Second place finish for O’Shaughnessy in Belfast

Belfast’s Fall’s Park held the last round of the Ulster Cyclo Cross series on Sunday. The race was held over  laps of a technical, yet fast course, which was the usual mix of grass, forest and tarmac.

In the main race Cuchulainn Cycling Club’s Ray O’Shaughnessey showed that he is building form ahead of January’s National Championships with a second position in the main event. Ray was just a minute behind winner, Glen Kinning, who has dominated the series so far, winning every round he has competed.

Behind these other Cuchulainn riders had good races with Gary Shiels next home in 12th and fourth veteran, while Johnny McCabe was 16th and first supervet.  These good results were somewhat offset with bad luck befalling brothers Declan and Gerry McCabe, who were both forced to retire due to mechanical problems. In the B race Ray Fedigan continues to make good progress in the sport, having finished in 13th position.

On December 5th the club will head for the Spirit Store to celebrate all their achievements over the season. Prizes will be presented for the club’s competitions and all the Louth Championships. The event starts at 8pm and tickets are €10, available at the door.

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.

Bad luck for Barry as he crashes out of Shay Elliott Memorial in Wicklow

Michael Barry leads the break in Co Wicklow before crashing out on the slippy roads

It was another weekend of big racing for Ireland’s cyclists and those involved with the local Cuchulainn Cycling Club.

The premier event of the weekend was the Shay Elliott Memorial, a race that has been running for over 50 years held in memory of Ireland’s first professional cyclist and former yellow jersey wearer at the Tour de France. Held in Co Wicklow, the race covers 140km and features the dreaded Shay Elliott climb. The day was not made any easier by the constant wind and rain that battered the riders from start to finish.

Cuchulainn had five men line up in the race and Michael Barry was having a great ride before bad luck intervened and he crashed out of the winning break on a greasy bend, forcing him to abandon. The rest of the riders all came home in the main bunch after a very wet day with Alan Grey moving up in the sprint to take a top 10 position in the A2 Category.

On Sunday the action moved to County Meath’s Bohermeen, where the course was considerably flatter. In the A4 race Alan Bingham continued his recent good form and placed in the top six, which sees him earn enough points to move up a category to A3. In the main race, which was 135km long, Gary Shiels and Kenny Sullivan came home in the main bunch, with Gary taking fifth in the A2 category.

The IVCA League, where Cuchulainn riders have been so dominant over the years, continued on Sunday. However such is their reputation that they are heavily marked and despite being active from the drop of the flag any green and red jersey was very heavily marked, not allowing the Dundalk men to feature amongst the results.

Carry earns Cuchulainn their first win of the season in Drogheda

Stephen Carry

Dundalk’s Cuchulainn Cycling Club has taken it’s first win of the season when Stephen Carry won the A4 event in Drogheda on Sunday.

Ardee man Stephen, who took up cycling in late 2012, has already tasted success by winning the 2013 FPM Accountants Summer Cycling League and 2014 was his first foray into open road racing. He had already notched a few top 10 results but this was his big breakthrough performance, which will now see him upgraded to A3 status. Stephen’s race was run over 50km and saw him win the sprint from Dublin’s Valdis Anderson and Galway’s Cathal Dilane in third. Stephen’s clubmate Alan Kelly was close behind in eighth place. Also in action in Drogheda’s underage racing was Aaron Trainer and Conor McKeown.

On Saturday in Banbridge Liam Dolan took part in the 75mile John Beggs Memorial run over a tough course. With 20 miles still to go Liam attacked from a group of 12 and forged on ahead with Ballymena’s Sean McIntyre. They managed to hold off the chasing riders but in the sprint Liam was found wanting coming home in second position. Alan Bingham was also in action in Banbridge in the A4 race and a brave attempt to win the race came up agonisingly short, when Alan was swept up by the bunch after a lone escape with less than one kilometre to go.

Also in action on Sunday were five Cuchulainn riders in the 70mile Tour of the Mournes race hosted by neighbours Newry Wheelers. Sean Loughran was active early on and made his way into the break that lasted until the 45 mile mark. Liam Dolan, Gary Shiels and Niall Clarke were all unlucky to puncture, but having received quick wheel changes all three safely made it back into the main bunch. Alan Grey was first of the Dundalk men home when he made it into the chase group by powering up the incredibly steep Rathfriland hill with some eight miles to go.

Meanwhile on the leisure front, 30 Cuchulainn riders tackled the harsh weather to complete the 50mile Slieve Gullion Wheelers sportive. Rolling roads, wind and rain made for a hard day at the office but a good time was had by all.

This Thursday night sees the hotly anticipated start of the 2014 FPM Accountants Summer Cycling League. All details can be found at www.dundalkcycling.com

Cuchulainn Cycling Club have huge turnout at Newry race

Alan Grey (far right) taking sixth place in the John Haldane Memorial Cycle Race

Cuchulainn Cycling Club had a huge turn out at Newry Wheeler’s John Haldane Memorial promoted on Sunday last. The race consisted of a 9 mile lap along the dual carriageway out to Warrenpoint and back and was run off in atrocious conditions, cold, wet and very windy.

In the main race, covering 54 miles, six Cuchulainn men were on the start line. Alan Grey, who had taken a prize the day before when racing in Summerhill, had a great day making it into the chase group and coming home in sixth position. Gary Shiels, Sean Loughran and Nial Clarke were very active throughout the race, while Colm Quinn was unlucky to puncture at the half way mark.

In the women’s race Cuchulainn had four women brave the conditions, Annette Dolan, Fiona Rogers, while Debbie Lundy and Rosemary Gibson were competing in their first ever race. Fiona had an outstanding race to come home in fifth, while Annette was riding well in the bunch all day, but was caught behind an accident some 5km from the finish.

In the masters race Jimmy Flynn was unable to defend his win of a year ago, coming home in eighth position. In the other support races Declan McCabe, Karl Dolan, Thomas McCabe, Gary Morten, Alan Bingham and Barry Douglas all finished safely in the main bunch.

The day before, Alan Grey, Michael Barry and Liam Dolan had competed in the main race in Summerhill, held over 55miles. Again Alan was on form taking second in the A2 prize.

MacDonald claims bronze in Belfast as Cuchulainn clinch gold in team event

Aidan MacDonald who claimed the bronze in the Vets National Cyclo Cross Championships

Sunday saw the first Irish Cycling Championship of 2014, when Belfast’s Lady Dixon Park hosted the event that was so ably hosted in 2013 by Cuchulainn Cycling Club. The rain soaked day made for a very muddy course with riders struggling to stay upright as they raced through forests and across grass and footpaths.

It was an especially successful day for Cuchulainn’s Aidan MacDonald who claimed a bronze medal in the vets championship. Aidan is no stranger to winning medals especially in mountain biking but this was a particularly epic performance where he had to work extra hard to hold off the defending champion, Peter McConville of Newry Wheelers. Also competing in the vets race were Gary Shiels and Johnny McCabe, who finished 5th and 8th respectively. These three positions meant that Cuchulainn took the gold in the team prize. The result is testament to the depth of talent that has developed in Dundalk’s cycling.

In the elite race Ray O’Shaughnessey was an outside bet for the win, with the two outstanding favourites being defending champion of Banbridge Roger Aiken and Dublin’s Robyn Seymour. Ray had a great start and was in a group of four that formed behind runaway winner Roger Aiken. Unfortunately Ray suffered a puncture while half way through a lap and had to run with his bike to the pits. This mechanical pushed him to 12th position and, while he fought bravely to finish in fourth, he ultimately ran out of road before being able to move into the medals. Ray will now take some down time before ramping up his training for the An Post Rás in May, where he will once again be competing as party of the Louth team.