Lakeside Wheelers busy for National Bike Week

Last week was National Bike Week which is a government led initiative to promote all things related to cycling and bikes. Lakeside Wheelers participated in the event with the organisation of a social cycle aimed at families and anyone interested in cycling for leisure.

Club secretary, Eugene Duffy organised a similar event last year so once again he put a lot of work into the Ice Cream Spin which turned out to be a massive success and probably due to the fabulous weather, it far exceeded expectations. On Thursday evening at 6.30pm over forty adults and children gathered at the Old Rail Trail and from there they rode out to Ballinea along the canal where teas, coffees and of course, ice creams were served to everyone. The younger ones had great craic along the way and also enjoyed the playground on arrival at Ballinea. Following the refreshments, the group was led by Eugene and his team back to base where everyone expressed great delight at the evening’s entertainment. Well done to all who took part and a very big thank you to Eugene for organising this great evening out.

It’s Ras Week Again

The Irish road racing scene is really coming to life this month and the highlight will be the Ras Tailteann which commences on Wednesday May 21st. It won’t be long then until the National Road Race Championships in June when Lakeside Wheelers will be playing its part as the club is proud to be hosting the Time Trial events in Kilbeggan. Registration for this will be opening next Tuesday, May 20th so the organising committee will be swinging into action very soon.

The Ras is an extremely important race on the Irish cycling calendar and over the years it has had several different guises. These have seen it move from being a totally amateur event to a UCI standard, eight day, semi professional race and following a short sabbatical around the time of the pandemic it has since returned to its roots of a primarily amateur race. It has also become shorter as it now is held over five days but its resurgence is due purely to the determination and resilience of a very hard working organisation team who have fought to put this historic race back on Irish roads.

Last year there was great local interest in the team formed out of the Midland League clubs but this year Lakeside Wheelers will have just one member competing. In just two short years, Padraig Moran has found himself at the upper echelons of the Irish racing scene and is currently racing at C1 category level most Sundays. He has secured a place with the Lucan Cycling Road Club team for this year’s Ras and is really looking forward to the week ahead. The Ras is a race which cannot be taken lightly and requires several months of training and preparation. For most of the winter Padraig was residing in Girona in North West Spain to avail of the good weather and roads to get as much training in as possible. Heading into the Ras week he appears to be in very good form which he proved last weekend by claiming an excellent 5th place in the Shay Elliott Memorial. This race is one of the biggest and most prestigious of the Irish road racing year and has been won by all the biggest names over the years so to finish in the top five shows really good form.

The five days will be really challenging as route winds its way from the start line in Drogheda to the finish outside Bective Stud near Navan on Sunday May 25th. Along the way there will be stage finishes in Boyle, Clifden, Miltown Malbay and Mountrath and lots of opportunities for spectators to catch the spectacle as it races back to Co. Meath. Padraig will be especially looking forward to the hillier days so the races into Clifden and Miltown Malbay will interest him although every Lakeside Wheelers member will be familiar with the main climb on the route to Mountrath on Saturday as it includes the Category 1 ascent of the Wolftrap in the Slieve Blooms. So, if at all possible, get on your bike and catch the Ras somewhere along the road and give Padraig a big shout out as he will be very grateful for all and any support along the way. Best of luck to him and all his Lucan team and support crew from everyone at Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar.

Midland League

Lakeside Wheelers staged a round of the MiL on Thursday, May 8th which, due to the fabulously sunny evening attracted a huge crowd. The dry roads also led to great racing and thanks to all who marshalled or helped out in any way. Last Thursday saw another round in Mount Temple and it proved to be a successful one for Lakeside Wheelers rider John Boyne who took the top step in the B race. This was a great achievement for John who has just recently returned from Australia and it is great to see him back racing in the Yellow, Blue and Red again. Very close behind John was Ian Kenny who once again finished 3rd for the second week in a row. Without doubt, this year’s Most Improved Rider is only a small bit of luck away from getting a win so well done Ian. Michael Cafferkey is another man on the comeback trail so the B category is really getting competitive.

Lakeside Wheelers also had good performances from Stuart Cox, Neil McDermott and Richie Lenehan in the A race while PJ Carey, Tess Martin and Ali represented the club in the C race.

Best Wishes

Best of luck from all at Lakeside Wheelers to Seamus Moran, who has travelled to the USA to compete in the 2025 Unbound Gravel event in Kansas. Gravel is fast becoming the new type of cycling as it is held completely off road so much safer from a traffic perspective. Hopefully Seamus enjoys the event and maybe next year the club will have more riders going to the gravel side of cycling.

Congrats also to Pet Rimmer who completed the famous Gralloch in Scotland. This is a very tough 110km gravel race through the hills of Galloway and Southern Ayrshire covering almost 1800m of vertical climbing. Well done Pete and there will be more news from Pete’s adventures on this event in next week’s notes.

It is also hoped to have a full report and pictures in next week’s notes from the ten brave C Group riders who took on a five day cycle through Portugal during the past week. Well done to all who participated and we look forward to reading all about the trip.