Bikedock Belles

The U8s got underway at 11am, with rivalry high after the previous Sunday and series podium places at stake! Not to mention who could be fastest to the juice and crisps at the finish line! Fraser and Adam got held up by a tumble early in the 2-lap course, but restarted impressively and were neck and neck in 2^nd and 3^rd place for the first section of the singletrack. Fraser then took the lead and began chasing Christopher Curry of Banbridge CC, who lead from the whistle and was ahead of the tumble. Christopher rode strongly and finished 1^st, followed by Fraser in 2^nd, Shea and Ryan of Phoenix CC in 3^rd and 4^th, and Adam in 5^th.  

Zak Tsoutsas finished an impressive 10^th out of 27 starters in the U8s, but his biggest battle was just making the start line due to a late arrival. But his mum will always fight his corner! No doubt she’ll show as much determination in the upcoming Tri a Tri event!

Christopher Duncan, who has missed the races this year, came out to play again on Sunday and made good progress around the testing course to finish in 22^nd place. A bigger bike is in the offing for Christopher, which will make it much easier for those little legs!

Fraser’s little brother Alex was barred from taking part this week! You can imagine the upset. But he soon got over it and managed to do about 10 times the amount of cycling than the competitors during the morning in the surrounding area!

Looking at the series as a whole, Fraser managed to avenge his disappointment of the 1^st race and clawed his way to a trophy for 2^nd overall in the 3 races. Well done Fraser.

In the U10s, gutsy Dillon was hoping for a better race than last week but ended up thrown off course by the muddy conditions and was unable to show his true cycling ability. This will make no difference to this wee fella, he has an amazing attitude and will be back all guns blazing. Dillon has just moved up to the U10 category and has great bike skills as well as a fantastic mentality – there is no doubt he will move up the ranks this year despite being young in the age group.

Finishing ahead of Dillon on Sunday was Sam Duncan, who like his brother was doing his first race of the year. It has been a while since we’ve seen him, but that beaming smile is still there. Also like his brother, Sam is about to move onto a bigger bike and this will make a huge difference to him. It will maybe result in an even bigger smile too!

And ahead of the two boys in the U10s was Sarah Elder of Carn Wheelers, who again showed she can hold her own against some of the boys. Apart from maybe against Alex after the race!

Looking at the series as a whole, Sarah got a trophy for 1^st female overall in the 3 races. Well done Sarah.

The U12s was a quality race and Max demonstrated fabulous handling skills in his first race in these sort of conditions. He has a great natural feel for the ground and the bike, which was just as well on Sunday! Again his strength and determination shone through as he chased the 2 Banbridge CC riders and 1 Xmtb McConvey Cycles rider that lead the pack in the U12s. Max is gaining ground on these boys and it bodes well for the Ulster series starting in May. Get ready for some red hot racing Max!

Emma Elder was also in the U12s and found the conditions tough, but saw the race through with the impressive attitude that both the Elder girls display every time, along with their friendly personalities. These girls rock. They are also always encouraging others, as well as Belle Andrea in her races.

So the races are over until 01 May, but there will be plenty of events organised for the Young Guns to keep them ticking over and full of the joys of spring! They may not all involve the treats that they enjoy so much at the end of the races though!

Ding Dong !

ps click on the thumbnails to enlarge, and use the arrows to scroll

Andrea