World silver medal for Dundalk cyclist Eve McCrystal

Nathan McGreehan and Tomas McCabe, second and first in the Louth Hill Climb Championships at the weekend

Ireland’s Paracycling team of Katie George Dunleavy and Dundalk’s Eve McCrystal claimed a silver medal at the World Paracycling Championships in Greenville, USA on Sunday.

Competing in the tandem road race the pair were edged out in a sprint for the gold by the British pair of Lora Turnham and Connie Hall, with the Spanish in third. The Irish team had been in the US for the last three weeks becoming acclimatised to the stifling heat and humidity of North Carolina.

On the previous Friday the Irish tandem duo had been unlucky to puncture in the time trial event, yet still managed to take sixth position. Also competing in the male tandem time trial and road race was Ireland’s James Brown, with Dundalk’s Bryan McCrystal, like his sister, acting as the pilot for the visually impaired athlete. The men posted top 10 results in both events but just couldn’t quite make it onto the podium.

The last competitive event of the year went to Tomas McCabe when he won the Louth Hill Climb Championships ahead of Nathan McGreehan. Tomas also won the Leinster A3 event, with the main event going to defending champion James Davenport. In the women’s event Annette Dolan took the gold ahead of Sandra O’Hagan.

Sunday also saw the final round of the Skoda Cycling Challenge descend on Louth. Fiona Rogers and Philip Kerley headed up a team that organised an excellent event for over 500 cyclists. An 80km route and 130km route were both on offer to the cyclists, taking in the likes of Ballymascanlon, Riverstown and the Long Woman’s Grave. Good weather meant than more than expected tackled the longer route, but with a well stocked food stop at the Fairways Hotel everyone managed the distance. Cuchulainn Cycling Club extends a huge thank you to the organising committee, marshals, drivers, Irish Red Cross, Skoda Ireland, The Fairways Hotel and St Kevin’s GAA Club.

Successful weekend for local cyclists

Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal – winner’s of the female tandem gold medal

Dundalk cyclists had a successful weekend at the national championship held in Mullingar, picking up two gold medals.

First up in the men’s tandem time trial Bryan McCrystal and James Brown went quickest to claim the gold, while in the women’s tandem time trial Eve McCrystal and Katie George Dunleavy claimed the gold. Both of the McCrystal siblings have been involved in the Paralympic programme for some months now and are building towards the Olympics in Rio 2016.

Unfortunately a tragic road accident on Saturday morning saw the cancellation of the Vets and Women’s Road Race Championships on the Saturday. Here Eve would have been amongst the favourites to podium. While in the vets race, Cuchulainn had sent a strong team, spearheaded by the inform Alan Bingham would have hopefully been in the hunt for the team prize.

The men’s road race did go ahead on the Sunday and the field tackled a 171km race, where Ireland’s top professionals including Tour de France stage winner Dan Martin and former world track champion Martyn Irvine, lined up with the best domestic based riders. Early in the race Bryan McCrystal got himself into a break of eight riders that stayed away to the end. With 30km to go 19 year old Ryan Mullen rode away to a solo victory and claimed the national champions jersey. In the sprint for the remaining medals, McCrystal came agonisingly close to claiming a medal, but just missed out finishing in fourth place.

The latest round of the FPM Accountants Summer Cycling League saw the six groups race out to Greenore and back. A fast night of racing saw a small group of scratch riders catch all in front of them, with Alan Bingham taking the win ahead of Niall Clarke in second and Liam Dolan in third.

Dublin Gospel Choir coming to the Big Top in Carlingford

The Dublin Gospel Choir will be performing an evening time concert on Sunday May 25^th in The Big Top at Carlingford Marina.

Probably the only act in the world to collaborate with artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder, Nitin Sawhney, John Legend, Riverdance, James Brown, Damien Rice, Rod Stewart, The Chieftains and in July 2013 with the legendary composer Ennio Morricone, The Dublin Gospel Choir continues to amaze audiences all over Europe with a brilliantly adaptable repertoire of songs.

Formed in 1995 as a junior school choir in inner city Dublin, they have grown to perform at an average of 100 events per year, and are the only act to play on The Main Stage every single year at Electric Picnic Festival in Ireland. They officially launched two of Ireland’s largest arenas Croke Park Stadium and The Aviva Stadium and have also performed for dignitaries such as President Obama and The Queen.

They are also the first gospel artist to break into the Top 30 Irish Charts, and with a waiting list of over 200 people, and significant public profile, their current membership has never been higher.

A household name in Ireland, they are one of the most-often featured music acts on national television and radio, and are really looking forward to visiting Carlingford in May.

Tickets for the event are €22.50 each, or €20 each for those who buy four or more at a time. Tickets can be bought online through the Visit Carlingford website or at Carlingford Marina’s new cafe, Cafe Marina. Performances begin at 6pm sharp with Dublin Gospel Choir performing between 7pm and 9pm.

McCrystal and teammate Brown narrowly miss out on bronze medal in Mexico

Bryan McCrystal and teammate James Brown

Local rider Bryan McCrystal and his Irish international teammate James Brown narrowly missed out on the Bronze medal after qualifying for the ride off in the Men’s B Pursuit at the UCI Paracycling Track World Championships in Aguacalientes in Mexico yesterday.

Their tandem pairing’s national record of 4.17.125 was the third fastest time earlier in the day, qualifying the pair for the Bronze medal ride off against USA. However, the fast starting Americans proved too strong for the Irish bike, giving them a 0.3 second advantage at the end of the 4km race against the clock.

In the end Bronze went to Clark Rachfal and David Swanson of the USA, with Australia beating Spain in the Gold medal final.

Brown, who won Bronze at the Paralympic Games in the Time Trial, has seen his personal best times tumble in training since pairing with Dundalk’s Bryan McCrystal, with the duo achieving a qualifying time that would have been a World Record prior to this weekend.

Unfortunately yesterday evening’s performance fell shy of a medal, with the USA bike attacking hard off the start. While this put the Irish bike under pressure straight away, they kept fighting until the end, just missing bronze by 0.3 seconds.

Meanwhile, Bryan’s sister Eve was fifth in the Women’s B 3km Pursuit Qualification alongside teammate Katie-George Dunlevy.

The pair will be in action again at 8.30pm tonight In the Women’s B 1km time trial while James and Bryan will compete in the men’s equivalent at the same time.

Source: Cycling Ireland