Well it's hard to believe we have 4 races down! The most recent in Ballyhoura, hosted by Team Ballyhoura went really well and although the weather was a bit iffy, it certainly threw up some great trail and spiced up the rankings.

Remember folks, when you look at the Ranking, it's a rider best 3 results that count on the final positions.

So, with one round to go, there is a lot to play for in many of the categories. Here is a brief run down of how things stand.

In the Elite category, one thing is for sure, the 2012 Munster Champion will be from MBCC.ie as Niall O'Hara and brian McCarthy are neck and neck at the top of the table and can't be overtaken by other racers at this stage. It's gonna be a real gunfight between them on the day! Both have been training hard both on and off road! 38 men have competed in this Fast and furious category!

Barring Catastrophy, Jonathan Maunsell from Team Ballyhoura looks like taking the Sport title, he has been on a meteoric rise this season and with a fine win in Round 4 at Ballyhoura and his 2nd place at Killareny in Round 3, he certainly looks like he is set to capture the title. Surely he will be forced to move up a grade and wear some lycra after this series! Across there 4 races we have 81 people enter this category, a fantastic endictment of just how strong the sport currently is!

In the Ladies category, interstingly there are 3 women in the hunt for th title of Munster Champion! Young Leah Maunsell is living up to her child protege label in joint 1st position with fellow Team Ballyhoura rider Eidin Clery. Gillian Ryan from MBCC still has a chance as she is only 1 point behind and certainly will be fired up to make her mark on the last race!

The Junior category has effectively been settled with Alex Nowotynski winning the 1st 3 rounds of racing.

His dominance has been spectacular but there is still a lot to play for with Leon Demoney of MBCC in 2nd position with Eoin O'Carroll of Team Ballyhoura close behind in 3rd.

The Under 16's have been dominated by 3 riders really. Stephen Doherty and Jack Murphy from Killarney have been gunning it out with James Hanrahan from LMTB. Their final day showdown will definitely be a mouth watering prospect!

Robb Hales has the Under 14's has a battle with Nelu Docherty from Killarney on the final race coming up. 24 Riders have competed in this category so far but it has been these two leading the charge!

Jack murphy and Rory O'Connor have to do battle on the final day to see who will claim the Under 12's title. David Culloty is close behind in 3rd.

Now, one of the primary purposes of this whole series is the development of underage racing and to encourage new and young riders to participate in a fair and sporting atmosphere. We can be proud that this is being achieved, proof of this is in both the Under 10's and Under 8's. Even though they are the smallest, we try keep the racing fun and the support from the crowds has been fantastic!

So the Under 10's racing has been frantic to say the least. Donnacha Desmond, the reigning National Champion from MBCC has been pushed hard every round. One wonders though if Oisin O'Callaghan from Trailriders had raced more of the rounds, would things be different. The two boys had an epic battle in round 4 only for Donnacha to prevail. Should Eoin Birchall from Fermoy show on the final day then there could be an upset? One things for sure, it ain't over yet!

To our smallest and most enthusiastic racers, there has been some great some great action. Aoife Hynes, Daniel Draper and Eoghan Crowley all have a chance of being crowned Munster Champion. Lets all be there to cheer them on, on the final day of racing at Ballinaboola, Ballyhoura, Limerick on May 20th.

So thats ti folks, one race to go but far from over!

The Kinetica Munster XC Series

Round 1 Tracton Woods, Co. Cork

Post Race Report

Sunday January 29th saw the first round of an exciting new Mountain Bike race series kick off at Tracton Woods near Carrigaline in Co. Cork. The event was hosted by http://www.mbcc.ie which is one of Corks growing Mountain Bike clubs.

Check out Cieran Maunsell's pictures here.

Despite some pretty wet weather in the days preceding the race a large crowd attended on the day with 109 adults signing on throughout the categories and 45 Youth riders racing. The trail was a testing course as the rain created a very muddy atmosphere. This was to be winter time Mountain biking at its best. Over the years MBCC have developed a fantastic club resource at the woods through Coillte where members can enjoy their training, sport and competition.

This years Kinetica Munster XC Series has 5 rounds of racing at the end of which overall Champions will be crowned. this being the first round, everyone was keen to see who the “in form” riders would be.

The morning began with some free Coaching sessions for the various Youth categories and then they got the chance to race each other. First up was the under 8’s and a home win for Aoife Hynes (MBCC) followed by Daniel Draper from Limerick in second with Ciaran O’Connor in 3rd. In the under 10’s some great racing took place with current national champion Donnacha Desmond (MBCC) edged out into 2nd by Eoin Birchall from Fermoy CC. Donnacha’s brother Fionn was third.

The crowds began to gather and the older Youth categories saw some very muddy hard fought, good spirited racing. The Birchall family from Fermoy CC were on a roll as Laura claimed the win in under 12 girls. Leah Maunsell, a rising star of Irish Mountain Biking was in devastating form and has gained some great tactical experience over the last years racing. She won the girls Under 14’s for her club, Team Ballyhoura.

Killarney Cycling Club have developed a great squad of youth riders over the last few years and they dominated the boys categories. The under 12 Boys was won by Rory O’Connor with Jack Murphy 2nd and finally Darren Duggan in 3rd. On to the under 14’s and a real battle took place with some very fast racing up a killer climb clogged in mud. These boys showed some powerful strength and skill! Olly Cornforth from West Cork Mtb took a fine win with Rob Hales in 2nd and Joseph Lynch of MBCC taking the final place on the podium. The Under 16s was a one two for Stephen and Nelu Docherty from Killarney and Cathal Dineen from Limerick Mountain Bike club in third.

The crowd showed some great support to the winners as they took their places on the podium just before the kick-off of the main event of Adult category racing. By now the start line had 150 Mountain Bikers, their family and friends gathered and the atmosphere was fantastic.

At 12 midday the main racing got underway with the Elite Category going first. Many of these riders are training 5/6 times a week at a very high level. 3 laps of grueling 4.8 kilometre track followed and the crowds were treated to thrilling racing. Host club MBCC’s very own Niall O’Hara took 3rd place on his home track. Niall is a rising star of XC racing. A team one two for Thinkbike.ie’s Richie Felle and Sebastien Roman was the settling of the results in this category with the rest of the field battling very hard for valuable ranking points.

Sports Men’s category followed with 2 laps of the course. These riders are just as keen as the rest and certainly the lead positions changed as the race progressed! Michael Hennessy from Fermoy took a fine win but it was Jonathan Maunsell of Team Ballyhoura who surprised many with 2nd place in just his 2nd year of racing. Jason Murphy of Killarney CC claimed third.

Team Ballyhoura were on a roll as Jonathans younger sister Leah won the Senior Ladies as well as the under 14’s earlier. This shows just how talented she is! Jennifer Fortune of MBCC finished second. We hope that more women will feel encouraged to come and race in future rounds. Its not as hard as you might think!

The Juniors category finished the racing off and Alex Nowotynski from West Cork put in a devastating performance to take a big win, certainly he is displaying all the attributes to make the jump into the Senior ranks as he grows.

The day finished off with a well attended prize giving ceremony with a great atmosphere. The prizes were of a very high standard as the many sponsors were very generous. We would like to thank all the race marshals, medics and club members that made the day possible. Rothar Cycles Carrigaline, Eurocycles Dublin, Trailriders Ballyhoura, Dare 2B clothing donated prizes. KTM Bicycles Ireland have very kindly donated a bike worth €1200 as a prize to be raffled at the end of the series in May to all entrants. Finally Kinetica Sports of West cork have been a wonderful prime sponsor of this series.

Now the focus shifts to Round 2 next Sunday 5th at Corrin Woods, Fermoy.

More excitement as 021 Racing host this event.

We recently launched the series and we are delighted to have Kinetica Sports on board as our premium sponsor. Their exciting range of sports nutrition products is perfectly poised to help XC Riders to perform, recover and race better. Energy gels, protein bars & shakes, recovery drinks are just some of the great range.

Pictured are members of Mountain Bike club of Cork and Eimear Gallwey of Kinetica.

Kinetica will a presence at the races with their vehicles and a sampling tent as well as providing product as prizes in the Adult categories. Their support has allowed us to offer Youth category racing for free! We want to support and foster the growth of XC racing in Munster and making racing accessible to kids is vital. Also we have been able to structure the series to offer Adults the chance to race in a very well organised event for just €10 which is substantially less that other similar events. This again serves to help people access racing and hopefully find some new racing talents that can feed into National racing.

We are very grateful to Kinetica Sports for their support and look forward to working with them on the 2012 series.

The following is a series of guidelines for all 5 rounds of racing. In general these will be adhered to. The times given are only a guide to enable you choose the correct category for your ability / fitness & experience.

Senior Categories. Entry fee €10 per race.

Sports Men – 2 laps / 8-10k / 50 to 60 minutes racing.

Elite Men – 4 laps / 16-20k / 80 to 100 minutes racing.

Ladies – 2 laps / 8-10k / 50 to 60 minutes racing.

Youth Categories. There is no charge for Youth Races.

Juniors – 2 Laps / 8-10k / 50 to 60 minutes.

Under 16’s At discretion of race organisers course options.

Under 14’s At discretion of race organisers course options.

Under 12’s At discretion of race organisers course options.

Under 10’s At discretion of race organisers course options.

Overall Ranking for the Series.

Points will be awarded at each race for the following positions.

1st – 10 points.

2nd – 8 points.

3rd – 6 points.

4th – 5 points.

5th – 4 points.

6th – 3 points.

7th – 2 points.

8th to 20th – 1 point.