Lionel triumphs on top of Flagstaff

Terry McEneaney taking part in round eight of the mountain biking league at Bellurgan Park

The eighth round of The Bike Station Summer Cycling League finished atop of the climb at Flagstaff, making it the most gruelling race of the series.

The riders have some 30km of hard racing in their legs before making the dreaded left turn at Davy’s Pub for the 3km ascent, where the sweat stinging the eyes means that the spectacular views cannot be appreciated.

First to conquer the climb was Lionel Mothion, Dundalk’s resident French cyclist. Lionel was part of group five that managed to catch group four yet stay away from group six. Lionel was untouchable on the climb and came home for a solo victory with Benny Smith in second and Alan Malone in third.

The second race went to another mountain goat with Paul Howard blasting up the steep ascent ahead of John McDonnell and Brendan Crosby. Underage rider Conor McKeown had a solid ride to take fourth place.

After eight rounds it is the two Alans at the top of the table, with Alan Bingham and Alan Malone both sitting pretty on 49 points. Benny Smith is a further three points back in third place and the sprinting sensation Val Gargan is in fourth on 45 points.

We’re also up to Round 8 of the mountain biking league, which was once again in Bellurgan Park. For the night a slightly altered course was used and riders faced eight laps of a 1.7km technical course, which had a new trail added thanks to the club’s members.

Race one saw Liam Burns eventually drop Jason Malone after a ding-dong battle between the pair, with Brendan Callaghan in third. Race two saw an epic battle between four riders, David Hoey, John Noone, Greg Clifford and Paul Durnin, that went on over the eight laps. David Hoey and John Noone managed to pull away towards the end, to finish first and second respectively. Greg Clifford came home in third. Round nine sees the riders battle the elements on the open mountain.

Dolan goes close to first win of the year in Tour of the Mournes

Liam Dolan competing in the Tour of the Mournes on Sunday

Cuchulainn Cycling Club’s Liam Dolan went very close to taking his first win of the year in the Tour of the Mournes on Sunday last.

The 155km cycle saw the 80 strong field tackle some rolling countryside on a warm but blustery day. After 35km Dolan found himself part of a six man escape group, which by the end of the day was whittled down to just Dolan and Dave Hamilton of North Down CC.

The pair drove to the finish with a minute over the remains of the main bunch, where Hamilton pipped Dolan for the win. Colm Quinn also had a good result with ninth position overall.

Both Colm and Liam will be on the start line this Sunday for the An Post Rás, which starts in Dunboyne. The eight-day international cycle race will see a stage finish in Drogheda on Saturday May 23rd.

The Bike Station Summer Cycling League continued this week with the course being out to Ardee, across the link road and home through Castlebellingham. It was another big turn out with 84 riders signing on across the two races.

The first race off was once again a bunch sprint with the three groups finally coming together before Kilsaran. As the line fast approached on the Fane Bridge, round one winner Val Gargan was again the quickest, outsprinting Alan Bingham for the win with Kenny Sullivan in third.

The second race was a master class in pacing from Johanna Rogan who rode away from the rest of group one and held off the fast moving riders behind to take the win. Gavin McDermott was next home winning the sprint for second place ahead of underage sensation Connor McKeown. Catherine Sands’ good riding meant another lady was in the top five. Group three, meanwhile, never bridged the gap to the leaders so had to settle for the minor placings.

The Mountain Bike League is also in full swing and round four returned to Bellurgan Park. The recent rainfall made for real testing conditions for the riders. Like the Bike Station league, this league also operates two races a night such are the numbers.

In race one Liam Burns was in flying form on his new stead and took a victory from Aaron McCann, who was unlucky to have a mechanical on the last lap while closing in on Burns. Niall O’Flaherty was third.

In race two PJ Hynes was well ahead of the chasing pack cruised in to take first place with a few minutes to spare ahead of John Kane in second and Paul Durnin rounding out third. Round five returns to the wilderness of the open mountain.

The Tour of Louth, Cuchulainn’s annual sportive is to be held Sunday May 31st and again expects to attract a big field to tackle the 110km of scenic Co Louth countryside. The route will follow the usual format of out towards Dunleer, across to Ardee, back to Dundalk before heading around Carlingford via the tough climb at Jenkinstown. There will also be a shorter 50km route on the day. Dowdallshill GAA club is the sign on location.

Finally under the stewartship of Philip Kerley, an underage cycling group has begun to meet every Monday night at 6.45pm at Muirhevnamor Community Centre. Riders aged 11-15 years are welcome, along with their parents to tackle 20km to 25km of cycling with experienced guides.

Dundalk FC offering free season tickets for primary school children

Dundalk FC has announced that they will be offering free season tickets to primary school children, aged 12 and under, for the 2014 campaign.

As part of the process the club will be launching a new Junior Supporters’ Club in the coming weeks. This new initiative will be free to join with all members entitled to a free season ticket for the upcoming season as well as further benefits.

Chairman Ciaran Bond stated: “This has been a long-standing ambition of the board since we completed the takeover last year. With this unique plan we wish to make Friday nights at Oriel Park a more family friendly experience and to ease the burden on parents who wish to bring their kids to matches.”

General Manager Paul Johnston added: “We have recently added our former captain Liam Burns to our ranks as Schools Co-Ordinator and he will be involved in the rolling out of this project in the coming weeks. We have been visiting a number of schools in recent weeks and the interest in the club is massive in the community.

“This initiative will hopefully have the short-term benefit of making attendance at live football matches at Oriel Park much more affordable for families plus have the long-term benefit of introducing kids to supporting their local football club and set them on their way to becoming life-long fans.”

More information will be released soon on this initiative. Junior Supporters’ Club members will also be able to vote for their own Player of the Year and have the opportunities for to get involved in the club as ball-boys and ball-girls.

Information on other season ticket prices will be announced shortly.