CLUB NOTES

Post date: Mar 22, 2011 10:18:2 PM

YOUGHAL CYCLING CLUB NOTES 20th March 2011

A damp and grey morning greated a bright and upbeat 26 members of Youghal C.C. last Sunday morning when we lined up at Moby Dicks for our weekly club spin. As usual, we split up in to two groups of 10 and 6 and departed at 8.00am and 8.10am respectively with the final 10 departing at 10.00am.

The first group of 10 headed East to the coast where we rode through Ballymacoda, Garryvoe and Shanagarry before turning left for Ballycotton. Climbing steeply out of Ballycotton, we followed the extremely lumpy coast road to Trabolgan and opened it up to Aghada for the coffee stop. Once stopped and looking forward to the break, the Bulman complained that he didn’t like the coffee down there and insisted we carry on to Midleton for our usual stop. With no one willing to stand up to the big mad Bull – man, we departed again and took in a loop around East Ferry before eventually stopping for a well earned break at the Topaz in Midleton. With Tobin having his usual rant, and nobody listening, as well as Kenneally looking like his BIG Red Heineken Head was going to explode, we tucked into the tea and coffee. Eventually departed when the coffee was completed, the route back to Youghal was done by climbing out of Midleton up to Dungourney before dropping back down again to Mogeely and Castlemartyr. From there we traveled the main road to Killeagh with 8 of the 10 heading for Inch and the other one cyclist and his accompanying excuse for a cyclist heading straight back into town. The remaining 8 climbed well from Killeagh to Mount Uniake, Inch and the Half Way Bar before dropping down hard again into Youghal for 12.30 with an extremely difficult 125km parcours completed.

The second main group of 6 headed North for Knockanore and Cappoquin before looping back to Lismore and Ballyduff. Rolling nicely from there to Fermoy where they stopped for refueling and a little bit of banter. On the road again they travailed to Castleyons, Conna and Tallow before Climbing home to Youghal via the Tallow road. Another challenging 115km spin completed when they arrived back home for 12.45.

The third and final group of 10 also gathered at Moby Dicks last Sunday morning at 10.00am for their weekly run. They covered a sheltered route around East Cork taking in Ballymacoda, Ladysbridge, and Castlemartyr for the coffee stop, Killeagh and back to Youghal for 12.45pm with a challenging 40km loop completed. There was plenty of fun on this spin however as the group debated a very interesting spin by some of this group on St. Patrick’s Day. A certain man on a Dolan Bike had a little run in with a Staffishire Bull Terrier and showed amazing skill and technique as he dropped the Bull Terrier while cycling with one leg and having the other leg in the air !. What a sight it was as I am led to believe.

Ladies Spin

The female side to the club got the pedals turning again last Saturday when a group of four gathered at Moby Dicks for their weekly spin. Departing at 9.00am, they took the main road to Killeagh and Castlemartyr where they enjoyed a coffee and a chat. Gossiping over, they returned to Youghal again via Killeagh, completing a 20km spin. Keep it up Girls !! and more of the same next week.

Racing Circuit

Tom Curran, Jason Collins, Brian Sanders and Eoin Whyte flew the Youghal C.C. colour’s on St. Patrick’s Day last week when they traveled to Carrick On Suir for the annual Carrick Wheelers Cup. In fact it was Tom’s debut to the racing circuit. The lads all lined up for the combined Category A3’s and A4’s race which covered a lumpy 65km parcours around Carrick On Suir. A very high tempo for the race meant that it was very difficult for any break to stay away. All of the lads did make it in to various groups on the attack but none stuck and the race was decided on the line with a bunch sprint, even though a certain bright spark thought there was another lap to go. The A1 / A2 race was won by Dungarvan's Mark Power with the A3 / A4 race being won by S. O’ Donaghue from Comeragh C.C.

All the lads finished well up in the bunch for the race that was completed at an average speed of 38km/hr. Well done to all.

The Colour's were again on show last Sunday when Eoin Whyte traveled to Carlow to ride the very prestigious Des Hanlon Memorial Race. Riding in the A3 race, covering another lumpy 100km parcours, Eoin made the main escape group of the day and rode strong with his three fellow Roulers to establish the break. Luck however was not on his side as mechanical trouble saw him loose contact with the break within the last 7km. The break stuck to take the top three places with Eoin coming home 30 seconds later safely within the peleton. Another good ride for Eoin.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

The club participated in the Towns St. Patrick’s Day Parade last week with a number of members, of all ages; turning up to take part in the very large and very well organized parade. See photo section of the parade for details.

Midweek Spins

A number of club members have been hitting the road during the week to get in some extra kms on the bike for the upcoming Mizen to Malin challenge. Spins are usually organized through the clubs Facebook page so anyone interested in going out should keep an eye on the clubs Facebook page for details. Alternatively you could just keep an eye out for John Bulman as he seems to out on the bike every day !!