On Sunday the Cuchulainn team took part in the John Mc Cormack Cup in the Phoenix Park. The perfectly flat circuit made for some very fast racing with riders attacking from the gun, but such was the speed nobody managed to open a gap of more than a few seconds. Just when a bunch sprint was looking likely a group escaped including Karl Dolan. They held onto a small gap until the finish with Keith Daly from Swords taking the honours and Karl followed closesly behind in 4th place. This result will gain him valuble points and takes him one place closer to his second category licence.
In the Newry league last Tuesday the competition as always was fierce. The local riders were doing much of the work in both groups. Pat O'Shaughnessy continues to impress everybody with his excellent form trying on more than one occasion to escape the bunch. Stephen Carroll made a return to racing after the recent birth of his new baby and Rory Johnston rode strongly to defend his top 10 over-all position. With only 3 events left in the series and only a handful of points separating the top riders you can be sure that the tough competition will continue.
This weekend will be very busy for the local riders. Stamullen Road Club are promoting a two day stage race on Friday and Saturday, The event is for 3rd Category riders only and will give everybody a last chance to gain some points before the end of the season. Cuchulainn will have a strong presence in the race and should get some good results.
On Sunday the racing will be on homeground when Cuchulainn CC are promoting the Paddy Neary Memorial race on the Knockbridge Circuit. The race will be contested by cyclist from all over the country and is to be used as one of the selection races for the ladies team to represent Ireland in a forthcoming international stage race. Marie Reilly the Dundalk based rider will be amongst the favorites especially given her performance last week end at the Irish Track Championships where she took the silver medal in the pursuit race. We would like to call on all club members past and present to help marshall the race. The first race starts at 1 pm from the Friary.
Johnny Mc Cabe continues to go from strength to strength in the Mountain Bike ranks. Taking part in the 4 round of the National Cross Country Mountain Biking Series. Johnny gave a great performance to take the runner up spot in the Veterans Race just missing out on the over-all win to Belfast rider Peter Buggle. This is another impressive performance from the Blackrock man in only his first full mountain bike season and follows on from his medal winning ride in the Irish Championships last month.
Four local riders took part in the Brendan Carroll Memorial Race in Donore just outside Drogheda last Sunday. The race was run over 13 laps of a challenging 4mile circuit. The race was extremely fast from the start with some of Ireland best riders setting the pace. The race was eventually won by Emyvale rider Connor Murphy and best placed local rider was Karl Dolan who was the 4th 3rd Category rider across the line. The race also marked a return to competition for Jimmy Crosby after a 10 year absence and he gave a strong performance giving us just a taste of what we can expect in the future.
The Cuchulainn Club are promoting the Paddy Neary Memorial Cycle Race on Sunday August 31st around the usual Knockbridge Circuit. This race has been run continually since the late sixties. As usual we are calling on all club members past and present to give us a hand marshal the race. A meeting will be held in the Jockey's Bar at 8pm on Monday, August 25th to make final arrangements and everybody is asked to attend.
The race kicked off on Friday with a 30 mile stage taking the riders from Newry to Markethill via Poyntzpass and back on the main Armagh Road. The entire race was together at the end which resulted in a nail biting bunch finish. The stage was won by Leannie Kirk from the Ards Club with David Duffy crossing the line in 4th place. This is another great result for David and now means he has earned enough points to upgrade to 2nd Category.
Saturday morning was a 10km time trial on the Tandragee road. Many of the riders were embracing the latest technology with low profile bikes and disc wheels in abundance. On a windy course the eventual winner was Aaron Deanne from Belfast who set the pace with a time of 12min 46sec at an average speed of 27mph. This was enough to give him the yellow jersey by a margin of 7 seconds. The fastest Dundalk man was Karl Dolan 44 seconds behind, moving him to 27th place over-all.
The afternoon was undoubtedly the toughest of the race with riders travelling a total distance of 60 miles through the Mourne Mountains. It was an unlucky day for the local riders with punctures. The stage eventually ended with a bunch finish won by Brendan Kirk of the Ards Club with Aaron Deanne defending his yellow jersey.
Sunday morning was the start of the fourth and final stage, another 60 mile route taking the cyclists from Warrepoint through Newry, Poyntzpass, Banbridge, Castlewellan and home across the mourne mountains. This stage had a sting in the tail with 2 climbs in the last 10 miles. The climb in Rathfriland was so severe that some riders were even forced to get off their bikes and run. Just as the bunch were re-grouping they had to face "Reed Hall" another tough 3 mile climb. The descent into Rostrevor was extremely fast with some riders recording speeds of 55mph. The climbs caused problems for a lot of competitors and cyclists were still streaming in 10 minutes after the first cyclists crossed the line. Aaron Deanne defended his yellow jersey to take the over-all title in a time of 5hours 52min and 12secs. Best placed local rider was Karl Dolan in 20th position 44 seconds behind the yellow jersey (third place in the 3rd Category competition), Johnny Mc Cabe finished in 78th place 2min 11sec behind the leader a fantastic result for his first stage race. The other local finishers were David and Paul Duffy and Dominic Walls.