Lakeside Wheelers Announce 50th Anniversary Plans

Nicholas Roche will be our special guest at our 50th Celebration.

With only three weeks to go until the big 50th, everything is now in place for the Lakeside Wheelers anniversary spin to Athlone. The organising committee have put a lot of hard work into planning the event and this week, the club released an agenda for the entire weekend with every step of the way planned out. All members should by now have received an explanatory email and text outlining the weekend’s activities but if you haven’t, please contact club Secretary, Eugene Duffy.

If it was a Sky News headline the Breaking News banner would read something like, Roche out, but Roche in. Confused?? The small print would go on to state that due to circumstances beyond our control, Stephen Roche, the former winner of the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, the UCI Road World Championships as well as many more big races is unable to attend but, in his place he is sending a good deputy. The new special guest is none other than his son and recently retired professional rider Nicolas Roche, who is no bad substitute.

Nico as he is affectionately known retired from road racing in 2021 having spent 16 years in the pro peloton. He has ridden for some of the biggest teams in the sport including Cofidis, AG2R La Mondiale, Saxo Tinkoff, BMC Racing Team and of course, Team Sky. Roche has seen and done it all during his long career which saw him ride a total of 24 Grand Tours. His career highs include winning two stages of the Vuelta a Espana in 2013 and 2015, coming 2nd on two stages of the Tour de France in 2009, claiming 2nd in GC in the Abu Dhabi Tour in 2016 and he has also won four Irish National Championships. He has represented Ireland on many occasions including on four occasions at the Olympics and eleven times at the UCI Road World Championships.

Since retiring he has travelled the globe competing in gravel and mountain bike racing as well as trying his hand at team management with the UCI Continental team, Trinity Racing. He is currently working with some cycling related media operations however, he stated that one of his biggest challenges was when he took part in the hit RTE show, Dancing with the Stars which he did in 2021. So, there is no doubt that his story will be well worth listening to when we get to the Hodson Bay Hotel on April 18th and stay tuned to club emails and texts for further updates as the date approaches.

The commemorative jerseys which have been designed especially for this year’s celebrations have arrived and the gilets will be arriving this week. Arrangements to distribute these will be announced shortly. Anyone participating in the cycle to Athlone is asked to ensure that their membership is up to date and wearing club kit is essential.

Other News

The 2026 National Bike Week will run from May 9th to 17th and as usual Lakeside Wheelers will be participating. Thursday, June 14th is the date for your diary when we will run the family spin on the canal to Coolnahay Harbour and back with refreshments and goodies all part of the fun. This is always a very enjoyable event so save the date.

The weekly evening spins for this summer will commence on April 22nd from the clubhouse. These will run every Wednesday at 6pm until mid to late September depending on the weather. The Wednesday spins are not leader led so it is left to those on the night to select routes and to organise the groups and pace to suit everyone.

Well done to Seamus Moran and Team Moran who took part recently in The Hills gravel race in Italy. This is a one day event held in the Prosecco region in north eastern Italy and consists of a 120km route through the hills and the gravel roads which are more famous for growing the grapes to make the local bubbly. I’m sure there was more than water in the Moran bidons.

The committee is currently working on picking the nominated sportive for 2026 and details will be announced shortly. This is an initiative which started in recent years and involves selecting a local club’s sportive for which the club will sponsor all members attending and cover their entrance fee.

Congratulations

Everyone at Lakeside Wheelers would like to warmly congratulate the Colaiste Mhuire Mullingar team for their amazing win in the Hogan Cup (All Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior Football Championship) recently. Well done lads, you were all great ambassadors for yourselves, your school and your town and best wishes for the future. Don’t forget to look us up to try another sporting outlet if the passion for the round ball ever fades!!!

Well done also to the runners and organising team that were involved in the AON Mullingar Half Marathon on St. Patrick’s Day. Lakeside Wheelers members were delighted to play a small part in assisting the runners as they made their way around the challenging circuit.