CycloCross 2023

It's that time of the year again, when #CrossIsComing turns into #CrossIsHere.
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• A full Leinster, National CX Series and International calendar is here: Leinster CX Season 23/24 Calendar .
• The Leinster League has new features this year: 2023 Season Preview .
• The UCI CX World Cup is coming back to Dublin on the 26th of November, expanded to a full suite of UCI Points races: ME, WE, MU, MJ & WJ.
• The Nationals are on in Greenmount, Limerick on January 13th & 14th, if any club member wants to take on organising a MTB rental Saturday at Ballyhoura, and some Holiday homes, and watch the CX on Sunday. It was pretty popular back when the CX was in Newcastle/Castlewellan.
• There's a Tuesday evening series in McCrystal's until December.
• There's a Thursday evening series in Corkagh Park for September.

We're scheduled to host our own race on November 5th. Unfortunately, our usual venue, The GAP, is already booked that weekend. We're currently trying for a number of Public Parks, with some back up options. If we get a Public Park, we'll need lots of help from Club Members to stake and tape it out the morning of, as we cannot leave it staked out overnight.

We have a WhatsApp group, for talking about Race Organisation, and Training Spins (haven't happened in a few years, there are other inter-club training groups, you can ask around about), arranging lifts, and congratulating our Podiumers.
Please only join if you have a legit interest in CX. No Club announcements spam.

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Other Websites/Social Media pages to check out:
Leinster League of CycloCross / Bellurgan Wheelers (McCrystal's CX Track) / Off Road Cycling Ireland / Ulster CycloCross / Munster CX League / Connaught Cyclo-Cross League.
I can only put so many links in a forum post.

We're already off to a good start.
VC Glendale hosted Round 1 of the National CX Series on the 17th of September 2023.

Caoimhe May opened her account with a 2nd place in the Elite Women.
Harry Rochford scored a Top 20 in the Elite Men's Race.
Ronan O'Flynn was also 2nd in the M40 Race.
Lloyd Moore was just 2 seconds off a Podium place in the M60 Race.
The youngsters were also in action: Tomás 9th and Katie 2nd.
We also had a squad of 5 U10s make the trip up the M1 and return with 2 Ws.

We are back in action the next two Saturdays for the opening rounds of the K Capital CX League (Bellurgan, McCrystal's CX Track, 23rd) and the Leinster League (Epic MTB, Kiltipper, 30th).

Results: National CX Series Rd. 1 .

This past weekend, James and Ben made the trip to Orangefield Park in Belfast for Kinnings CC traditional season opener.

James scored a Podium in the U14s. He was just two seconds off second place.
Ben won the U10 race.

We're back in action again this coming weekend 30th/1st, with EPIC MTB opening the Leinster League on Saturday, and a possible double weekend with Foyle CC kicking off the Ulster Series.
The following weekend 7th/8th, is all action, with Bellurgan starting the K Capital League on Saturday and Oldcastle hosting Leinster's second round on Sunday. Ulster and Munster have Sunday races too.

Results:  GP Brian Kinning 2023 report .

Tickets for the UCI CycloCross World Cup in Dublin are on sale as of yesterday.
The race is on the 26th of November.
It won't sell out, so no rush, it's €17.50 online and €20 at the gate.

Link:  Flanders Classics website .

A formal congrats to Liz and Lorna, from the CI Annual Report:

2023 started on a positive note with the promotion of a Cyclo-cross Commissaire Course at McCrystal’s Track, Bellurgan.
The course was well attended, and as a result we have had two new Cyclo-cross Commissaires promoted to National Cyclo-cross Commissaires, namely Liz Roche and Lorna Reilly.

Saturday seen some home racing for Orwell, as EPIC MTB hosted round 1 of the Leinster League in Kiltipper Park.

The rainy A-Race seen Ronan O'Flynn in a near race-long four-way battle for 5th. Unfortunately he finished 7th and first M40.
Luke McMullan scored a 18th place.
Paul Kane got his season underway with a 36th place.

In the Women's Race, Caoimhe May got her second podium of the season with a second place.
Jean Wilson was 8th and first M40.
Aishling O'Connor was was 11th.
Aine Reilly, just back from a Track trip, was 17th.

The windswept B-Race seen Conor Fennell once again on the Podium. He has a mirror full of a VC Glendale rider all race, and won the sprint for second.
Barry Cronin pocketed a Top 10.
David Fox and Fionn Sheridan were 13th and 14th, respectively.
Ian Devlin started his season with a 17th.
Cahir O'Higgins rode his first CX race since the Club Champs many moons ago, and was 19th.
Harry Rochford followed up his National CX Series Top 20, with a 22nd place.
Cesar Lopes debuted in 23rd.
Nigel Burke made his full CX debut, after sampling the Thursday night racing in Corkagh Park.
Bruce Campbell, Jonathan Hudson, Barry O'Brien and Martyn Holmes also featured as all our B-Racers finished on the lead lap. And the leader was flying.

In the U14s, James was neck and neck with the winner all race, but succumbed to a last lap lifting of the pace.
Thomás was just off the podium in fourth.

Katie took the win in the U14 Girls, with a time fast enough to podium the U16 race.

And we had a squad for the U6/8/10 Fun Races.

Results:  Leinster League Rd. 1: EPIC MTB CX Race .

Next weekend has Bellurgan on Saturday and Oldcastle on Sunday.

Thank you Luke and all other club mates. It has been great to try CX.

Some very un-CycloCross-like Weather greeted our riders this weekend.

Saturday was the opening round of the K Capital CX League, at the McCrystal's CX Track.
James was narrowly out-sprinted in the U14s, and got second.
Ben and Jaxon were 1 & 2 in the U10 Fun Race.
Results: K Capital CX League Rd. 1 .

Sunday seen Oldcastle host Rd. 2 of the Leinster League at Drewstown House in Kells.
In the A-Race, Ronan O'Flynn was 4th and Unplaced M50.
Paul Kane was 25th.

In the Women's Race, Jean Wilson was 7th and Unplaced Master.
Aisling O'Connor was 9th.

The B-Race's Gridded riders was almost half Orwell Riders.
Fionna Sheridan took the W. He lead home an Orwell 1-2. And it promoted to the A-Race.
Conor Fennell was again second. Hopefully third time lucky in Navan.
Barry Cronin came in second best of a fatal-four-way for third position.
Harry Rochford was 9th.
Cesar Lopes was just 11 seconds outside the Top 10.
Also in action were David Fox, Barry Fennell, Cahir O'Higgins, Johnathan Hudson, Nigeal Burke, Lloyd Moore and Martyn Holmes.

In the U14 Boys, James won the sprint and the race.
Tomás was 4th.

In the U14 Girls, Katie took the win, with some very impressive lap times.
Alba was third.

Results: Oldcastle | Leinster League 2 .

The next fortnight sees the return of high level racing with the National CX Series. Next weekend in Clonmel there are UCI Points on offer. Then we head to Westport.
The Leinster League returns with Navan's round on the 29th, which may suit Gravel bike tyres in the B-Race, if anyone fancies dabbling.

This weekend was one of three completely blocked in the calendar, so it was a long, long road to Tipperary for the UCI C2 and National CX Series races in Clonmel.
They had 340 sign-ups.

Saturday
Fiachra featured in probably the biggest Under 8 field of the year, 18 riders.
The U10s were in action again in the Fun Races, Molly took the win in the girls race. The Boys, Jumbo-Visma'ed the competition with a 1,2,3,4 sweep. Congrats to Jaxon, Ben, Tadhg and Josh.
William was 5th, and the first Leinster Rider, in the U12 Race, which drew a mega sized 28 rider field. In the National CX Series, U12 is a fun category. So they go to the highest level of racing for a holiday from the provincial pressures.

James was second in the U14s. Tomás was in the Top 10.
Katie won the U14 Girl's race.

Jean Wilson was on the Podium in the Support Race.

Report & Results: Off-Road Cycling Ireland .

Sunday
The day started out slightly frosty, but turned out marvellous.
Nigel Burke continues his debut season, by racing at the top level of the M60s, in 4th.
In the UCI Men's Junior Race, Conor continued his, and David commenced his, season. Both were in contention for a Top 10 in terms of Irish Riders, but alas there were two GB lads at the top of the order, and our lads were 13th and 14th.
In the UCI Women's Race, incorporating Juniors, U23 and Elites, Aishling was 17th and Aine was 18th. The field was super competitive, missing maybe 4 riders (busy in Waterloo, Mexico, UK and Switzerland) for it to be an all out National Championship field.
In the UCI Men's Elite Race, Ronan O'Flynn had a great showing with a 14th place finish. He was always 22-27 seconds behind Robin Seymour, kept Glenn Kinning's late push to within 10 seconds at bay, along with being miles ahead of riders who dropped him in Kiltipper and finishing on the lead lap when the winner was MVDP's team mate, an impressive 65 minute outing.
He also rolled out the big guns, when it came to his pit crew, with me and my Mam, Eliz. We tried to play a practical joke on Ronan, pretending that my Mam had got him DSQed, by stepping in front of the invisible line in the pit.

Report & Results: Off-Road Cycling Ireland .

Next week is also a National CX Series round, in Westport. There's gonna be lots of rain in the days preceding the race, and last year's race went through a stream, which could be pretty swelled up. Bon Voyage to all.
Then we return to local racing with Navan closing out October on the 29th, and Orwell opening November on the 4th at McCrystal's CX Track. There's the potential for a double weekend on the 4/5th as Breffni Wheelers are on the 5th in Cavan.

Westport was the destination this weekend.

Friday
I tried to resurrect the Orwell Club Power Washer aka Washy McWashFace, a brief 5 minute successful run has my hopes high, but alas it would not run again.

Sunday
National CX Series round 3, the mid-way point, was on the agenda today.

In the Underage Fun Races:
Fiachra opened the day in the U8s.
Molly took the U10 Girls win.
In the U10 Boys, the Jumbo-Visma-ing continued, with Ben, Tadhg and Josh sweeping the podium.

In the Youth:
Katie won the U14 Girls.
James won the U14 Boys. Tomás finished 5th.

In the Seniors:
Caoimhe was second in the Women's Race, and first Elite, as Elites and Juniors are split in the National CX Series.
Ronan won the M40s race. He was the only M40, and one of nine riders, to finish on the lead lap.

Results:  Sunshine in Westport for Round 3 of the National CX Series .

Next Sunday sees the return of The Leinster League, with a trip up the M3 to Navan, for round 3.
The following weekend, the 4th and 5th of November has the opportunity for a double weekend. Orwell host Leinster League Round 4 at McCrystal's CX Track, and Breffni Wheelers host a round of the Ulster League in Cavan.

There was a trip up the M3 to Navan this Sunday.
The weather was showery on the day, and wet the week beforehand, which made the course into a bog.
It was a return to Leinster League action.

The day started off in the U12 Race, where William picked up the win.
Jake was also in action.

We had a new schedule to separate the Youth Boys from the Women and Youth Girls.
The day's second race was the U16 and U14 boys, who all started on the same whistle.
James took the win in the U14s, and impressively was second of the U16s.

The Women and Youth Girls were next on course.
Caoimhe May took second place.
Jean Wilson was eighth and Unplaced M40.
Aine Reilly was just outside the Top 10.

The Underage Fun Races followed, and we had a few riders involved.
We don't take the Fun races results in Leinster.

Penultimately was the A-Race. Eoin Ahern had an impressive season debut in 14th.
Luke McMullan was 16th.
The Junior trio of Daniel, Conor and David were also in action.

The day wrapped up with the B-Race, where we had Barry Cronin on the podium.
Bruce Campbell and Cesar Lopes were in 12th and 13th respectively.
Jonothan Hudson and Cahir O'Higgins were also in action.

Results: Results Rd. 3 Navan .

Leinster League continues on Saturday with Orwell's race at McCrystal's CX Track in Jenkinstown, Co. Louth.
The Last Lap Cafe, will be bringing a BBQ for Burgers, and everyone is welcome to attend.

We're then back to National CX Series action in Upperchurch Drombane for Rd. 4.
Then we're back to four weekends with Leinster the focus, with a race at McCrystal's CX Track, Bray, a World Cup, Lakeside's final round of the Leinster League. and the Championships.
It's then very serious after the Christmas Break, with two Leinster based National CX Series rounds and the National CX Champs in Limerick.

The Beach, Dundalk and Cavan were the destinations this week.

M1 Saturday
Orwell hosted round 4 of the Leinster League at McCrystal's CX Track.
We had 22 in action.

In the U8s, we had Bobby and Fiachra in action.
In the U10 Boys, Ben and Tadhg were on the podium. Josh was 4th, but had a mega battle with Molly.
In the U10 Girls, Molly got the W.

Great Orwell results continued in the U14s.
With James winning the U14 Boys. Tomás was 4th.
In the U14 Girls, Katie went thermonuclear, started 45 seconds behind the Women, passed all the U16s, passed 11 women in 30 minutes.

We had Cesar Lopes and Harry Rochford in the Top 10 in the B-Race.
Ian Devlin was 13th, With Bruce Campbell and Nigel Burke also featuring.

Caoimhe May won the Women's Race.
Jean Wilson picked up the Unplaced M40 prize and fifth.
Aoife Reilly started her season, featuring in fourth position early, but succumbing to seventh. She was the Unplaced Orwell Rider.
Aine was tenth.

In the A-Race, Killian O'Brien was the Unplaced Junior and 8th. Killian was the most alert of the scrum of ungridded riders, so he started fourth row.
Eoin Ahern was involved in some great pack racing and prevailed from his group of competitors and got 12th place.
Luke McMullan and Barry Cronin also featured.

Results:  Rd. 4 Orwell at McCrystal's .


M3 Sunday
Breffni Wheelers hosted round 3 of the Ulster CX Series at Castle Saunderson in Cavan.

Ben doubled up, with another win in the U10s.
Jake was 6th in the U12s.
James was second in the U14s.

Lloyd Moore was back in action in the B-Race.

Results:  A super event at Castle Saunderson for Round 3 .

M9 Sunday
A Beach race held in Youghal, similar to Ostend in Belgium.
David Fox was second in the B-Race.

Results:  Munster CX Rd. 4 Youghal .

Upcoming Races
Tipperary is the destination this coming weekend for Upperchurch Drombane's round 4 of the National CX Series. It's likely a last chance for riders to impress ahead sumbitting their CVs to be selected as WildCards for the World Cup that evening.
Bellurgan Wheelers have a race the following Saturday.
Bray's round 5 of the Leinster League is a day later.
Then a double header at the Sport Campus with the World Cup Amatuer and Professional Races.
Lakeside close out the Leinster League on December 3rd.
Bellurgan Wheelers host the Leinster CX Champs on the 10th.

Once again it was a long, long road to Tipperary.
Thurles, rather than Clonmel, was the destination this time, as Upperchurch Drombane CC hosted round 4 of the National CX Series.

Sunday 12th November
Caoimhe May was second in the Women's race. Caoimhe is fourth in the Standings, with second place a very reasonable opportunity. Winning the league will much more difficult, and rely on a DNF or DNS from the league leader in the remaining two rounds to bridge the 16 point gap.
Jean Wilson was sixth, and first Master.
Aishling O'Connor was also in action.

In the Junior Men's Race, Conor Fennell was ninth.

Ronan O'Flynn won his second M40 race of the National CX Series. Ronan is currently tied for second in the standings. The gap to first is a bridge too far, and will depend on a DNF or DNS from the league leader.

Barry Fennell was in action in the M50s.
Nigel Burke was in action in M60s.

In the U14 Boys, James was just out sprinted for the win. James should be on top the table, but they give zero points for a DNF in the National CX Series races.
Tomás was fifth, and sits third in the National CX Series.

In the U14 Girls, Katie Turner took the win. Katie is leading the National CX Series.

In the U10s Fun Races, we had another Podium Sweep with Tadhg, Josh and Jaxon in the boys.
Molly took the win in the Girls race.

Fiachra was in action in the U8s Fun Race.

Report:  NATIONAL CX SERIES ROUND 4 – REPORT 2023 .

This coming Sunday, we head just down the road to Bray for Rd. 5 of the Leinster League.
The following weekend will be up the road to Blanchardstown for the World Cup. Unfortunately the startlist is lacking star power.

This weekend we headed down the N11.
Bray was the destination for round 5 of the Leinster League, where 25 Orwells were in action.

Sunday 19th November
The day started off with a double podium in the U12 Boys.
William was second, and Jake was third.
Daniel was also in action.

In the U14 Boys, we had James take the win, and secure the Leinster League with one round to spare.
Tomás was just off the podium. Xander made his season debut.

In the U16 Boys, Mark rode his first ever CX race.
In the U16 Girls, Ysabella also returned to action, and bagged second place.

In the U14 Girls, Katie did very very well again. She got the win, and made her way through the Women's Field.
Alba continued her debut season.

In the Women, Caoimhe May took the win in big style. Caoimhe is the favourite for the Leinster League. She is also racing the CX World Cup Dublin on Sunday in the combined Elite and U23 Women's field.
Aoife Reilly was second, a big improvement on her season opener two weeks prior.
Jean Wilson was fifth, and first Master.
Aishling O'Connor was seventh, and finished on the lead lap, given the pace at the front, this was impressive.

In the A-Race, Ronan O'Flynn was just off the podium in 4th. Ronan got a Wild Card entry for the Elite Men's World Cup. So will be in the Orwell Kit.
Luke McMullan was in the Top 20.
Barry Cronin continues to find his feet in the A-Race, with a 26th place, after being promoted two rounds ago.

The day wrapped up with the B-Race.
Cesar Lopes was just out-sprinted, and got second.
Harry Rochford was fourth, and is in contention for the B-Race League podium.
Bruce Campbell was 13th.
Barry Fennell, Lloyd Moore and Jonathan Hudson were in action.
Adam McConnell and Bart Wijn made their debuts.

Report:  Rd. 5 Bray Wheelers – Belmont Demesne CX GP 2023 .

Upcoming Races:
The Dublin World Cup is this Sunday, there is an Amatuer race on the Saturday.
The following weekend, the Leinster League finishes.
Then the Leinster CX Champs is the following weekend.

Catching up on two weeks of racing, the Omnibus edition:

On the Weekend of 25/26th, we were all taking Exit 6 on the M50.

Saturday 25th November
The Dublin World Cup Support Races were on, with 15 Orwell riders taking to the start.
The first race was the Youth Races for 14s and 16s.
James took the win in the U14 Boys.
Katie took the win in the U14 Girls.
Also in action were Mark and Tomás.

Next up were the Senior races.
Eoin Ahern was third in the Senior Men's Race.
David Harrington won the Men's Junior Race.

Also in action were Harry Rochford, Conor Fennell, Ian Devlin, Barry Cronin, Barry Fennell, Lloyd Moore, Nigel Burke, Aishling O'Connor and Aine Reilly.


Sunday 26th November
The Dublin World Cup Pro Races were run.
Caoimhe May was selected for the Irish National Team in the combined U23 and Elite Women's Race. Caoimhe was 40th and second Irish rider.
Ronan O'Flynn was given the WildCard Entry for the Elite Men's Race, and thus got to race in his Orwell Kit. Ronan was 25th.
Former Orwell youth riders Stephanie Roche, Tadgh Killeen and Doireann Killeen were also racing.
Just being selected to ride these races is a celebration of the rider's accomplishments.

Results:  Saturday Support Races |  Sunday World Cup .

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Sunday December 3rd
Mullingar was the destination, the M4 was the journey, for Lakeside Wheelers race, and the final of the Leinster League.
19 Orwells in action.

The day started with the U12s:
William was 4th on the day.
In the League he was 5th, and can look back on winning round 3, and being second in round 5.

The youth boys were up next:
James Cunningham took the win in the U14 Boys.
James also won the league with the maximum 300 points.
Tomás and Xander were also in action. Tomás was 4th in the league.

The Women's race followed:
Ysabella took her first win of the season in the U16 Girls.
She was 5th in the league, and could've been a contender had she been racing all season.

Katie was up to her usual tricks, starting 45 seconds late and passing all the way up to fourth in the senior women's race.
She took the round win and the league win with a perfect 300 points.

Caoimhe May was second in the Women's race. Caoimhe won the League.
Aoife Reilly was third.
Aishling O'Connor was 8th. Aine Reilly was 12th.
Jean Wilson opted for a rest week, and finished 6th in the League.

The A-Race was next in the spotlight:
Luke McMullan was 18th on the day, and 15th in the League.
David Harrington was the Unplaced Junior.
Connor Fennell, Cesar Lopes and Barry Cronin were also in action.

The B-Race finished off the day:
Harry Rochford was 10th on the day, and was 3rd in the League.
Ian Devlin was 13th.
Barry Fennell and Bruce Campbell were also in action.
In the League Cesar Lopes was fourth, after his promotion to the A-Race.

Results:  Round 6 Lakeside  |  Leinster League Final Standings .

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We have two more race weekends left in 2023.
December 10th is the Leinster CX Champs hosted by Bellurgan Wheelers, hopefully at least five medals.
December 17th is the Connaught CX Champs hosted by Ballinasloe CC, and you can race, but not be eligible for the medals or titles.
We have a Christmas Break, and are back with three weekends of high level racing, plus the season ender with the Sean Sharkey Memorial race.

Provincial Championship Weekend(s) Recap

Sunday December 10th
The Leinster, Ulster and Munster Provincial Champs were on.
For Leinster, the McCrystal CX Track was the venue, and the course was run in the opposite direction.

In the U10s Fun Race, Orwell-Visma were back at it with a 1,2,3 and a 5th, with Ben, Jaxon, Tadhg and Josh.
Molly won the U10 Girls race, and her time was competitive to be just off the boys podium.

The U12s was also a Fun Race, as it was recently changed to not be a Championship Race, either at the CyclingIreland AGM or Leinster AGM.
William and Jake were second and third.

In the U14 Girls, Katie took home the Gold.
James was second in the U14 Boys. Tomás was just outside the Top 5.

In the U16s, it was Silver for Ysabella.

In the Junior Men's Race, David took the Bronze medal. Conor was 4th. Daniel was also in action.

In the M50s, Barry Fennell was in action.

In the Women's Race, Aine was in action.

In the M40s, Ronan O'Flynn took the Gold.

Up in Ulster, Lloyd Moore won the M60 race, but is not eligible for the Ulster title.

Results: Leinster CX Champs 2023  and Ulster CX Champs 2023 .

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Sunday December 17th
It was the Connacht CX Champs, and they had some ineligible interlopers.
The venue was on the Fair Green in Ballinasloe.
It's super easy to get to Ballinasloe nowadays, as everyone commented. They had attendees from Sligo, Cavan, Dublin, Kildare and Limerick.

Jaxon was in action in the U10s and took the win.
Katie won the U14 Girls.
Eoin Ahern won the Elite Men's Race in dominant fashion.

Results: Connacht CX Champs 2023  [PDF].

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After Christmas the Final two rounds of the National CX Series.

The New Year was bookended by two National CX Series rounds.

Saturday December 30th
The McCrystal CX Track hosted the fifth round.
It attracted riders from Kerry and Limerick, among the usual Leinster and Ulster clubs.

As the race was timed by Bryan McCrystal, we have the Fun Race results.
In the U8s, the top 3 were separated by 6 seconds, where Bobby took the win. Fiachra was also in action.

In the U10 Girls, Molly was second.
In the U10 Boys, in their final outing as Orwell-Visma, the lads came home with a 1,3,5, rather than their usual podium sweep. Ben took the win, Jaxon was third and Josh was fifth. Tadhg was also in action.

In the U12s, William was third. Jake was also in action.

In the U14 Girls, Katie was second.
In the U14 Boys, James took the win. Tomás was fifth.

Lloyd Moore was third in the M60s.

In the Women's Race, Caoimhe May was fourth.
Jean Wilson was in the Top 10, and the first master.

Ronan O'Flynn took the win in the M40s.

Results: National CX Series Rd. 5 .

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Sunday January 7th
Team WORC hosted the sixth, and final, round, at a new venue in Kilgobbin (near Stepaside/Enniskerry).

In the U8s, Bobby took the win again. Fiachra was also in action.

In the U10 Girls, Molly was the only rider in the race. Her lap times would have her comfortably in the Top 10.
In the U10 Boys, Orwell-Lease-A-Bike didn't have everything their own way. They came away with a 1,3,4,6. Ben took yet another win. Tadhg was third. Jaxon was fourth. Josh was sixth.

In the U12s, Jake was in action scoring a Top 10.

In the U14 Girls, Katie was back to winning ways.
In the Boys, James was second. Tomás was fifth.

In the U16 Girls, Ysabella was sixth.

In the Juniors, Daniel was fifth. Conor DNFed, and we're hoping he's fine.

In the Women's Race, Caoimhe May was fourth. Aoife Reilly was eighth. Jean was 10th and first Master.
Also in action were Aishling O'Connor and Gráinne O'Callaghan. It was a debut race for Gráinne.

In the M40s, Ronan O'Flynn was fifth. Ian Devlin was also in action.

In the Elite Men, Eoin Ahern was just outside the Top 10. David Fox was also in action. Luke McMullan unfortunately DNFed.

Results: National CX Series Rd. 6 .

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National CX Series 2023 Final Standings

Katie won the U14 Girls National CX Series.
James was second in the U14 Boys National CX Series. Tomás was fourth.
Ronan O'Flynn was second in the M40s National CX Series.
Caoimhe May was third in the Elite Women's National CX Series.

Results:  Series Final Standings  [PDF].

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Next week we go to the Nationals in Limerick where the Race Course will be the Venue.
After that is the Sean Sharkey Memorial race at McCrystal's CX Track.
And the World CX Champs are on in Tabor.

Nationals Weekend Recap
The blue riband weekend of the season took place at Limerick Racecourse, hosted by Greenmount Cycling Academy.
We walked away with five medals; two golds, two silvers and one bronze.
We had a great turnout of 26 Pinergy Orwells on track, plus supporters.
We were also, presented with a Bursary from the BelgianProject, for Orwell Youth.

CX Nationals always has an air of unpredictability about it, even though we had two rounds of the National CX Series, immediately preceeding the Nationals, to set expectations. The spanner in the works was the Flu this winter, which was absolutely brutal.

Saturday 13 January 2024
In the Fun Races, Bobby started the weekend off for us with a win in the Under 8s. Fiachra was in action also in action.
Molly was second in the U10 Girls. Very narrowly missing out on the win.
The U10s Boys seen Ben take the win. Jaxon third. Josh fifth and Tadhg sixth.
The U12s Boys finished off the Fun Races with William in eighth and Jake tenth.

The Championship races then commenced with the Youth Girls race.
Katie took the Championship the U14 Girls race. Leading start to finish, and overtaking all the way up to third in the U16s race.
Ysabella was seventh in the U16 race.

The Youth Boys race was next.
James took the National title in the U14 Boys race. James separated himself from the three-strong front group by being first into the camber section and riding it. From there he built the gap from 7 seconds, to 22 to 29, and back to 19 by the finish.
Tomás was sixth.

The final race of the championships re-jigged schedule was the M50 and M60 race.
Lloyd Moore was seventh in the M60s race.

With both Katie and James winning as first years, they'll get to wear their National Champion's Jersey next season.

Links: Report & Results .

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Sunday 14 January 2024
I was third car in the gate on Sunday morning, and I got a lovely view of the sunrise over The Burren on my way down the M17.
The M40s were off really early, with a call-up time of 09:25.

Ronan O'Flynn rallied on the final lap to finish second. The most hotly anticipated race of the weekend, there was a real sense that any one of Ronan, Glenn Kinning or Mark Flavin could finish in any order on the podium. Any mistake would bring Frank McDermott into podium contention. Glenn eventually pulled away, and Ronan and Mark were trading places. At one stage Mark had a 15 second lead on Ronan. The bridge was made crossing the finish line for the final lap, and Ronan pulled the gap after the camber section.
Barry Cronin was also in action scoring a 17th place.
We were also pitting for, former Orwell member, Bryan Geary. He had a flying start in the Top 6. But punctured after passing the pit for the second time. He was last at the end of the first lap, as he had to run. We couldn't get his tyre reseated, but Bryan went on to finish on the lead lap.

The Junior Men's race was a quieter affair, with just ten on the start line.
We had Daniel finishing seventh. He had an early battle with a Gorey rider and then a Carlow rider, in which he prevailed.

The Women's race was our second last race. We had entrants in both the Elite Women and Master Women.
Caoimhe May finished third. After both Aliyah and Greta pulled away, Caoimhe was left to battle Aine for the final podium spot. It was touch and go for the opening two laps, but Caoimhe kept the pressure on for laps 3, 4 and 5 to secure the podium comfortably.
Aoife Reilly was eleventh. The front seven pulled away, which left five pretty good riders to fight it out for the final three spots in the Top 10, and the UCI points that come with them. All five were trading places, gaining and ceeding big time gaps. Aoife struggled with her rear tyre deflating and after multiple brief communication attempts, we got her fixed up to 22psi on both bikes. Unfortunately she missed the Top 10 by one place, ending her run of being in the Top 10 for the previous two years. Given the size of the women's fields, losing her UCI points will only mean that she starts from the second row, as opposed to the front.
We also had Aishling in action.
Unfortunately the flu forced Aine to miss the race.

The pre-race previews mostly focused on how strong the startlist was. Both Orwell and VC Glendale fielded three riders, so we're just one more club, possibly two riders, away from having a Team Prize in the Women's race. There's second year riders in the U16s this year that could also make this happen with an extra rider for TC Racing, Dungarvan and/or Sliabh Luachra.

The Masters Women race seen Jean Wilson score a silver medal. Jean was leading early in the race. But, former Orwell Member, Michelle Geoghegan was able to match her, and lift the pace on two laps, to win.
Orla Hendron was making her season debut, in the category that she pushed to create. After a demonstration event in Armagh in 2021, we're onto the second Masters Nationals, with a nine-strong field.

In the Elite Men's race, Eoin Ahern gave us hope of a Top 10 for the first lap. But he was passed by Graham Boyd for 10th, and then a big battle with Dan Brickenden ensued. He pitted for the spare bike, which was fairly heavy, on the penultimate lap on the second side of the pit. We had his start bike washed and ready by the time he reappeared, I shouted at the top of my lungs for him to come in to the pit, but alas he didn't, and was passed by Dan one final time. Not coming in for the bike is possibly one of the biggest "What If" moments in World CycloCross history. 12th is Eoin's best ever result at the Nationals, in a season where he has had limited racing, it's very impressive. He has another few goes at cracking the Top 10.
Shane Burke made his debut, I want to say, full competitive cycling debut in this race. He punctured twice. And Team WORC gave him a spare bike, but it was a tiny bike for him. We had a great laugh in the pits looking at his knees nearly hitting the handlebars. Very tenacious of Shane to continue after all the mishaps.

Links: Report & Results .

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This coming Sunday, it's the domestic season closer, The Sean Sharkey Memorial.
And the World Champs in Tabor in early February.

The final race of the Domestic Season, the Sean Sharkey Memorial.

Sunday 21st January
The day started with Molly taking the win in the U10 Girls.
Ben and Josh were 1 and 2 in the U10 Boys.

William took the win in the U12s Boys.

Katie won the U14s Girls.

Martyn Holmes was our biggest kid racing today. He was 14th, racing against two National Champs, in the Seniors.

Report: McCrystalsTrack.com .

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The Men's race in Benidorm today was a great watch. Apparently the Women's race was good too. They're on Discovery+ or EuroSport Player.

We now wait on the announcement of the Ireland team to race in the World Championships in Tabor.

The CX World Champs starts on Feb 2nd with the Team Relay. Feb 3rd is the WJ, MU and WE races. Feb 4th are the MJ, WU and ME races.