Wheelers Host Successful National TT Championships

Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar hosted an extremely successful National Time Trial Championships on Thursday, June 26th in Kilbeggan. This was the second time the club organised these championships having previously staged the full programme of TT and road races in 2014.

With a record entry of 78 competitors registered, it was a very busy evening for all involved in the organisation of this prestigious event. The management of the Kilbeggan Whiskey Distillery very generously afforded the race organisers the use of their vast yard and car park area for race HQ which was greatly appreciated. With sign-on opening at 4pm, the space very soon became a hive of activity with teams and individuals arriving and setting up rollers and turbos for the athletes to warm up. With over 50 members volunteering on the night, Lakeside Wheelers members were out in force to ensure the race went smoothly and safely. They were ably assisted by friends from neighbouring clubs, Esker CC from Kilbeggan and Athlone based, Shannonside CC.

The para cycling riders got proceedings underway at 6.30pm and despite the terrible rain that continued to fall throughout the evening, they set the tone for what was to be a night of top class cycling with amazing times clocked on the 25.5km course. Local man, Declan Slevin went on to claim yet another National title in the hand cycling which is great credit to him and his dedication to the sport. In the tandem event, current World champion, Katie George Dunleavy and her pilot, Alice Sharpe powered their way to the gold medal and yet another National Champs jersey.

To their credit, the riders seemed to ignore the pelting rain all evening as one after the other they posted fantastic times and set the bar higher for those following them. In the Elite Ladies, local girl Caoimhe O’Brien (Cynisca Cycling) rode very solidly to finish 5th which is an excellent result as Caoimhe is not a TT specialist. The Elite men brought the evening to a close with a display of power and speed that could literally be sensed from the roadside. The World Tour riders really showed their class with Ryan Mullen (Bora Hansghroe) taking the top step of the podium with a superb time of 29 minutes 22 seconds which was an average speed of almost 52kph.

The presentation ceremony was held back at the Distillery after the race and club Secretary, Eugene Duffy did the honours of presenting the jerseys. Lakeside Wheelers Chairman, Pearse Murphy addressed the crowd and thanked the various people and groups who made the event possible. Chief amongst these was the Distillery staff with thanks also going to the local Gardai, Mullingar Civil Defence, Westmeath and Offaly County Councils, Westmeath Sports Partnership, Cycling Ireland and of course, the wonderful army of Lakeside Wheelers members who never fail to turn up and assist at races when called upon.

The road race segment of this year’s Nationals was hosted by Navan Road Club in Senchelstown and featured two great days of racing. Mullingar sisters, and Lakeside Wheelers Lifetime members, Caoimhe (Cynisca Cycling) and Aoife (Das Hutchinson) O’Brien rode the senior ladies race on Saturday and following a very hectic opening, they both managed to make the front group which stayed away for the day. In the sprint finish they finished 2nd and 4th respectively behind the new National Champion Mia Griffin. This is the second time in their careers that they have achieved this fantastic result with Aoife finishing 2nd overall in the U23 race.

Lakeside Wheelers was represented in the Senior Men’s race on Sunday by Padraig Moran who went to the start line to face off with over 90 other riders including several from the professional ranks. This turned into torturous 178km race which was completed at a staggering average speed of 42.5kph. Padraig showed great improvements tactically from last year’s edition as he clung on to the second bunch on the road after the top professional riders made the split on lap 2. Former champion, Rory Townsend went on to claim his second title crossing the line exactly 4 hours after the start with Padraig finishing a very creditable 33rd overall.

Tour of the Lakes

The week previous to the Nationals, the club hosted the annual Tour of the Lakes sportive with 130 riders registering. This was a very respectable number considering the weather forecast was not very inviting in the days preceding the Tour. Despite this, there was a great atmosphere as the riders departed the clubhouse to take on the various distances ranging from 85km to 130km around the roads of north Westmeath. Once again thanks to the members who volunteered to organise and run the Tour with special mention to Ulrika Maher and Eugene Duffy for their tireless work at the sign-on and refreshments stop in Castlepollard. Thanks also to the staff of the Castle Varagh Hotel and Mullingar Civil Defence for their assistance on the day.

Midland League

As the summer rolls on, so too does the Midland League (MiL) with recent races held in Mount Temple and Ennybegs. There were some great finishes across all categories in Mount. Temple with Stuart Cox and Neil McDermott taking 3rd and 4th respectively in the A race while Seamus Moran and Dave Fagan did a 2nd and 3rd respectively in the C race. Most notable for Lakeside Wheelers in Ennybegs was Paul Cronin’s 3rd place finish. As this race finishes on a significant climb, regular MiL racer, Paul Murtagh gave his opinion following the race stating, “this shows big lads can climb”. Well done to all LSW riders and don’t forget, the final home round will be in Dalystown on July 17th.

In other racing news Stuart Cox and Neil McDermott went north last weekend to compete in the Newry-3 Day as part of a composite Midlands Racing Team. There will be news from this race in the next edition of Lakeside Wheelers notes.