|
|
|
Last Updated: Aug 23rd, 2008 - 16:23:08 |
WEEKEND ROUNDUP:
By Tommy Campbell
Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent
Aug 22, 2008,
|
Email this article
© Tommy Campbell
|
Just to make the weekend's activities interesting, the All Ireland Hill Climb Championship takes place in Donegal and Mayo comes into the reckoning again with a double header. Whilst the northern end of the country is getting a fair share of racing. In Kanturk the stars of the future will be on parade in the Under Age Championship.
ALL IRELAND HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIPS
Making their debut on the championship scene is the newly formed North Pole CC. And! Boy, have they decided on a unique course in the hills of Donegal. It takes in that famous , Mamore Gap. If memory serves me correctly or folklore. Back in the early 70's competing cyclists went over the 'Gap'. At the time the locals when they heard of the impending route, they were vociferous about the task that lay ahead. A bystander in a local pub was heard to say " Male or female has never rode across the gap. That'll be a sight to see," as he supped his pint of the black stuff.
In the intervening years the 'Gap' as been used on many occasions and as always has played a significant part in the destination of of the overall victory.
Talking to the organiser Carl Fullerton yesterday about the event, "We are starting on the 'twisty' side of the Gap. The location is Urris and kick off time is mid-day. Sign-on is the The Laurentic Bar, Linsfort from 10.30am. As of now the defending champion David McCann will be here. A first year junior, Marcus Christie who was a revelation in the Martin Donnelly Junior Tour is also set to be here.
"Mamore Gap is reputed to be one of the toughest hill climbs in Ireland and regularly features in The Ras. There are ten bends on the course including four hairpins.
"There will be national medals for the fastest three finishers on the 1.9km course as well as a jersey for the overall winner,"said Carl.
Hopefully the weather will be kind to one and all, also North pole Cycling Club are putting up extra prizes on the day which will be sponsored by Donegal Harvesting.
I thought it most interesting that Carl would include in his press release!
The HQ is, "This is situated 5 miles north of Buncrana on the Inishowen 100 Scenic Route."
CYCLING BONANZA IN WESTPORT
Westport and Mayo Wheelers are back in the big time this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday they are promoting two events which deserve support. On Saturday evening they literally shut down the town with a race around the streets of the town.
The public have an opportunity of watching the cyclists in action at close quarters and in recent years they have thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. Current holder of the title is Philip Lavery who as a first year junior last year took on his more senior competitors and won convincingly. Also in the corresponding event last year was Charles Prendergast. He certainly left an impression on the locals with his ability of bike handling on a very tricky course. Charles, now is a junior competitor who has represented Ireland on a number of occasions and has also notched up several wins.
Whilst last year he was an unknown quantity, on Saturday he will not have the same leverage but the Louisburgh competitor is obviously one to watch.
On Sunday the action switches to the roads around Co. Mayo. The 60 odd mile event takes starts and finishes in the town and passes through Louisburgh, Aasleagh Falls and
Auhgagower. Sean Lacey of EurobabyEurocycles is the defending champion and a repeat win would set him up nicely for the Tour of Ireland which starts next Wednesday in Dublin. Failte Ireland are the backers of the 'tour' and the event come not have come at a better time with tourists thin on the ground. The event will be seen throughout the world and this will certainly generate interest in Ireland.
Also Mayo will see the professionals participating in the event next week when they roll out from Ballinrobe and again Westport will be in the picture next Friday.
Race organiser for both events, Joe McGuire is looking forward to the town coming alive at the weekend and again on Friday week.
"The town's people are behind the events. The local authorities and the Gardai in particular have made life easy for me. It will be a great occasion and hopefully we'll get the weather," said Joe.
The race HQ is the Clew bay for both events.
----
OLYMPIC DREAM TEAM
Ever dreamt of Olympic gold? Ever wanted to know how you would fare against world class Olympians in your sport? now is your chance.....
As part of the Gatorade Dublin city triathlon on the 24th of August, an Olympic Dream Relay Team will race against the clock with Paddy Power donating €1000 to the Irish Cancer Society for every minute that they achieve under an agreed time limit"
The team comprises of
1500 metre swim leg - Chantal Gibney(Swimming, Sidney 2000)
40k cycle leg - Ciaran Power(Cycling Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004)
10km run leg - Catherina McKiernan(Barcelona 1992,Atlanta 1996 and Irish marathon record holder)
 |
| Paddy Power (jnr) with the Olympic Dream Team |
----
MTB MARATHON CHAMPS - 24 Aug 2008
The course is based in the kilbride area and will start and finish in the grounds of the Kippure House Estate. The course is 60km consisting of 2 laps of 30km. There will be the option for the sports riders to enter into the 30km sports class or the 60km sports class, any rider entering the 60km class and then deciding to opt out of this during the event will not receive any award if they finish in a podium position. Juniors will be the other category to race over the 1 lap 30km distance due to specific UCI time rules. All other classes will be run over the full distance of 60km.
Race - Info:
There are no underage categories except for Juniors.
Sign-on: 8am - 9:30am
Pre-race briefing: 9:45am
Race Start: 10am
Presentation Ceremony: 4pm
Entry: €25
Note: To facilitate the presentation ceremony and to ensure marshal and rider safety there will be cut-off points along the course if it is deemed that a rider will not complete the course in the 6hr time slot.
Directions:
Travel directions from Dublin city or Dublin airport:
Travel to the M50 Ring Road and take the Southbound Carriage-Way. Exit the motorway at Junction 11 (for Tallaght orN81).Follow the N81 towards Blessington.
Approximately 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) after Brittas Village and the Blue Gardenia pub take the left turn marked R759 for Roundwood / Kilbride / Sally Gap.
This is the R759. Follow this road until you come to a left turn just before the village of Manor Kilbride. Turn left here! Do not drive into the village! Signposted for Kippure Estate / Sally Gap / Roundwood / Braveheart Drive.
Kippure Estate is 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) along this road on the right hand side. When you pass St. John’s Church on the right, with its blue sign, you know you are only 5 minutes drive away.
----
2008 Track Veterans Omnium National Championships
Saturday 30th August at Sundrive
After last year’s successful Veterans Omnium in the National Championships and a re-emergence of some of the not so young riders in recent weeks this years Championships will make for great racing.
All riders must compete in all 4 events with all riders being placed in order for the purpose of crowning our new National Veteran Track Champion. The four events will be Sprint, 2km Pursuit, 500 metre (standing start) TT and a 20 lap scratch race and the proposed agenda of events are listed below which is subject to change
1000 >1030 Sign on & Bike Hire – Entry Fee €20
1030 >1100 Open Track
1100 >1130 Sprint Qualifiers (Flying 200's)
1130 >1245 2km pursuit
1245 - 1300 Lunch
1300 >1315 Open Track
1315 >1345 Sprint rounds
1345 >1430 500 metre TT
1445 >1530 Sprint Finals
1530 > 1545 Open Track
1545 20 lap scratch
Bikes for hire will be available on the day and riders must have a Cycling Ireland Racing (or Track) Veterans Licence or IVCA racing licence on which they are listed as Irish Nationality
ALL RIDERS MUST HAVE PASSED ACCREDITATION IN ADVANCE OF SATURDAY 30th. No pre-registration required but we would appreciate an e-mail (trackcyclingireland@gmail.com ) or text (Hugh Byrne 086-3488708 or Will Byrne 086 8047839) to indicate if you are coming as it will help us get an idea of numbers and assist us in planning qualifying rounds of sprint etc
|
IMPORTANT: All articles,
quotes and results which appear on this page are strictly © Copyright
2008 Tommy Campbell,
IrishCycling.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
