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Last Updated: Jun 25th, 2008 - 14:08:00 |
The Wicklow Ladies League (the southside version of The Boot Inn League) kicked off last night when 17 keen ladies turned up despite the wind and the heavy rainfall. As it was the first night of the league (comprising 4 races) 2 warm-up laps of the 3mile circuit were completed with the assistance of coaches Ger Ivory and Richie McCauley, who were on hand to advise and help those who had little or no experience of riding together in a group. Then the race began!
The riders were split into 2 groups, with the front group of 6 riders getting a 5minute handicap over the second group of 11 riders. The limit group stayed together for the first lap but Geraldine Hendrick, in her first race, stormed away into the lead going into the second lap and never looked back, while the group disintegrated behind her in the worsening conditions.
Meanwhile the scratch group had a lot of work to do to claw their way into contention, and rode well together for 2 laps, everyone taking their turn and working smoothly. With a gap of 3:40 going into the last 2 laps though, it was looking unlikely that the front riders would be caught, and the hammer went down, with Jenny McCauley and Roisin Kennedy riding hard off the front. Jenny pulled out a lead going up the drag on the main road and rode hard to the finish; meanwhile at the head of the race Geraldine Hendrick was riding super strongly on her own to win her first race!
Fiona Duggan was chasing hard and finished 2nd just under a minute down, with Jenny riding into 3rd another 34secs back, followed by Ailbhe Ivory, first junior home in a terrific 4th place. Roisin Kennedy soloed into 5th place, with the top 6 rounded out by Siobhan Duggan who lead in the main group.
Kudos to all the women who showed up in such conditions to race, many for the first time - it was wonderful to have such support for the event, and hopefully everybody learned a little and enjoyed the challenge! It was great to see so many clubs represented, and we really hope to see you all again at the next league race, on the 8th July.
Many many thanks to Alex Dobbs for running the event, a first for her too, everything went smoothly thanks to the enormous support from the Bray Wheelers club who turned out in force to give a hand despite the cold and wet weather - events like this can’t be held without such selfless behaviour and it’s much appreciated lads! Next time I’ll bake some cakes for afterwards..!
Position, Rider (Club) Handicap Time ; Actual Time
1, Geraldine Hendrick (U/A) 35-03 ; 35-03
2, Fiona Duggan (Bray) 35-58 ; 35-58
3, Jenny McCauley (Bray) 36-31 ; 31-31
4, Ailbhe Ivory (Bray) 37-07 ; 37-07
5, Roisin Kennedy (Lucan) 37-24 ; 32-24
6, Siobhan Duggan (Bray) 37-29 ; 32-29
7, Gabrielle Dillon (WTC) 37-29 ; 32-29
8, Jane Martin (Bray) 37-37 ; 32-37
9, Mary Dawson (Bray) 37-42 ; 32-42
10, Eileen O'Sullivan (Sorrento) 37-45 ; 32-45
11, Debbie Crean (Bray) 38-19 ; 33-19
12, Ciara Long (Orwell) 39-00 ; 39-00
13, Orla McEvoy (Bray) 39-12 ; 34-12
14, Karen Graham (WTC) 40-35 ; 35-35
15, Deborah Meghen (WTC) 41-55 ; 36-55
DNS: Michelle Muldoon DNS
DNF: Yvonne Williams DNF
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