rossconi
12-07-2007, 01:11 PM
OFF ROAD COMMISSION REPORTS 2007
XCO International-Manager Geoff Seymour
Cross Country MTB in Ireland received a tremendous boost in 2007 with the arrival of the International four round UCI Class 2 K-Capital Cup Series, generously sponsored by Mark Kenny. Two rounds were held in the North and two in the south. All events received tremendous support and attracted entries from England, Scotland and Wales, as well as Germany and South Africa, XMTB’s final round receiving over 200 entries. The ‘K-Capital’ brought Irish XC to a new level, the organisation of the events was of the highest quality.
robin Seymour was the overall winner of the K-Capital Cup, continuing on to a superb season, consistent top ten finishes in BCF races, 35th in the Europeans and winning a European C1 race in Turkey. In mid September robin was ranked 53rd in the world. Illness forced him out of the World Championships at Fort William, and a double puncture robbed him of retaining his BCF MTB Marathon crown in Wales in September. Niall Davis enjoyed success both at home and abroad, ranked 81st in the world, he finished a brilliant 17th in the European U-23 Championships in Turkey, 44th in the Worlds, runner up in the K-Capital Series and scored a number of top ten finishes in European races. The youngest member of the International Squad, Conor McConvey, saw the culmination of his season being a magnificent 21st place at the World Championships. Together these three riders have opened the door for Cycling Ireland at the Olympics, with their combined ranking points qualifying one place.
The chances of the MTB Women getting to the Olympics seem to have gone this inspite of the efforts of Tarja Owens, Ciara McManus and Beth McCluskey. Tarja is still Ireland’s highest ranked lady rider, 70th, with Beth in 78th, Beth crowned Irish Womens Champion in July, this after she won all four Womens K-Capital races. Both ladies rode in Fort William and should be commended for their performances, Beth 55th and Tarja 58th. Cycling Ireland had three Juniors at Fort William, Liam McGreevy finishing 54th, a fine result for a first year Junior. The othe Junior Squad members were Paul O’Reilly (68th) and Graham Boyd (70th). Irish International XCO manager and his assistant Robert Lamont are to be congratulated for the success achieved by the International Squad in 2007. In closing his report, Geoff said that Fort William was not one of his favourite places, due to the midges and the weather but again stressed how pleased he was with the performance of Team Ireland. Geoff ended by thanking Chain Reaction Cycles for the daily help offered to the XCO squad, Robert announced his resignation from the commission in September; hopefully he will reconsider his position.
Further International success came at the World Masters Championships, held in France in August with a large number of Irish riders taking part. In the Mens 30-34 age class, James McCluskey was 7th, while Peter Buggle took 6th in the 45-49 class.
dh International Report-Manager Joe Ward
In February came the shock news that Eamon Lawlor had resigned as Irish International dh Manager as well as stepping down from the commission. By late February the Irish International dh Squad had a whole new managerial change, European Masters Champion Joe Ward appointed as manager with Glyn O’Brien taking on the role of dh Coach. This new team has worked hard throughout the season, culminating at the World Championships where the Irish dh crew had one of the most professional team area’s, with Chain Reaction Cycles mechanic Dale McMullan working long hours on the Irish dh bikes and also helping the XCO riders with any problems. Cycling Ireland would like to express sincere thanks to Chain Recation Cycles for the help given to both the dh and XC riders at Fort William.
Ireland’s number one dh ace Ben Reid had a year to remember. In the UCI World Cup his results included 10th and 11th places, these helping him to 17th overall. In the European Championships in Greece Ben was a brilliant 6th. In the summer Rostrevor was the venue for the National Downhill Champs, again a superb event, here Ben took the National crown for the sixth time. In September Ben finished 14th in the Worlds at Fort William and in mid September was ranked at 14 in the world. Another Irish success was Junior rider Seanan O’Riordan, third overall in the International Maxis Cup, 7th in the European’s and 14th in the Worlds. Irish Junior Champion, Ewan Doherty finished 24th at Fort William. The passion and committement of the Irish Squad at the Worlds was shown by Greg O’Keefe. After suffering a nasty fall during practice, Greg had a visit to hospital with multiple bruises, a chunk out of his helmet testimony to the severity of the crash. Three days later, Greg rode in the Elite World Championship, finishing an incredible 44th, congratulations Greg.
Irish dh coach Glyn O’Brien had his own moment of International glory in 2007, finishing second in the World Masters 30-34 age group dh championships in France, Glyn loosing the World Championship by just .36 of a second. Joe Ward took a break from his managerial role to finish 17th in the 35-39 age group Worlds.
Irish XCO Report-Andy Potts
At domestic level the Irish NPS prospered following the success of the K-Capital; though the crammed calendar before the National Champs was perhaps too tough a challenge for many riders. Andy would like to see the calendar for the 2008 season more spread out with races in August and even the early part of September. In the North XMTB and Apollo ran successful Winter Leagues while the Dromara Club are to be congratulated on their series of MTB Trailquest events. A successful Winter League was also held in Connacht, once again these race attracting excellent entries, especially from Youth riders.
The numbers of Women riders in the Sport continues to grow, great work being done by Epic,Mad and Sorrento while Cycling Ulster ran a number of Womens MTB Beginners days, the commission now having Inga Doak to look after Womens MTB has been a positive move.
Organisation was generally good and it was encouraging to see so many different locations used for the series, ranging from forests to disused quarry to city park. For the 2008 season organising Clubs will receive guidelines from the commission to help with the running of events. At a few races time keeping could have been better and organisers are depending too much on commissaries to run their events. . At the Irish MTB XCO Championships, held in Tollymore Forest County Down in July, robin took the Irish Elite title for a remarkable 14th time.
One problem to have hit the XCO scene in 2008 was the introduction of the new Forest Service licensing charges in Ulster. The result is that Clubs could not afford to run events with the Forest Service charging a fee of £500. At present the issue remains unresolved, though the Forest Service seem more willing to get involved in MTB, with plans announced recently by the FS, N.I.Tourist Board and CAAN to develop ‘state of the art’ trails in Castlewellan and Rostrevor. The new trails opened in the South have seen an upsurge in MTB interest; hopefully this will help develop the XC race scene.
The 2008 XC Calendar still is not complete, even though Andy has been asking for dates from August. Please would Clubs set a date for their event asap. Clubs in the North are asked to select a date even though the Forest Service issue remains unresolved. The Dromara Club showed that there are other options to the FS, they ran their Ulster League race at a superb new venue, Dunmore Mountain, it was private land.
The low point of the 2007 season was the removal of Championship status from the Irish Marathon Championships at Carlingford. The race commissaries in agreement with the race promoter withdrew Championship status, a move supported by the Board of Cycling Ireland. The Commission will not permit any future National Marathon Championship to take place unless receiving guarantees from the prospective promoters.
Irish dh Report-Michael Cowan
2007 saw the Irish dh NPS attract superb entries to every round. Michael was pleased to report that the Irish National dh Championships held in Rostrevor was one of the best ever with added spice provided by the appearance of the top English duo, the Atherton brothers, Dan and Gee.
A number of issues that had arisen during the season. One was the new entry pricing system which along with a set organising criteria was designed to raise the standard of racing in Ireland. The new structure met with some resistance from a few Clubs, the end result was that Clubs were free to set their own entry pricing structure. Because of the flak given to the dh Committee over the new structure, Chain Reaction Cycles withdrew their overall sponsorship of the Irish NPS, instead sponsoring the rounds at Gortin and Coolaveely plus the National Championships.
As stated in the Irish XC Report, Mountain biking in Ulster has been hit by the new licensing agreements required to run a mountain bike event, a charge of £500 being set per event, applying to both dh and XCO. As with the XCO promoters, dh promoters feel that the licence is unfair, especially when the same fee is charged for a forest with facilities as a forest out in ‘the wilderness’ with no facilities.
There were also problems with event timing; there are only a select few who can operate timing equipment competently. There was good news on the acquiring of new timing equipment, Chain Reaction have been awarded a grant to purchase a timing system (Awards For All) while Board member Sean Herlihy has also secured funding for a timing equipment. The issues surrounding timing are training members in promoting Clubs in the use of the equipment and who will take responsibility for the CI equipment and transport it to events. The CI equipment will be used in the South while the Chain Reaction equipment will be used at events in Ulster
The lack of organising Club’s was also causing concern with only four Clubs promoting events, one of which will not be holding an event in 2008. The Irish dh Co-ordinator would appleal for Clubs throughout Ireland to come forward to run dh events. The Commission Chairman would like more Ulster Clubs to run dh events and even resurrect the Ulster dh Championships.
The matter of the lack of Commissaires at dh events should be helped with Comms course tutor Colin Clewes hopefully traveling over to Ireland in January. Fourteen persons expressed an interest in the course, both from the North and the South.
Ladies Report-Inga Doak
Inga was pleased to report that the number of women competing, especially in the Sports Class, had increased in the 2007, with the women being able to have their own separate start and awards at most events. Regarding whether women should race the same courses as men? The Commission recommends that all womens events should compete on the same courses as men. At the K-Capital race at Rostrevor the Sports Women had to compete on the U-14 course, this after the Cycling Ulster Women expressed their concerns that the course was too dangerous for riders of their ability. This move by the promoter was not popular with the Southern ladies.
Following Rostrevor the Irish XCO Co-ordinator, in agreement with most of the regular women mtb riders introduced an Expert Womens Class. Due to a lack of interest the Expert Class never really got off the ground. The Commission Chairman is deeply disappointed with the Expert Womens class, as most of those who had asked for it basically ignored it or were unable to take part as a number of Irish races clashed with British races.
How to increase the number of women taking part in mtb? Women only mtb days and better coverage in cycling press of women in mtb. Women only days were a great idea as they have already proved very successful in the Cycling Ulster region, with excellent Womens spins being run by Epic. MTB needs to be made less threatening to Women whether it be leisure or competition. At some races the language used by male riders towards Women has been totally unacceptable, and will not be tolerated by the Commission.
Cyclo Cross-Andy Potts
The 2006-2007 Cyclo cross season continued to show a growth in this branch of our sport with successful events promoted from October to January, the Senior Class attracting excellent entries from riders across all cycling disciplines. The Ulster Championships at Rostrevor saw Team BHB rider Lewis Ferguson crowned as champion while robin Seymour took the Leinster title at Tymon Park after a great battle with Neil Delahaye. Banbridge Cycling Club promoted the Irish Championships in the grounds of Banbridge Academy school, a great event culminating with robin Seymour winning the Irish title for the 15th time. Some riders have asked for maybe cyclo cross events to be held during the summer. These could take place as an evening race or on a weekend with no mtb event on the calendar.
The Cyclo Cross Calendar for 2007/08 has gone well so far. The commission would appeal to clubs wishing to run a cyclo cross event to apply for their date when they are submitting their mtb date or road race date. This would mean that a full cyclo cross calendar would be in the CI Hanbook from the start of the year. The Commission asked for dates for the cyclo cross calendar in August to help fill the calendar, please get dates in early.
Youth- Andy Potts
The Ulster region continues to lead the way in the development of Irish Youth MTB, mainly due to the work of Clubs like XMTB,Banbridge CC, Omagh CC and Dromara CC. The Cycling Ulster MTB Academy has given young riders the chance of racing in the British NPS, the most notable successes being Claire Oakley finishing runner up in the British U-14 series, while Jes Laird was runner up in the U-16 Class.
In the rest of Ireland, Youth MTB flourishes in small pockets. More than often it is the case that Cycling Ulster Youth riders race themselves when riding in events in the South. The Connacht region is very active in promoting the Youth scene and Killarney has some of the best young dh riders in Ireland, who to their credit travel the country throughout the year to every dh race. The Commission would encourage the appointment of an Irish MTB Development Officer, tasked with the job of promoting MTB in all regions of Cycling Ireland, giving advice to both Clubs and riders, this officer also able to call on the talents of our two MTB coaches.
The outlook may be positive as the new trails in the South have seen the growth of young riders taking part in mtb. For the past year the commission has not had a Youth South member.
Coaching
The commission is concerned that Cycling Ireland’s two MTB Coaches, Glyn O’Brien and robin Seymour have received no funding. Both robin and Glyn supplied their coaching services all year totally at their own expense. robin coached riders on the International XCO Squad while Glyn performed a similar role with the International dh Squad. Glyn also attended the Cycling Ulster MTB Academy at Castlewellan.
Access
In the South of Ireland the opening of three mtb trails has brought a tremendous boost to off road cycling. Every weekend the car parks at the three trails are packed, not just with regular mtb riders, but by riders of all ages and abilities. This can only be of benefit to Cycling Ireland, with hopefully events being run in these areas, both leisure and competitive.
In the North things are moving slowly. Last week the Forest Service announced that in conjunction with the NI Tourist Board and CAAN, they are planning two state of the art mtb trails. One would be in Castlewellan Forest Park, an XC trail. The site being looked at is Rostrevor. The FS are keen that this would be a dh and XC site. The only other site on the agenda is Glenarriff Forest in County Antrim. This project may not be considered should the Magheramourne site get planning permission.
Celebrate the opening of the new Ballinastoe trails
Meet at Ballinastoe Car Park 10am
AGM starts 1pm
XCO International-Manager Geoff Seymour
Cross Country MTB in Ireland received a tremendous boost in 2007 with the arrival of the International four round UCI Class 2 K-Capital Cup Series, generously sponsored by Mark Kenny. Two rounds were held in the North and two in the south. All events received tremendous support and attracted entries from England, Scotland and Wales, as well as Germany and South Africa, XMTB’s final round receiving over 200 entries. The ‘K-Capital’ brought Irish XC to a new level, the organisation of the events was of the highest quality.
robin Seymour was the overall winner of the K-Capital Cup, continuing on to a superb season, consistent top ten finishes in BCF races, 35th in the Europeans and winning a European C1 race in Turkey. In mid September robin was ranked 53rd in the world. Illness forced him out of the World Championships at Fort William, and a double puncture robbed him of retaining his BCF MTB Marathon crown in Wales in September. Niall Davis enjoyed success both at home and abroad, ranked 81st in the world, he finished a brilliant 17th in the European U-23 Championships in Turkey, 44th in the Worlds, runner up in the K-Capital Series and scored a number of top ten finishes in European races. The youngest member of the International Squad, Conor McConvey, saw the culmination of his season being a magnificent 21st place at the World Championships. Together these three riders have opened the door for Cycling Ireland at the Olympics, with their combined ranking points qualifying one place.
The chances of the MTB Women getting to the Olympics seem to have gone this inspite of the efforts of Tarja Owens, Ciara McManus and Beth McCluskey. Tarja is still Ireland’s highest ranked lady rider, 70th, with Beth in 78th, Beth crowned Irish Womens Champion in July, this after she won all four Womens K-Capital races. Both ladies rode in Fort William and should be commended for their performances, Beth 55th and Tarja 58th. Cycling Ireland had three Juniors at Fort William, Liam McGreevy finishing 54th, a fine result for a first year Junior. The othe Junior Squad members were Paul O’Reilly (68th) and Graham Boyd (70th). Irish International XCO manager and his assistant Robert Lamont are to be congratulated for the success achieved by the International Squad in 2007. In closing his report, Geoff said that Fort William was not one of his favourite places, due to the midges and the weather but again stressed how pleased he was with the performance of Team Ireland. Geoff ended by thanking Chain Reaction Cycles for the daily help offered to the XCO squad, Robert announced his resignation from the commission in September; hopefully he will reconsider his position.
Further International success came at the World Masters Championships, held in France in August with a large number of Irish riders taking part. In the Mens 30-34 age class, James McCluskey was 7th, while Peter Buggle took 6th in the 45-49 class.
dh International Report-Manager Joe Ward
In February came the shock news that Eamon Lawlor had resigned as Irish International dh Manager as well as stepping down from the commission. By late February the Irish International dh Squad had a whole new managerial change, European Masters Champion Joe Ward appointed as manager with Glyn O’Brien taking on the role of dh Coach. This new team has worked hard throughout the season, culminating at the World Championships where the Irish dh crew had one of the most professional team area’s, with Chain Reaction Cycles mechanic Dale McMullan working long hours on the Irish dh bikes and also helping the XCO riders with any problems. Cycling Ireland would like to express sincere thanks to Chain Recation Cycles for the help given to both the dh and XC riders at Fort William.
Ireland’s number one dh ace Ben Reid had a year to remember. In the UCI World Cup his results included 10th and 11th places, these helping him to 17th overall. In the European Championships in Greece Ben was a brilliant 6th. In the summer Rostrevor was the venue for the National Downhill Champs, again a superb event, here Ben took the National crown for the sixth time. In September Ben finished 14th in the Worlds at Fort William and in mid September was ranked at 14 in the world. Another Irish success was Junior rider Seanan O’Riordan, third overall in the International Maxis Cup, 7th in the European’s and 14th in the Worlds. Irish Junior Champion, Ewan Doherty finished 24th at Fort William. The passion and committement of the Irish Squad at the Worlds was shown by Greg O’Keefe. After suffering a nasty fall during practice, Greg had a visit to hospital with multiple bruises, a chunk out of his helmet testimony to the severity of the crash. Three days later, Greg rode in the Elite World Championship, finishing an incredible 44th, congratulations Greg.
Irish dh coach Glyn O’Brien had his own moment of International glory in 2007, finishing second in the World Masters 30-34 age group dh championships in France, Glyn loosing the World Championship by just .36 of a second. Joe Ward took a break from his managerial role to finish 17th in the 35-39 age group Worlds.
Irish XCO Report-Andy Potts
At domestic level the Irish NPS prospered following the success of the K-Capital; though the crammed calendar before the National Champs was perhaps too tough a challenge for many riders. Andy would like to see the calendar for the 2008 season more spread out with races in August and even the early part of September. In the North XMTB and Apollo ran successful Winter Leagues while the Dromara Club are to be congratulated on their series of MTB Trailquest events. A successful Winter League was also held in Connacht, once again these race attracting excellent entries, especially from Youth riders.
The numbers of Women riders in the Sport continues to grow, great work being done by Epic,Mad and Sorrento while Cycling Ulster ran a number of Womens MTB Beginners days, the commission now having Inga Doak to look after Womens MTB has been a positive move.
Organisation was generally good and it was encouraging to see so many different locations used for the series, ranging from forests to disused quarry to city park. For the 2008 season organising Clubs will receive guidelines from the commission to help with the running of events. At a few races time keeping could have been better and organisers are depending too much on commissaries to run their events. . At the Irish MTB XCO Championships, held in Tollymore Forest County Down in July, robin took the Irish Elite title for a remarkable 14th time.
One problem to have hit the XCO scene in 2008 was the introduction of the new Forest Service licensing charges in Ulster. The result is that Clubs could not afford to run events with the Forest Service charging a fee of £500. At present the issue remains unresolved, though the Forest Service seem more willing to get involved in MTB, with plans announced recently by the FS, N.I.Tourist Board and CAAN to develop ‘state of the art’ trails in Castlewellan and Rostrevor. The new trails opened in the South have seen an upsurge in MTB interest; hopefully this will help develop the XC race scene.
The 2008 XC Calendar still is not complete, even though Andy has been asking for dates from August. Please would Clubs set a date for their event asap. Clubs in the North are asked to select a date even though the Forest Service issue remains unresolved. The Dromara Club showed that there are other options to the FS, they ran their Ulster League race at a superb new venue, Dunmore Mountain, it was private land.
The low point of the 2007 season was the removal of Championship status from the Irish Marathon Championships at Carlingford. The race commissaries in agreement with the race promoter withdrew Championship status, a move supported by the Board of Cycling Ireland. The Commission will not permit any future National Marathon Championship to take place unless receiving guarantees from the prospective promoters.
Irish dh Report-Michael Cowan
2007 saw the Irish dh NPS attract superb entries to every round. Michael was pleased to report that the Irish National dh Championships held in Rostrevor was one of the best ever with added spice provided by the appearance of the top English duo, the Atherton brothers, Dan and Gee.
A number of issues that had arisen during the season. One was the new entry pricing system which along with a set organising criteria was designed to raise the standard of racing in Ireland. The new structure met with some resistance from a few Clubs, the end result was that Clubs were free to set their own entry pricing structure. Because of the flak given to the dh Committee over the new structure, Chain Reaction Cycles withdrew their overall sponsorship of the Irish NPS, instead sponsoring the rounds at Gortin and Coolaveely plus the National Championships.
As stated in the Irish XC Report, Mountain biking in Ulster has been hit by the new licensing agreements required to run a mountain bike event, a charge of £500 being set per event, applying to both dh and XCO. As with the XCO promoters, dh promoters feel that the licence is unfair, especially when the same fee is charged for a forest with facilities as a forest out in ‘the wilderness’ with no facilities.
There were also problems with event timing; there are only a select few who can operate timing equipment competently. There was good news on the acquiring of new timing equipment, Chain Reaction have been awarded a grant to purchase a timing system (Awards For All) while Board member Sean Herlihy has also secured funding for a timing equipment. The issues surrounding timing are training members in promoting Clubs in the use of the equipment and who will take responsibility for the CI equipment and transport it to events. The CI equipment will be used in the South while the Chain Reaction equipment will be used at events in Ulster
The lack of organising Club’s was also causing concern with only four Clubs promoting events, one of which will not be holding an event in 2008. The Irish dh Co-ordinator would appleal for Clubs throughout Ireland to come forward to run dh events. The Commission Chairman would like more Ulster Clubs to run dh events and even resurrect the Ulster dh Championships.
The matter of the lack of Commissaires at dh events should be helped with Comms course tutor Colin Clewes hopefully traveling over to Ireland in January. Fourteen persons expressed an interest in the course, both from the North and the South.
Ladies Report-Inga Doak
Inga was pleased to report that the number of women competing, especially in the Sports Class, had increased in the 2007, with the women being able to have their own separate start and awards at most events. Regarding whether women should race the same courses as men? The Commission recommends that all womens events should compete on the same courses as men. At the K-Capital race at Rostrevor the Sports Women had to compete on the U-14 course, this after the Cycling Ulster Women expressed their concerns that the course was too dangerous for riders of their ability. This move by the promoter was not popular with the Southern ladies.
Following Rostrevor the Irish XCO Co-ordinator, in agreement with most of the regular women mtb riders introduced an Expert Womens Class. Due to a lack of interest the Expert Class never really got off the ground. The Commission Chairman is deeply disappointed with the Expert Womens class, as most of those who had asked for it basically ignored it or were unable to take part as a number of Irish races clashed with British races.
How to increase the number of women taking part in mtb? Women only mtb days and better coverage in cycling press of women in mtb. Women only days were a great idea as they have already proved very successful in the Cycling Ulster region, with excellent Womens spins being run by Epic. MTB needs to be made less threatening to Women whether it be leisure or competition. At some races the language used by male riders towards Women has been totally unacceptable, and will not be tolerated by the Commission.
Cyclo Cross-Andy Potts
The 2006-2007 Cyclo cross season continued to show a growth in this branch of our sport with successful events promoted from October to January, the Senior Class attracting excellent entries from riders across all cycling disciplines. The Ulster Championships at Rostrevor saw Team BHB rider Lewis Ferguson crowned as champion while robin Seymour took the Leinster title at Tymon Park after a great battle with Neil Delahaye. Banbridge Cycling Club promoted the Irish Championships in the grounds of Banbridge Academy school, a great event culminating with robin Seymour winning the Irish title for the 15th time. Some riders have asked for maybe cyclo cross events to be held during the summer. These could take place as an evening race or on a weekend with no mtb event on the calendar.
The Cyclo Cross Calendar for 2007/08 has gone well so far. The commission would appeal to clubs wishing to run a cyclo cross event to apply for their date when they are submitting their mtb date or road race date. This would mean that a full cyclo cross calendar would be in the CI Hanbook from the start of the year. The Commission asked for dates for the cyclo cross calendar in August to help fill the calendar, please get dates in early.
Youth- Andy Potts
The Ulster region continues to lead the way in the development of Irish Youth MTB, mainly due to the work of Clubs like XMTB,Banbridge CC, Omagh CC and Dromara CC. The Cycling Ulster MTB Academy has given young riders the chance of racing in the British NPS, the most notable successes being Claire Oakley finishing runner up in the British U-14 series, while Jes Laird was runner up in the U-16 Class.
In the rest of Ireland, Youth MTB flourishes in small pockets. More than often it is the case that Cycling Ulster Youth riders race themselves when riding in events in the South. The Connacht region is very active in promoting the Youth scene and Killarney has some of the best young dh riders in Ireland, who to their credit travel the country throughout the year to every dh race. The Commission would encourage the appointment of an Irish MTB Development Officer, tasked with the job of promoting MTB in all regions of Cycling Ireland, giving advice to both Clubs and riders, this officer also able to call on the talents of our two MTB coaches.
The outlook may be positive as the new trails in the South have seen the growth of young riders taking part in mtb. For the past year the commission has not had a Youth South member.
Coaching
The commission is concerned that Cycling Ireland’s two MTB Coaches, Glyn O’Brien and robin Seymour have received no funding. Both robin and Glyn supplied their coaching services all year totally at their own expense. robin coached riders on the International XCO Squad while Glyn performed a similar role with the International dh Squad. Glyn also attended the Cycling Ulster MTB Academy at Castlewellan.
Access
In the South of Ireland the opening of three mtb trails has brought a tremendous boost to off road cycling. Every weekend the car parks at the three trails are packed, not just with regular mtb riders, but by riders of all ages and abilities. This can only be of benefit to Cycling Ireland, with hopefully events being run in these areas, both leisure and competitive.
In the North things are moving slowly. Last week the Forest Service announced that in conjunction with the NI Tourist Board and CAAN, they are planning two state of the art mtb trails. One would be in Castlewellan Forest Park, an XC trail. The site being looked at is Rostrevor. The FS are keen that this would be a dh and XC site. The only other site on the agenda is Glenarriff Forest in County Antrim. This project may not be considered should the Magheramourne site get planning permission.
Celebrate the opening of the new Ballinastoe trails
Meet at Ballinastoe Car Park 10am
AGM starts 1pm