CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN
Brian finished 7th in the National Junior Cycling Championships in Sligo over the weekend. This was Brians first championship. Brian cycled very strong all day, he was away in a break for most of the race with one other and was unlucky to be caught on the last lap. Well done Brian!!!
INTERNATIONAL CALL UP
Brian now goes on to represent Ireland in the upcoming Junior Tour of Ireland. Brian will be part of the Irish Development Squad, the club wishes him all the best!!
ONE-TWO for DCC
It was another successful weekend for the club on the roads with Keith Walsh and Ray Dwyer taking first and second in the A4 race at the St Finbarrs CC meeting in Whitechurch, Co. Cork last Sunday.
The club had 6 entrants in the A4 race. Lining up alongside Keith and Ray were Anthony Dwyer, Sean Dwyer, John Flynn and Eamon Phelan. The race was 5 laps of an 11k circuit with a long downhill stretch followed by a long drag into a strong headwind. Ray and Keith were very active trying to get away in the early laps and Sean managed a brief trip up the road at one point but nothing was sticking. However at the start of lap 4 Keith and Ray got into a break with 2 other riders. They worked well together for the remainder of the race holding off the chasing pack being driven on by Fermoy and Blarney. With a kilometre to go the break were not going to get caught and it was Keith who made the first move about 400 metres out. The other 2 riders couldn't match him and he rode on to take the victory with Ray coming round the others to take second and ensure a fantastic result for Dungarvan CC. The other lads finished well up in the bunch with Anthony setting the cat amongst the pigeons by starting the sprint for the minor places about a kilometre out. Well done to Eamon on his race debut and John on his return to racing.
Brian Hallissey, Maurice Hickey and Enda Donnelly lined up for the A2/A3 combined race. This was to be 7 laps giving 77kms. Enda was away for a lap and a bit early in the race, but with only two riders in this move it was doomed on what was a windy day. Brian and Maurice were also in moves, but they too were brought back. The break of the day (including local man Rory Wyley) went on lap 3 and nothing got away after that. The race was won by West Clare's Jarlath Hassett with Rory second.
Another local rider, Cian Dwyer, had a good result getting third in the u-16 race.
Results and photos on www.irishcycling.com
Tour de Cure 2010 - by Colin Organ
Dungarvan members that took part were Davey Tobin, Colin Organ, Keith Walsh, Frank Browne, Richie Power, Eamonn Doherty, Kevin O’Sullivan, Niall Herlihy, John Coffey, Tony Hickey, Vinny Feeney,and Padraig De Burca. Apologies if I missed anyone.
It’s that time of year again, when people who enjoy going for a cycle a few days a week start to think that cycling 170km’s in one day is a good idea!
So for people who think that is a good idea, there was only one place to be today, and that was Midleton to cycle with the legend Stephen Roche and raise a few bob for some well deserving charities.
This is only the second year of this event and it has grown from 600 last year to over 1,000 today. The spin rolled out at 09.00ish, being delayed a bit by the increase in riders this year. The group headed down the main road towards Youghal. After Youghal we turned at Piltown cross and headed for Clashmore. It has to be said there was a very hot pace being set along here and some of the top teams around driving it on The Edge, Dan Morrissey, Fermoy, Blarney, Kanturk, Midleton and a few from DCC.
The 100k split along here and headed for Aglish while the 160k headed for Milstreet and Ballymac. The first food stop was at Ballymac, although not everyone was hungry and decided to keep going!!
All the cyclists favourites were on offer sambos, nutri grain, bananas and of course fruit cake. Which is the only reason why anyone takes on these challenges! No tea or coffee though, sort this out for next year please Stephen.
Fully re-fuelled we set out again heading for Ardfinnan and Clogheen. A few gels may have been consumed on this stretch of road because up next was The Vee. We were very lucky here as we caught a tail wind most of the way up and as it was a nice day, The Vee was looking spectacular.
From here we dropped down to Lismore over a very rough road, where a few people were seen fixing punctures.
Another stop in Lismore. No tea or coffee here either, but plenty of everything else.
On we went on the last leg of our journey to Tallow and from here through Dungourney and back to Midleton.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable day. Groups were working together well, the weather was good, everyone got back in one piece and the event was much better organised than last year. The road signs were good and MOST potholes were circled with paint.
Back at Midleton there was plenty of food and we eventually got a cup of tea / coffee. There were also rub downs on offer, although seemed to make some people worse!! Stephen Roche was there walking around meeting and talking to everyone. One lucky participant won the bike that Stephen was cycling, it was an “Unovelo” worth €3500 and looked very nice. Lucky him.
Roll on The Ring of Kerry…..
CORKMAN 3 DAY - 4 Stage race
STAGE 1
129 riders signed on for stage 1 of the Corkman 3 Day, for Dungarvan we had Ray Dwyer, Brian Hallissey, Maurice Hickey, Enda Donnelly and Damian Travers. As riders warmed up and got ready for the race, the heavens opened and thoughts of building an ark sprang to mind. The rain was torrential and continued to pour for most of the race.
The race was 7 laps of an 8 mile circuit, with 2 short power climbs in them, but after 7 laps there wasn’t much powering up them.
The race started at a frenetic pace, whether this was due to people wanting to get out of the rain as soon as possible or just trying to keep warm I don’t know but the attacks were coming thick and fast. From the gun Damian tried to get away with some Dan Morrissey riders and after some hard riding it all came back, Enda had a go to get away soon after but this was also chased down. Damian and Enda were very active at the front for the first 2 laps covering breaks and trying to get away.
On lap 5 Enda was in a group that managed to get up the road a bit, but the group were chasing hard and they were pulled back shortly after the start of lap 6, with Damian and Brian tucked in nicely about 10 places back covering any chases. On the first hill on lap 6 Brian jumped clear with a UCD rider to bridge across to 2 other riders (one of Comeragh CC) with Damian now marking the front for any chasers. Damian then followed the wheel of another UCD rider to bridge across to Brian, there was now 7 in this group with a gap of 20 seconds with less than a lap to go, of the 7 only 4 were willing to ride, so slowly but surely the gap came down and the break was caught with a mile to go to finish in a bunch sprint.
Ray and Maurice kept themselves tucked away nicely in the bunch for the day and moved to the fore for the gallop at the end.
All 5 Dungarvan riders finished in the front bunch. – 59 miles in a time of 2hr 21 mins Avge 24.6 mph
Maurice Hickey 19th, Ray Dwyer 31st, Brian Hallissey 37th, Damian Travers 40th, Enda Donnelly 54th.
A good days riding by Dungarvan CC but no joy at the end!! 
STAGE 2 - 5 mile Time Trial
Ray: 13.01
Brian: 13.47
Enda: 13.06
Damian: 12.57
Maurice: 12.13
STAGE 3
Stage 3 on the Sunday kicked off at 3.00pm, there were some tired bodies about after the Sunday morning where Maurice gave a good account of himself to bring himself to 11th overall.
The course was an unknown factor in the sense that nobody knew where it started or where it went but we were told it was 3 laps of a 20mile circuit.
Enda and Damian were heard discussing team tactics before the start with both admitting the legs were tired and they'd sit in the bunch for the first lap or 2 and see what develops, Maurice was up for improving his 11th place and Brian and Ray seemed to be enjoying themselves.
So the gun sounded and within 3 - 4 miles Damian jumped from the bunch to cross to a break of about 6 riders (so much for the easy start), one of these riders fell off the back straight away as the hammer was put down to try to build a gap as the road was very twisty and into a headwind, with just over a lap gone the time gaps started to come through, 50 secs to the chasing group of 6 and 1:20 to the main bunch.
Maurice had jumped across to the chasing group and was looking good to improve on his 11th overall.
The lead group kept the pressure on up the hills and drove it on down the other side where at the bottom of the first hill on the second lap they lost one of the breakaway companions, they were now down to four but worked well together and by the end of the second lap the time gaps were 1:50 to the chasing group and 3.00 to the bunch, but at the beginning of the last lap the break was down to 3 riders as the efforts were taking their toll. The first stretch of the last lap was along very bad road suface and into a head wind and the break was visibly tiring whilst trying to keep their lead, again time gaps were coming through but the gaps were starting to close in. Maurice after his hard efforts to cross over to the chasing group was starting to tire and fell off the back to be picked up by the main bunch going up the hills.
The break worked well together up the hills and down to the finish, with Ciaran Keane (Murphy Surveyors) going for the yellow said he wouldn't sprint so it was between Damian and Blarney rider Ed Barry to go for the line with Ed winning the sprint for the line. The break crossed the line with 53 seconds over the bunch, moving Damian up to 7th overall.
All other riders finished safely in the bunch in what was a good days riding for all concerned in the DCC colours.
STAGE 4
Stage 4 was four laps of the "Ballyhoura Mountain stage" which went through Kanturk town. The route consisted of one sharp hill out of kanturk town and then a very up and down loop. Racing got underway in bright sunshine @11.00 and the DCC boys were up for it for the last day.
From the gun Enda was very active at the front, trying to get away in a few breaks, he was up the road with a few seconds gap when a wheel was left go, and of course the remainder of the break stayed away. This group of about 7 got a max lead of 1min, but a combination of DCC, the yellow jersey and some West Clare riders who all worked well at the front, this break was closed down just before the finish.
Credit must be given to the DCC riders who did a lot of work to close down the break and keep Damian in 9th place on the GC.
Maurice tried to jump the group early to get away before the sprint finish but it was not to be, so what can only be called a mental sprint finish ensued with all DCC riders finishing safely in the bunch. 
So a good weekends racing was had, we had Damian in 9th overall with a second place finish on Stage 3, Maurice had a very good TT to get himself to 11th on GC after Stage 2, Brian nearly stayed away on stage 1 and is getting stronger as every race goes on, Enda was unlucky in the fact that none of his breakaway attempts stuck but rode strongly throughout and the old man of the group Ray was very consistent throughout the weekend whilst nursing his knee around the course.
A special word of thanks has to go to Diirecteur Sportif/Team Car Driver/ Food organiser/Photographer/Mechanic and gear organiser Emma Walsh who made the weekend a lot easier on the riders. Emma spent a lot of the weekend driving the team car following the stages by herself , so if anybody wants to experience the joys of short stage racing I'm sure the company would be most welcome.
So from all the riders from the Corkman - Cheers Em.
