King of the Castle! KCap Round 4 review

[Fergal]

ok, let's have it - what did ye think of that?

[Richie]

Super course. It had everything - tons of technical singletrack going up and down, a heartbreaking savage fireroad climb in the middle, and great setting too. Was getting a handle on it towards the end. Happy enough with my race - but the next goal is the not get lapped by the leader!

[Fergal]

the best XC trail I've ever ridden, sooooo deadly, - first timers now understand why we rave about Castlewelly.

Thought I'd have a better race than I did - no idea why, but when the chairman caught me on the last lap, I knew it would be tough to catch him - and it was, too tough

Big thanks to Shane for bottling me up and the rest of the "fill 'er up" gang - Barry Sean Liam and all who were shouting encouragement, Jackie, Ash and all - oohh mama but I really needed that encouragment, and stronger legs....


Glad Steve ended his KCap season with his best race ever

Mel has been outstanding this year - a well deserved win today and overall title by all accounts, with Ryan putting in some excellent performances too against serious Irish and European XC racers, and Oisin annihilating the opposition - it's been outstanding


I'm very pleased and impressed with all the MAD racers for this series - a lot of newbies but also people stepping up to the tougher cats. - and by god they have been tough, the mad thoughts that go thru yor head when you are racing about giving up, or trying to snap your chain with your mind, but you just keep at it and you don't really know why, but you're going insane with exhaustion, you're in a kiddie gear and barely moving, and you wonder where all the power from training you are supposed to have is, but then you realise how tough XC racing in this country is, and you know that training has to have made you stronger- but you'd like the capability to sprint like Seymour all the same, (and then Morgan passes you), and sometimes you want to cry, but then the end is in sight, and finally your legs stop creating a million mini nuclear explosions a second within themselves, and you finish with a lunatic grin of exhaustion and achievement, dried salt on your face, half a power gel after missing your mouth somehow & it after running down your neck, and dust and dirt all over you, lookin' savage seXC...and you wonder why you love it so much :-)

and you never really find the answer, you just get back on your bike again to continue the quest.....


oh this beer has my fingers possessed!

[Fergal]

in fairness Richie - that should not happen, James is an Elite-level rider, who is riding Masters this time out - not much you can do about it and he has valid reasons that I can't argue with - but it is a demoraliser getting lapped by people in your same cat., it means you don't get your full race, though sometimes it can be nice to have a lap less :-)

[ollietrex]

300 Odd days until it all starts again next year... sends a shiver down my spine thinking about it...


Castlewellen was easily my best race... Sweet, sweet single track and some good single track climbs to keep the legs at breaking point. The demons nearly got me in the first lap but once I got a bit more into my flow I nearly had a smile on my face. The biggest thing for me was nearly making the fifth lap cut which I was closer to than I have ever been.


Thanks to Sean for doing the bottles and every one giving me abuse round the course it really does keep you going espically when I am so far off the back of the expert field but thats something that can be worked on.

[Morgan]

Brilliant race. Castlewellen really is one of the best venues in the country. Also there has been a load of work done on the course since last year with plenty of new additions to keep things interesting.

I was on my own for a fair bit of the fifth lap so I was glad to see Fergal ahead of me on the switchback climb, crusing along in his grey wooly cardigan. I just had to catch up to say hello.

Great to see to many MAD racers there yesterday (although we seemed to be missing a few regulars). There's evidence of several personal battles in the results below but I think Paddy deserves a special mention for just making it to the race. Awesome!


K Capital Cup Round 4 - Castlewellan 20 April 2008


Elite Men

7 Laps

1 Niall Davis IMBRC 2.00.06

2 Gareth Montgomery Colnago/Ergon 2.01.34

3 Robin Seymour WORC 2.02.16

4 Connor McConvey McConvey Cycles 2.07.17

5 Ryan Sherlock TORQ/MAD 2.14.08

6 Joe McCall Rocky Mountain 2.18.24

7 Dave Barry IMBRC @ 1 lap

8 Maksyn Czyzewski Poland @ 1 lap

9 Evan Ryan WORC @ 1 lap

10 Richie Felle WORC @ 1 lap

11 Graham Boyd XMTB @ 1 lap

12 Philip Roche WORC DNF


Elite Women

5 Laps

1 Melanie Spath MAD 1.56.15

2 Karolina Kozela Karolla Glost 2.11.36

3 Fiona Barrett MBCC 2.13.58

4 Anne Duffy Newry Wheelers @ 1 lap


Juniors

4 Laps

1 Liam McGreevy Banbridge 1.14.17

2 Paul O'Reilly IMBRC 1.21.38

3 Neill McGimpsey XMTB 1.22.06

4 Jonny Beers EACC 1.27.11

5 Chris Cameron North Down 1.34.48


Experts

5 Laps

1 Ben Reid Iron Horse 1.42.24

2 Gary Henning Haldane Fisher 1.49.52

3 Luke Ireland U/A 1.51.49

4 Michael Holland Leisure Lakes Bikes 1.52.17

5 Oisin Boydell UCD 1.52.35

6 Donnacha O'Brien West Coast Wheelers 1.52.54

7 Tim James EPIC 1.54.07

8 Stephen Scrivener MAD 1.57.38

9 David O'Neill Swords 1.57.49

10 Alfie Wallace EPIC 1.59.58

11 Mark Driver Bray Wheelers 2.00.11

12 Ross Galway Dromara 2.02.45

13 David O'Brien IMBRC 2.03.19

14 Darragh Maloney MBUL @ 1 lap

15 Marc McCormick EPIC @ 1 lap

16 Oliver Castle MAD @ 1 lap

17 Tomas Mikalski U/A @ 1 lap

18 Luke Manning IMBRC DNF

19 Andrew Godfrey XMTB DNF




Masters

5 Laps

1 James McCluskey IMBRC 1.43.42

2 Mark Allen Swords 1.45.02

3 Conor Campbell Newry Wheelers 1.45.20

4 Peter O'Farrell U/A 1.50.01

5 John O'Reilly EPIC 1.50.39

6 Glyn O'Brien Kona Sambras 1.52.22

7 Stuart Galloway WORC 1.53.02

8 Rory Walsh EPIC 1.54.49

9 Clive Caldwell Total Cycling 1.55.38

10 Andrew Wallace Northern Dave Kane 1.56.04

11 Damian Mulchrone EPIC 1.57.02

12 Asa Redmond Wicklow Triathlon 1.57.15

13 Martin O'Hagan Newry Wheelers 1.59.00

14 Niall Donovan MBCC 1.59.37

15 Morgan O'Connell MAD 1.59.52

16 Fergal Kilkenny MAD 2.00.15

17 Raymond Brownfield Curran Racing 2.00.33

18 Oscar Macananey EPIC 2.03.31

19 Sean Herlihy EPIC 2.06.49

20 Paul Ferguson North Down 2.07.36

21 Richard Close MAD @ 1 lap

22 Arkadiusz Gogojewiez MAD @ 1 lap

23 Conor Conneff MAD @ 1 lap

24 Vincent Price EPIC @ 1 lap

25 Mark Bartley U/A @ 1 lap

26 Graham Diamond MAD DNF

27 Glenn Armstrong North Down DNF

28 Paddy O'Brien MAD DNF

29 Phil O'Neill Banbridge DNF


Veterans

4 Laps

1 William Mulligan Banbridge 1.26.34

2 Mike Jordan IMBRC 1.30.26

3 Paul McMenamin Leisure Lakes 1.30.57

4 Andrew Burns Orchard Juiced 1.33.42

5 Knud Jensen Odder CK 1.34.19

6 Ken Farrar Leinster 1.34.45

7 Peter McConville Newry Wheelers 1.34.58

8 Paraig Bonnie U/A 1.39.20

9 Simon Curry Banbridge 1.39.57

10 Richard Byrne EPIC 1.41.02

11 Steve Nicholson WORC 1.41.12

12 Paul Keogh EPIC 1.41.12

13 Mark Forrester Madigan 1.43.12

14 Jon Runciman Banbridge 1.43.31

15 Paul Anderson Banbridge 1.44.27

16 Aidan Ryan Sorrento 1.45.25

17 Eoin Keith EPIC 1.45.51

18 Aidan McDonald Apollo @ 1 lap

19 Fred McSorley Apollo @ 1 lap

20 Maurice Mayne Banbridge @ 1 lap

21 William Forsythe Banbridge @ 1 lap

22 Karl Thomas EPIC @ 1 lap

23 Jonathan Buller Banbridge @ 1 lap

24 Leslie Walpole IMBRC @ 1 lap

25 Eamon McConvey Newry Wheelers DNF

26 Patrick Lambert U/A DNF

27 Michel Gavart U/A DNF


Sports Men

2 Laps

1 Kevin Stanley EPIC 42.50

2 Lukasz Czyzycki Bikestacja 43.58

3 Matthew Hickmott Bray Wheelers 45.05

4 Ewan Doherty Chain Reaction 45.12

5 David Askin Lucan Cycling 47.11

6 Geoff Robinson U/A 47.32

7 Mark Solon U/A 47.33

8 Sean Donnolly Chain Reaction 47.35

9 Ronan Corrigan XMTB 47.55

10 Chris Mallen Banbridge 48.03

11 Sean Connolly Bray Wheelers 48.19

12 Matt Casey XMTB 49.22

13 Michael Flanagan West Coast Wheelers 49.45

14 Martin O'Reilly U/A 49.58

15 Paul Giblin U/A 50.57

16 Liam Baxter Newry Wheelers 51.58

17 Ian Cumming U/A 52.55

18 Liam Howard MAD 53.06

19 David Neill Orchard Juiced 53.16

20 David Graham Banbridge 53.24

21 Raymond Beers XMTB 53.44

22 Cornelius Duffy IMBRC 53.46

23 Martin Grimley Dromara 53.58

24 Chris Tyndall U/A 54.01

25 Jack McGeown U/A 54.18

26 Mark Kidd IMBRC 54.34

27 Ronnie Ogilby XMTB 54.45

28 Barry O'Brien MAD 55.16

29 Garth McKee Banbridge 55.49

30 Stephen Prentice Banbridge 56.03

31 Tony Kelly Cuchullain 56.27

32 Gareth Maguire IMBRC 58.50

33 Paul Barry IMBRC 59.17

34 Peter Collins Cuchullain 1.00.36

35 Ben Merchant IMBRC 1.00.44

36 Kenneth Nally EPIC 1.00.50

37 Gavin Snowden U/A 1.01.19

38 Andrew Adair Banbridge 1.03.30

39 Darren Cox IMBRC 1.04.36

40 Robert Higgins UCD 1.05.19

41 John Grifferty U/A 1.05.52

42 Richard Greer U/A 1.13.52

43 Shane Geoghegan MAD DNF

44 Vincent Roche U/A DNF

45 Stephen Stewart Madigan DNF


Sports Women

2 Laps

1 Rachel Wisdom WORC 58.50

2 Valerie O'Neill Banbridge 59.52

3 Didi Baxter U/A 1.01.52

4 Linda Haug Sorrento 1.03.20

5 Aisling Corkery MAD 1.05.19

6 Sadhbh Ni Hogain IMBRC 1.06.00

7 Jacqueline O'Hagan MAD 1.09.12

8 Nicola Oldham Banbridge 1.16.53

9 Anna Cronin U/A 1.19.52


Under 16

2 Laps

1 William Boyd XMTB 41.55

2 Robert Scanlon WORC 47.02

3 Jamie Fenning U/A 55.09

4 Daniel Laird U/A 56.56

5 Jamie Clarke U/A 1.05.47

6 Matthew Adair Banbridge DNF

7 Nathan McInes U/A DNF


Under 14

2 Short Laps

1 Robert Anderson Orchard Juiced 31.50

2 Kyle McEwan XMTB 32.37

3 Ben Gregory IMBRC 33.01

4 Dan Runciman Banbridge 33.02

5 Chris Oakley XMTB 33.12

6 Claire Oakley XMTB 34.03

7 Zak Hanna Dromara 38.45

8 Nathanael Smyth XMTB 47.23

9 Curtis Bell XMTB 51.40


Under 12

2 Laps U12 Course

1 Mark Downey Banbridge 6.18

2 James Curry Banbridge 6.28

3 Alex Bell XMTB 7.46

4 Conor Nairn XMTB 7.59

5 Rachel Mayne Banbridge 8.01

6 Aimee Ogilby XMTB 8.48

7 Joseph Baird Banbridge 9.03

8 Eoghan O'Reilly U/A 11.47


Under 10

4 Laps Mini Course

1 John Buller Banbridge 5.08

2 Richard Baird Banbridge 5.29

3 Cian McConvey Newry Wheelers 6.02

4 Shannon Buller Banbridge 6.08

5 Joel Smyth XMTB 6.54

6 Jack Lamont XMTB 7.19

7 Calum Nairn XMTB @ 1 lap

8 Matthew McBratney Ards @ 1 lap


Under 8

2 Laps Mini Course

1 Stuart Dunlop Banbridge 2.54

2 Mark Buller Banbridge 3.05

3 Shenna McKiverigan Banbridge 3.06

4 Fergal McConvey Newry Wheelers 3.26

5 Ben Hanna Dromara 4.10

6 Niamh McKiverigan Banbridge 4.10

7 Lucy Baskerilb U/A 4.22

8 Rebekah Ogilby XMTB 4.23

9 Callum Stewart XMTB 4.24

10 Dara Collins Cuchullain 4.26

[Fergal]

I might as well have been wearing it :-(

what a brutal result - worst of the lot, and I thought it was going to be one of my better ones, oh well, I still really enjoyed the course, and the chill-out session with food & half decent coffee at the Eurospar too !

[jackieo]

Was it just me or did there not seem to be a lot more women in the elite ladies line-up. I see just 4 finishers but not DNFs?!


Speaking of finishers just looking at times I didn't realise Mel had such a lead! Goodness you could have stopped, grabbed a coffee, had a chat and then hopped back on your bike and still won! Fair play Mel! Respect! :)


Also I said it yesterday but do you reckon there is any scope to increase sports to 3 laps? 2 laps is so short compare to 4/5/7 and if we are to get any better surely we need the practice! For me anyway I kinda just get going in lap two having gotten rid of the race nerves, we'd still be done before the elites go off, and it really make it a more decent race! Just a thought......

[Fergal]

it had been discussed several times before Jackie but Sports is an introduction only category, so 3 laps is way too much for a first timer.

Experts Ladies had been discussed (3 or 4 laps) but there was simply no demand at the time, and I'm pretty sure that is still the case,

I'm afraid it'll be Sports or Elites - tough choice for sure!

[rob1891]

Photos! No Sports as I was doing that race.


http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/dr.robh/KCapitalCup2008Round4

[Fergal]

wow - great photos Rob - some really nice snaps in the woods when the sun came out

[Oisin]

What an amazing course. I loved the loose dusty corners where you can just carve your wheel around them. How do they get such dry ground up there at this time of year?


Didn't ride a great race myself though. I was late arriving and wasn't allowed on the course during the sports race so I raced the course blind, although I knew most of it from last year. Then I wasn't feeling much power in the first few laps. Michael Holland from Leisure Lake bikes caught me at one stage but I thought he was masters so I just hung on his wheel when I could have pushed and overtaken. Then Donnacha was closing in on the last lap so I put the power down and managed to keep in front.


Ben Reid and the downhillers are impressive. Thought he would blow up like at Moneyscalp but he kept his pace up. Don't know how they can ride like that for so long. Wish I was as good at DH as they can be at XC!

[paddyobrien]

have to say that was a fantastic course, and would have even enjoyed the race were it not for the poxy chain jumping off all the time, not to mention having to stop at the service area to fix the front brake (Cheers to shane for having allen keys to hand and aisling for holding the bike steady).


Big congrats to all the MAD prize winners and to everyone for taking part/cheering etc


We're some deadly club altogether!

[Fergal]

we sure are - I must tot-up all the points we accumulated over the series - we'd be very close to the top I think....

[Arek]

Some more pictures on : http://picasaweb.google.com/Arek.Gogojewicz/KCapitalCup4

That was the greatest course of the whole K-cup. Looking forward to Ballinastoe, wonder if it will be possible to preride it on Sat.

[Arek]

...and this one is my favorite: http://picasaweb.google.com/Arek.Gogojewicz/KCapitalCup4/photo#5191748699908181506

[Arek]

Conor what is your secret? How can you climb and have a rest at the same time??!

[Conor]

Years of practice!

[Scrivo]

Cool helmet http://picasaweb.google.com/Arek.Gogojewicz/KCapitalCup4/photo#5191748038483217810

[Scrivo]

What the !?! http://picasaweb.google.com/Arek.Gogojewicz/KCapitalCup4/photo#5191749842369482450

[paddyobrien]

jaysus .. even i rode that section!

[Richie]

IMBRC photos are now up too - http://imbrc.com/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=26&g2_itemId=5795

[ryan]

Some great photos there!

My race was tough - didn't really feel 'it' during the race and had expected more from myself. I just don't think I was recovered enough from the UK races. Ahh well.


I wrote some stuff about it here:

http://ryansherlock.blogspot.com/2008/04/2008-k-capital-cup-round-4-castlewellan.html


Well done to everyone who took part anyway - I really do love seeing so many MAD jerseys on the trails and if you count up all the points we got this year I'm sure you'll find that we were also the most successful club too! Good job to all!

[Fergal]

I've yet to confirm against KCap league table (which hasn't been updated as yet)

but it should be pretty close:

http://www.irishxcmtb.com/race_results/2008/2008_xc_race_results.pdf

[jackieo]

Hmm, one Jacqueline O'Hagan and one Jakie O' Hagan. You'd think they'd have figured it out! ;)

[Ash]

Very Blue Steel Steve....been watching that Zoolander dvd a little too much these day :o)


http://imbrc.com/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=26&g2_itemId=11658


Well done to everyone and hope we all keep up the good form for the NPS!!

[Fergal]

I'll sort that out for you tonight Jackie - believe me there were LOADS of spelling discrepancies that I had to correct

[Scrivo]

hahaha look at the big red head of wreckedness of me! Thanks for noticing my look though Ash. Good to hear my practice isnt been wasted!

[Barrydanzig]

hate to say it steve, but thats not a blue steel...you made one huge mistake, you turned left...now if only you had of turned right...

[Trey]

There are a few shots here. Not sure if there are any MAD heads in them.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/treywheeler/sets/72157604677570060/

[jackieo]

Ah, that's better! Thanks Fergal! 4th looks alot better than 9th or whereever they'd ranked me! Now if only I'd done the first two races! Right - onto the NPS!