The Bike Station Summer Cycling League gets underway

Aaron Trainer with his second place trophy from the Under 12s event in Bohermeen on Sunday

While the changeable weather may not suggest that summer has arrived, Thursday last saw the start of The Bike Station Summer Cycling League.

The event commenced under glorious sunshine and saw the race head out to Dunleer and back, a relatively short starter. As per the new format introduced in 2014 there were two separate events and in the first race it came down to the wire with the final group only being caught with 1km to go.

Cuchulainn’s Val Gargan produced an impressive kick to take the win from the large group. Close behing Val in the fast sprint was Eve McCrystal, showing all the men a clean pair of heels to take the runner up spot, with Ray O’Shuaghnessey in 3rd.

In the second race again the three groups came together to contest the sprint and it was Benny Smith of Killeavy Cycling Club who took the win ahead of Ardee’s Alex McDonnell, with another Killeavy man Damien Philips in third. This week the league continues on the Carlingford Road, for the deceptively difficult Greenore and back route.

The mountain bike league moved into the second round with the first open mountain event, which saw a record entry of 42 riders. The riders tackled a 6.5km lap and after lap one Ray O`Shaughnessey led from last week’s victor Aiden McDonald and Brendan Callaghan in third. These positions remained until the finish with Ray taking the win. Round three sees the league return to Bellurgan Park.

An open race was held in the County Meath village of Bohermeen on Sunday. The main event was an 80 mile affair with Dundalk’s Bryan McCrystal in third position and Cuchulainn’s Liam Dolan also in the winning break coming home in 7th. In the support race Alan Bingham was fourth.

Eve McCrystal continued her great run of form by taking her second win in as many weeks in the women’s race. In the under 12s event Cuchulainn’s Aaron Trainer was an impressive second place, having come agonisingly close to his first win.

The IVCA racing season also got underway in Newbridge, Co Kildare and Cuchulainn as always had a large contingent taking part. Best placed was Enda McKeown who took third place in race two, with team mate Aidan Delaney right behind in the main bunch.

Aiden McDonald shows off his MTB skills in the first round of the Off Road League

Aiden McDonald in action in the Mountain Bike League in Bellurgan Park

Tuesday last saw the commencement of Cuchulainn’s 2015 Mountain Bike League in Bellurgan Park.

Under the stewardship of Liam Burns, 33 riders signed on for the first night of action. From the flag drop, off road expert Aiden McDonald took the lead, which he continued to build upon over the three laps, to take the win from Andrew Baldwin in second and Niall O’Flaherty in third.

As is always the case in off road racing there were a few mechanicals and punctures but all 33 riders made it home safely. The league will continue every Tuesday night over the summer.

This Thursday night April 23rd sees the start of the Bike Station Summer Cycling League. The first night of racing will see the riders sign on at the Geraldines pitch in Haggardstown and race out to Dunleer and back.

On the open racing front, the weekend was a hive of activity for the club’s road racers. On Saturday evening Colm Quinn took the first A2 rider in the main event, the 50km handicapped race.

On Sunday the main action was the Visit Nenagh Classic in the Tipperary town. The 160km route featured seven categorised climbs and attracted all of Ireland’s top riders and a Dutch team. Bryan McCrystal was fourth home in the gruelling race with Cuchulainn’s Liam Dolan not far behind in seventh.

Eve McCrystal won the ladies support race, which featured a very strong field, including an international Welsh Team. Sunday also saw Drogheda host another race and in the A3 event Val Gargan came home in the bunch sprint to claim fourth position.

O’Shaughnessy impresses in Cyclocross League

Ray Fedigan pictured on his Cyclocross League debut in Tallaght

Round two of the Fixx Coffee House Cyclocross League saw riders held to Tallaght’s Tymon Park for a challenging course of grass, tarmac, gravel and complete with a novelty “spiral” section, that caused spectators as much confusion as the riders. The dry conditions saw fast times for both the A and B races.

In the A race, covering eight laps of the course, Cuchulainn Cycling Club had a very successful day. Leading the charge was Ray O’Shaughnessy, coming home in fourth place behind two time Olympian Robin Seymour. Ray is continuing to build good form and should be a medal contender come January in the National Championships

Next Dundalk man home was Gary Shiels in 14th position, who also claimed the first Veteran’s prize despite dropping a chain late on in the day. Johnny McCabe was 20th man home and claimed the first Supervet prize. Aiden McDonald was close behind in 22nd, having dropped down the leader board after sustaining a puncture. Gerry McCabe was only slightly further back in 28th position.

In the B race, consisting of seven laps, the final McCabe brother had a great day claiming 7th overall and first Supervet. Kenny Sullivan was 20th and Ray Fedigan made his cyclocross debut to come home in 60th position in the field of over 90.

Cuchulainn CC recently held their AGM in the Fairways Hotel. A good turn out saw the club discuss a number of initiatives for the year ahead as well as looking back over a successful 2014. The next event for the club is the traditional end of season awards night and Christmas party on Friday December 5th in the Spirit Store.