Club Championships: Rusborrough Circuit: Write up by Brian Mc

It was a night for the ages as the merged SS/SL/L bunch had a horse join them for a spell, while the Scratch group had to contend with tractor-related traffic jams, but in the end Bryan Geary had the legs to out kick Neal Hudson in a two-up sprint, with geriatric veteran Diarmuid Collins taking the bunch sprint for bronze and an upgrade to Scratch until 2020.

G Bryan Geary (S)
S Neal Hudson (S)
B Diarmuid Collins (SS)
4 Brian McNally (S)
5 Bernard English (S)
6 Eoin Ahern (S)

Ride of the night for me was Yvonne Doran who came home ahead of some Scratch riders and most of Semi-scratch, while spending much of the last lap on her own. Epic! Monica Frieband took silver, while a tight sprint between Orla Hendron and Louise Keane was judged in the former's favour.

Women:
G Yvonne Doran (SL)
S Monica Freiband (L)
B Orla Hendron (SL)

The Unplaced SS podium:
G Diarmuid “Old Man” Collins
S Michael Bling Hanley
B Paul Sugar Kane

Semi Limit/Limit podium:
G Brendan Lawlor (SL)
S John Wade (SL)
B Shaun Kelly (SL)

Banbridge Criterium: Write up by Conor Murphy Rodgers

The Banbridge Crit is a very technical 900m circuit with a fast descent; sharp turns and a drag through the town centre, which made for an electric atmosphere at the finish.

My race was the second of the evening, starting straight after the u14’s. We had ten laps with a prime on the 5th lap. After a fast first few laps I unfortunately crashed on the 4th lap when my rear tubular tyre rolled off the rim around one of the corners. I quickly went to the pits area and swapped out my rear wheel and joined back in the next lap not yet realising that I had fractured my wrist.

I finished the race and managed to come away with third place after a fast sprint finish. It was a very well organised event and I will definitely be returning next year!


North Tipp Wheelers GP – Irish Ladies Intermediate League: Write up by Breda Horan

There was a good turn out considering the race in Cloughjordan was relatively short. The course was also very flat so this would probably be much the same as some of the previous races which resulted in a bunch sprint.
The first 5K was uneventful with no-one really doing anything. I could hear lots of chatter behind me and was getting a bit bored so decided to attack just for the sake of it. A chase quickly ensued and normality resumed. No one was going to get away that easily.

A few more girls started pinging off the front and every attack was reeled back in. It was the same few riders doing most of the work at the front and we were all driving each other on. I tried to attack again on one of the few drags before Moneygall but nothing would stick. Coach Hanley would say I should have had more sense and sat in - but I just told myself it’s all good training. I obviously spent too much time with Orla Hendron last weekend!

On the last 10K in to the finish, the pace settled before riders started making their way up towards the front. With 1K to go I could see the riders ahead of me all kick up the pace and soon I found myself about 10 riders back. With prizes for top six I had to make up the ground quickly.

There was a bridge with a left turn before a 400m straight run to the finish line and with most riders on the left side of the road I stuck to the right and jumped on the back of Nessa Rochfords wheel. I probably left it too late and crossed the line not knowing if it was 3rd or 4th. Lessons learned for the next one but delighted to come away with 4th.

Eds Note: Also racing in Cloughjordan was Caoimhe May who managed 10th place on another tough hot day.

IVCA League & Age Championships: Write up by Diarmuid Collins

After a very slow start to the season, including a club league downgrade at the insistence of Damian Long, I started to get up in a few IVCA league races. A Tuesday night, 4th place finish at Doreys Forge followed two days later in the club league with a 6th place on the same finish and I could feel the legs coming around. That Sunday's IVCA race suited me but unfortunately while I made the break of the race, the wrong guys slipped away at the end, leaving me with another top 5 finish.

The following Tuesday on the Green sheds was the result I was looking for. Myself and an Aussie from Tullamore, slipped away after 10km and managed to stay away for another 50k, to complete the sprint just 20 seconds ahead of the bunch. I wasn't sure how good a sprinter the Tullamore rider was but I risked it, letting it go to the sprint, where I fortunately had a better finish.

Another tough race at the club league champs that Thursday was just what I needed. While I was just hanging on when the Eoin's et al were attacking hard on the front, I stuck in there and managed to get the draggy sprint behind Bryan and Neal for a bronze. I'd have to go back to 2010 to my maiden year racing to find a similar result in the club champs.

Sunday was the age category race in Kentstown in the IVCA, which I had won on a previous year. The race turned out to be 25km longer than advertised so fueled only by a bottle and half of water for 100k, I had to conserve my energy for the first 50km. At that point a big promising break of 12 riders, including myself, got free of the bunch and I figured that was it to the line. However I hadn't factored in a determined chase behind which brought us back 20k later. A counter attack went immediately with a more manageable 6 riders and within 10 minutes it was clear that we were going to make it to the line. Again I wasn't too confident coming to the last few km but with the recent successes I gambled on the sprint. A few guys took the sprint up early which played into my hand. I came around the last rider for the win with 50m to go. Thanks to John Brady for the sprint training 

Roll on a few more successes!!

ParaCycling World Cup, Essen, Holland:

Ronan was competing in the TT and Road Race in Essen. He finished 7th in the TT despite dropping his chain with 400m to go and having to walk his bike over the line! Thankfully Ronan doesnt think the mechanical would have cost him a medal with 6th the best he would have finished.

Ronan then took on the Road Race on Sunday and finished 4th. He is in great form going into the World Championships which will take place on the 3rd and 5th of August in Maniago, Italy. Ronan will contest the TT on the 3rd and then the RR on the 5th. We wish him the best of luck and look forward to following his progress.

Moynalty GP

It was a great day for Scott Orwell A3s in Moynalty on Sunday! Anthony Mulholland, who is on flying form at the moment, was 3rd from an all day break. Balazs Galambos policed the bunch with an iron fist to make sure Anthony stayed away and Conor Dowler was 2nd in the bunch sprint to take 5th overall.

In the A1/2 Race Eoin Byrne was second in A2. This result is made all the more amazing considering Eoin completed his "Everesting" Challenge in the middle of the week - 322km with 8970m of climbing only a few days earlier! This man doesn't have any limits?

In the women's race Monica Marconi was the first across the line.

Youth Racing Round up: Write up by Stephen Ryan

Over the weekend Annie Roche flew the colours at the International Belgian Youth Tour where she came a highly creditable 14th overall in the U15 girls.

Back in the home country Moynalty hosted the races on Sunday where Dylan Baker and Ronan O'Conor were in the bunch in the 16’s,  Ruairi Byrne took 4th in the 14’s , Katie Reilly 3rd also in the 14’s and Áine Reilly did the business getting 2nd in the 12’s . 

Monday Night Youth Races @Corkagh Park: Thanks Ivan for the write up

We had twenty five starters and plenty of supporters for an evening’s racing in the shadow of the fun fair that had appeared beside the track - clearly somebody had been spreading rumours about how much fun everyone has in Corkagh Park on a summer evening! It was another beautiful evening in what has been an amazing summer, and perfect for some fast times.

After the time trial we split into two groups for elimination races, ever-decreasing circles and handicap races. Final results were taking by combining results from the elimination and handicap races.

In the junior race Karl Bernie (Dunboybe) and Anna Cobbe (Orwell) swapped 3rd and 4th between the two races to share third overall, while Oisín Handler (Swords) was second in both races. Colin McLoughlin (Blanchardstown) took two fine wins to take the overall.

The senior elimination race involved a small bit of confusion for the first elimination from the fast group (the Commissaire holds his hands up here), but there was no doubt about the winner as Niall Kelly withstood Ryan Fox’s (both Orwell) early sprint before launching his own for a clear win. The senior handicap came together up the last hill: Luke Bernie (Dunboyne: SL) won by 5 seconds followed by Katie Reilly (Orwell: SS) and Áine Reilly (Orwell: L), with the fast-galloping Scratch group of Niall and Ryan almost catching her on the line, Matthew Boughton (Inspiration: L) just behind in 6th - only 5 seconds separated second to sixth, so every pedal stroke counted!

When the sums were done our final placings were Ryan in 4th, Luke in 3rd and joint first for Niall and Katie. 

But most importantly of all, everyone had a great time - much more than the shrieking masses on the funfair rides!