Lakeside Wheelers Members Decamp To The Mountains of Spain

On Sunday morning the A group spin followed the annual Flakanders route paying tribute to the Belgian Spring Classic, the Tour of Flanders which took place on Sunday. The Tour of Flanders is one of the most iconic races on the professional World Tour calendar and takes place in the Flemish region of Belgium famed for the challenging cobbled hills and laneways. In professional cycling there are five great races known as Monuments and the Tour of Flanders sits alongside Milan-San Remo, Paris Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Giro Lombardia in this grouping. Winning one of these races will change riders life so the competition is fierce.

The club has been following this tradition since 2011 when seventeen members took part in the Tour of Flanders Sportive. In fact this year, father and son duo, Kevin and Tadgh Marshall were in Belgium doing the very same sportive. The Lakeside Wheelers version, known as Flakanders, follows a 120km route that criss crosses several narrow, hilly and rough back roads around Mullingar with the furthest point usually being Ballynacarrigy. The aim of this spin is to try and recreate the terrain which Flanders is famous for.

Despite the windy but very sunny day, a big group turned up for the earlier than usual start of 08.30am and all enjoyed the route which traversed some of the most beautiful scenery in north Westmeath.

O’Brien Sisters Ride the Tour of Flanders

While the club’s A group paid its annual tribute to Flanders there were two Lakeside Wheelers members riding the real thing. Sisters, Caoimhe (Cynisca) and Aoife O’Brien (DAS-Hutchinson) who are both riding fulltime with their respective teams, competed in the Elite Womens De Ronde which was an amazing opportunity for both of them. In fact Aoife spent some time in an early breakaway which was a great achievement. Well done girls and all the best from everyone at Lakeside Wheelers for the coming season.

Racing

One of the biggest races on the Irish racing scene took place last weekend with the 44th running of the Des Hanlon Memorial race. Promoted by Carlow Cycling Club, the Des is well known in Irish cycling circles as one of the hardest races of the year. Lakeside Wheelers was represented in the C1 category by Padraig Moran who was just recently returned from Girona in Spain where he is currently living and training. Padraig had a great race finishing in 25th place but just 49 seconds down on winner, Ruairi Byrne of UCD Cycling Team.

While Padraig was racing the hills around Carlow, Lakeside Wheelers was also represented in the west of Ireland with Neil McDermott racing in the Castlebar GP. Neil also was in good form as he finished in 12th place overall in the C2 category

Pat Jones Memorial

Members are reminded that the Pat Jones Memorial sportive organised by the Edenderry based 905 club takes place on Easter Saturday, April 19th. This event is the Lakeside Wheelers nominated sportive for 2025 so any member participating will have his/her entry fee paid for by the club. There are two route options, a 90km starting at 10am and a 40km starting at 10.30am with sign-on for both opening at 08.00am from St. Mary’s Secondary School, Edenderry.

Beginners Cycling

The club is promoting a new initiative to encourage any adults who wish to try out cycling and learn the basic skills of group cycling. The Couch To 50K programme started on Sunday April 6th and it is aimed at people who may like to get fitter, build endurance and confidence, learn how to cycle in a group and if it goes well the aim is to complete a gentle 50km spin after 6 weeks. If this interests you contact Gerry on 087 2557733 or log on to lakesidewheelers.ie for more info. Helmets and bikes in good working order are compulsory so why not give it a go and set that 50k challenge for yourself.