall Champions will be crowned. this being the first round, everyone was keen to see the “in form” riders would be.
The morning began with some free Coaching sessions for the various Youth categories and then they got the chance to race each other. First up was the under 8’s and a home win for Aoife Hynes (MBCC) followed by Daniel Draper from Limerick in second with Ciaran O’Connor in 3rd. In the under 10’s some great racing took place with current national champion Donnacha Desmond (MBCC) edged out into 2nd by Eoin Birchall from Fermoy CC. Donnacha’s brother Fionn was third.
The crowds began to gather and the older Youth categories saw some very muddy hard fought, good spirited racing. The Birchall family from Fermoy CC were on a roll as Laura claimed the win in under 12 girls. Leah Maunsell, a rising star of Irish Mountain Biking was in devastating form and has gained some great tactical experience over the last years racing. She won the girls Under 14’s for her club, Team Ballyhoura.
Killarney Cycling Club have developed a great squad of youth riders over the last few years and they dominated the boys categories. The under 12 Boys was won by Rory O’Connor with Jack Murphy 2nd and finally Darren Duggan in 3rd. On to the under 14’s and a real battle took place with some very fast racing up a killer climb clogged in mud. These boys showed some powerful strength and skill! Olly Cornforth from West Cork Mtb took a fine win with Rob Hales in 2nd and Joseph Lynch of MBCC taking the final place on the podium. The Under 16s was a one two for brothers Stephen and Nelu Docherty from Killarney and Cathal Duneen from Limerick Mountain Bike club in third.
The crowd showed some great support to the winners as they took their places on the podium just before the kick of the main event of Adult category racing. By now the start line had 150 Mountain Bikers, their family and friends gathered and the atmosphere was fantastic.
At 12 midday the main racing got underway with the Elite Category going first. Many of these riders are training 5/6 times a week at a very high level. 3 laps of grueling 4.8 kilometre track followed and the crowded were treated to thrilling racing. Host club MBCC’s very own Niall O’Hara took 3rd place on his home track. Niall is a rising star of XC racing. A team one two for Thinkbike.ie’s Richie Felle and Sebastien Roman was the settling of the results in this category with the rest of the field battling very hard for valuable ranking points.
Sports Men’s category followed with 2 laps of the course. These riders are just as keen as the rest and certainly the lead positions changed as the race progressed! Michael Hennessy from Fermoy took a fine win but it was Jonathan Maunsell of Team Ballyhoura who surprised many with 2nd place in just his 2nd year of racing. Jason Murphy of Killarney CC claimed third.
Team Ballyhoura were on a roll as Jonathans younger sister Leah won the Senior Ladies as well as the under 14’s earlier. This shows just how talented she is! Jennifer Fortune of MBCC finished second. We hope that more women will feel encouraged to come and race in future rounds. Its not as hard as you might think!
The Juniors category finished the racing off and Alex Nowotynski from West Cork put in a devastating performance to take a big win, certainly he is displaying all the attributes to make the jump into the Senior ranks as he grows.
The day finished off with a well attended prize giving ceremony with a great atmosphere. The prizes were of a very high standard as the many sponsors were very generous. We would like to thank all the race marshals, medics and club members that made the day possible. Rothar Cycles Carrigaline, Eurocycles Dublin, Trailriders Ballyhoura, Dare 2B clothing donated prizes. KTM Bicycles Ireland have very kindly donated a bike worth €1200 as a prize to be raffled at the end of the series in May to all entrants. Finally Kinetica Sports of West cork have been a wonderful prime sponsor of this series.
Now the focus shifts to Round 2 next Sunday 5th at Corrin Woods, Fermoy. More excitement as 021 Racing host this event.
Race details available on www.munsterxc.com and facebook.
