The day was extra special for the Cuchulainn Club as it was also the launch of the new club strip. The Jersey is still in the traditional colours of green and red that the club has been using since its formation over 60 years ago, but features a new modern design with a picture of Cuchulainn across the front and back.
This week sees the Irish Team flying out to Switzerland to partake in the World B Championships. Local rider Marie Reilly is leading the Irish Ladies team. Marie originally from Co. Meath has been living and working in Dundalk for the past number of years and regularly trains with the Cuchulainn Club. We would like to take this opportunity to wish Marie and the rest of the Irish team the best of luck in the competition.
This Sunday (June 29th) sees Cuchulainn Cycling Club organising the inaugural 3-County Cycling Challenge. The event is open to all cyclists. Sign on is from the Friary Hall, Anne Street, Dundalk @ 10am. Entry Fee is 5 Euro, riders must present a Cycling Ireland Licence or buy a one day licence on the day at a cost of 10 Euro. Participants have the option to cycle 50 or 75 miles.
The courses are as follows:
ROUTE 1 (50 miles): Dundalk, Newtonhamilton, Keady, Castleblaney, Dundalk.
ROUTE 2 (75miles): Dundalk, Newtonhamilton, Keady, Castleblaney, Carrickmacross, Ardee, Dundalk.
Light refreshments are available afterwards. This event should prove to be very popular amongst local cyclists providing many of them with an opportunity to stretch their legs after completing the recent Border Trek and Wicklow 200 events. We wish to stress that this event is not a competition and we encourage all local cyclists to turn up and give it a go. Their will be a service vehicle following behind the last group to ensure anybody encountering difficulties will have assistance.
The club had a record turnout for Sunday's "Sean Nolan - Meath Grand Prix" in Navan with Aidan Cunningham, Paul Duffy, David Duffy, Karl Dolan and Stephen Carroll all travelling. In near perfect racing conditions the riders faced 2 laps of a rolling 28 mile circuit. Despite a number of good attempts by the local riders, none of them figured in the final shake up.
The Cuchulainn Club continues to grow at a steady rate with the biggest numbers in recent years turning out for both the training spins and the Newry League. A total of 9 local riders took part in the 10 mile time trial held on the Warrenpoint dual-carriageway last Tuesday night as part of the Newry league series. One of the best rides on the night was from Blackrock man Mark Quinn, in his first ever competitive event Mark posted a time of 27min 30sec which means he maintained an average speed of nearly 22mph for the duration of the event.
The Cuchulainn Club are organising the inaugural "3 County Challenge" on June 29th. The event is a leisure / touring event and is open to riders of all abilities. There are two routes for the riders to select of 50 or 75 miles. The entry fee is €5 and refreshments will be available afterwards. All riders must present a Cycling Ireland licence, alternatively a one day licence can be purchased on the day at a cost of €10. The event will see riders travelling from Dundalk, to Newtonhamilton, Keady, Castleblayney and back to Dundalk. Alternatively riders preferring the longer route can proceed to Ardee after reaching Castleblayney.
Cuchulainn Rider David Duffy (currently living in Cork) also put in a great performance in the tough Dunboyne 2 Day race contested by 150 cyclists held over the June Bank Holiday weekend. David was part of the leading group on the final stage and in final sprint was the 5th rider across the line . This is David's second result of the season having finished 7th in the local Trader's Cup earlier in the year.
Meanwhile Stephen Carroll, Karl Dolan and Johnny Mc Cabe all travelled from Dundalk to partake in the Noel Teggart Memorial Race held in Banbridge on the same weekend. The race was contested over 5 laps of a hilly 11 mile circuit. The first lap started at a steady pace with a strong winds and driving rain. As the riders started the second lap the pace picked up considerably as did the rain. The pace was fast and furious for the remainder of the race and despite a number of promising attempts by the local riders none of them managed to break away from the main bunch for more than a couple of miles. The outright winner in the end was Jim Mc Connell of East Antrim CC with all the Dundalk men tucked in the main bunch. All the riders agreed that this was one of their toughest challenges of the season with the longer distance, hilly course and wet cold weather.
Newry League Race was moved to Thursday night last on account of the torrential rain on Tuesday Night. The only local rider to compete was Ravensdale man Rory Johnston whom managed to gain some valuble points to move him up the 7th position in the overall standings. The Newry League on the previous Tuesday night was one of the toughest of the year with plenty of hills and steep climbs. Rory Johnston winner of the recent club 3-Day was leading the chase in the scratch group, but despite their best efforts they were unable to catch all the front riders. Stephen Carroll continued to impress everybody, having only just returned to cycle racing and despite his lack of "Winter Miles he was still in contention at the finish when many of the more seasoned and experienced cyclists were left trailing in his wake. With a little more training under his belt some good results can't be too far away. Recent new comer to the Cuchulainn Club Johnny Mc Cabe also put in a great performance. Johnny along with another Dundalk Man Alan Gray are currently undertaking a gruelling training schedule for an Ironman Triathlon. This event consists of a 2.5mile swim, followed by a 110 mile Bike ride and finishes with a full 26 mile Marathon. Surely this 10 hour plus event has to be one of the toughest challenges any athlete can face both mentally and physically.