National XC Champs

Last Sunday the National XC Champs was held in Fossa Killarney, Co Kerry.  Carn Wheelers had 5 riders in attendance all from the same family, the Skellys.  The course designed for the nationals was described as one of the best technical courses the riders have taken part on.  It had everything from long single track, rooty sections and quite a few large drop offs but no fire roads.                                     

The weather was very changeable with rain on Saturday afternoon, which totally changed the way the course rode. Sunday dawn with bright blue sky and the sun beaming down with temperatures in the twenty's. The course dried out very quickly as the day went on.  First up on the day was Eimer Skelly in the under 8 race, a great performance to finish 2nd in the girls race and 3rd over all in the under 8 boys and girls combine race.  Next up was Ryan Skelly in the under 12 race, another great performance and a very close race with Ryan finishing 5th gaining a well-deserved championship medal.  Next on the line was Niall Skelly in the under 14s. With a big field of riders and 2 shorter laps of the adults’ course this made for a very tough race.  Naill finished strong in 12th place overall.  The under 16s were next with Niamh having to do 2 full laps of the adults course, again Niamh crossed the line in 3rd coming home with a well deserved championship medal.  Finally it was dads turn, Gareth was up against S1,S2 and S3 riders over 4 laps of the course.  Gareth had said his goal was just to finish a very tough race on one of the best courses of the year.                   

Many thanks to Killarney CC for a great weekend and organizing a fantastic race.  Also a big thanks for the help and support from all the Island Wheelers over an eventful weekend. 

Report and pictures from Gareth Skelly