June 2010

5 club members made the short trip to Cobh for Ballymore CC's Leahy cup last Sunday on a perfect day for racing. The course was a tough, undulating 10km circuit with a couple of nasty climbs. The A2/A3 race was handicapped, over 7 laps of the circuit, with Ray Dwyer, Brian Hallissey and Maurice Hickey away first with the A3s. The group worked well and held off the A2s until the end of the fourth lap. At that point 2 riders broke clear and with the bunch not prepared to chase they stayed away. The last lap switched the riders to a 1.2km climb to the finish and the 3 lads rode very strong and all finished in the top 10, Brian in 5th and Maurice and Ray just outside the prizes in 9th and 10th. Great performances from the lads - Brian getting another couple of points closer to an A2 upgrade.

Rory Moloney and Eamon Phelan lined out for the A4 race, covering 5 laps of the same circuit. The course was proving very tough and Rory was unlucky to find himself in the wrong position as the bunch started to split up. Eamon showed his usual doggedness and rode a good race, finishing just outside the top 10.

Fantastic weather again last weekend ensured massive numbers for the weekend club spins. It's great to see so many people discovering that there are few better ways to spend a Sunday morning than spinning around our glorious little county and into our neighbouring counties on a bike. On a sunny morning there isn't a finer sight in the land than the approach to Lismore and there isn't a better way to experience it than on a bike in the company of a couple of dozen companeros.

Saturday's spin brought riders to Cappoquin and Lismore before climbing The Vee, then on to Clogheen, Newcastle and Ballymacarbry with some members going over The Maumau before heading home.

Sunday saw the usual large crowd assembled in The Square with a number of spins on offer. A large bunch went to Cappoquin, Lismore, Tallow, Youghal, Ardmore and Old Parish and another big group went to Lismore and over The Vee with some riders coming home via The Cats and Cappoquin and others going on to Clogheen and Ballymacarbry.

For anyone interested in a longer spin to prepare for the Ring of Kerry there will be a spin leaving John Foley's at 8:30 on Saturday, otherwise join us every weekend, Saturday, 9.30am from John Foley's garage and from The Square, 9.30am Sunday.

Well done to Padraig De Burca, Kevin Forde and John Coffey who completed the Wicklow 200 recently. Maurice Fennell was taking part in the An Post Tour De Burren last weekend. By all accounts this was a well organised event and the food was exceptional. Speaking of food the Ring of Kerry takes place on Saturday July 3rd and your training should be in full swing by now; I'm currently up to 6 slices of brack a day and a couple of ham sandwiches.

25 signed on last Wednesday, the weather was perfect for racing - warm and very little wind! Tonight the semi-scratch was determined to not get caught and cycled well together to take advantage of their time gap over the scratch. After reaching the Master McGrath the semi scratch realised they were not going to be caught and with the limit just ahead Cian Dwyer was first to attack. Shortly after the petrol station Jason Collins jumped and Michael Keane and Liam Pollard went with him. They rode well up the hill, Michael taking 1st, Liam 2nd and Jason 3rd.  Remember it's your best 7 results count to the overall.

Broadford hosted the Cycling Pursuits 3 day stage race over the bank holiday weekend. There were 4 stages but as the general classification was based on points riders didn't have to contest every stage.

The 2 lads skipped the early morning time trial on Sunday but contested the road stage in the afternoon. This was a number of laps with points scored at the end of each lap. Ray scored consistently and despite a minor mechanical finished 3rd on the stage. Eamon Phelan also raced this stage and did very well to finish 6th in the final sprint. I'm predicting a bright future for this young man.

The final stage on Monday took in a hard climb, the 1,100 feet of Mass Rock. This was right up Brian's street and despite the wintry conditions he didn't disappoint. The A1/A2/A3s had to climb it 3 times. After the first ascent Brian was in a lead group of 7. Second time around this was down to 3 and after the last time over it was down to 2 with Brian going on to take the stage victory. A fantastic and well deserved result for him that also ensured he finished 6th overall. The race was won by Comeragh's Robin Kelly. Meanwhile back in the A4 race, despite a puncture, Ray did enough to secure 3rd place overall. This was a great result for Ray and secured his upgrade to the A3 category after a brief but notorious stint in A4.

BRAY

Last Saturday Damian Travers took part in the Christy McManus Memorial Race in Wicklow. This was a handicap race with A4s off first followed by A3s and lastly A2s. The A4 bunch was caught early on by the A3s but Damian found the A2 group unwilling to work hard enough to catch the groups up ahead and the race was won by Blarney's Damian Barry.

CURROW

On Sunday 5 club members made the long trip to Currow, Co.Kerry for the Drumm cup. In the A3 race we had Brian Hallissey, Maurice Hickey and Ray Dwyer racing 4 laps of a relatively flat 15km circuit. Ray and Maurice tried to get away in a few unsuccessful early breaks however Brian found himself in what turned out to be the winning breakaway. He worked hard in keeping them away and eventually finished 3rd behind Blarney's Edward Barry and Youghal's Eoin Whyte. Ray and Maurice rode well and came in at the front of the bunch in 9th and 10th.

Emma Walsh and Sean Dwyer lined out in the A4 race over 3 laps of the same circuit. The strong cross winds made it very difficult for breaks to stay away in this race and it came down to a bunch sprint which Sean and Emma didn't contest (in the interests of self preservation you understand).

Good weather ensured large numbers on the roads again at the weekend. On Saturday a big group went around the Carrick-Clonmel circuit with a couple of lads cutting across to Rathgormack and Ballymacarbry via Powers the Pot.

We had smaller numbers last week but the racing was still as hard if not harder than usual!! A strong scratch group cycled very strong and after missing out on points last week made sure not to miss out this week.  Hugh Mulhearne and Damian Travers broke away with Hugh soloing to victory. Hugh now leads the table on 42pts with Ray Dwyer in 2nd on 38pts and joint 3rd Damian Travers and Enda Donnelly on 33pts. Remember it's your best 7 results count to the overall.

Club members' success wasn't just confined to road racing last weekend. Siobhan Dunphy and Michael Moloney took part in the Killarney triathlon last Saturday with Siobhan finishing 1^st lady, a tremendous result. Well done Siobhan. Michael had a good race, finishing just outside the places.

National Bike Week is taking place from 13th June - 20th June. Waterford Sports Partnership are running various events (Bike Skills, Maintenance etc) on Saturday 19th from 1 - 4pm. If available please contact Enda Donnelly for further details.