It rained a lot - a look back at 2008

Actually, the last time it rained as much as that, Noah built himself a boat. You can"t keep a good club down, though, and the Wheelers were never going to let a little precipitation put us off.Highlights of the year? No question about it. The two big charity cycles which neatly bookended the cycling season, namely the cycle to Sligo in April, and the 14th Into the West in September, were both huge successes.Between them they raised a staggering amount of money, a sum not far short of €200,000.I"d be very surprised and impressed if any other cycling club of comparable size in Ireland came anywhere close to matching that. Let"s give a mention once again to Paraic Devine and Joe Duffy and to all those who supported the two events.There were some great competitive performances from the Wheelers too, notably Cathy Flynn and Sarah Franzoni in the ladies section and the usual suspects were well to the fore in the men"s events, where Stuart Cox, in what is effectively his first full season, showed exceptional promise.There were club events aplenty too.There was a great day out go-karting in Edgeworthstown with Enda Munnelly excelling. Tom Shaw organised a trip to Kerry where about twenty Wheelers achieved the not inconsiderable feat of completing the Ring of Kerry, all 180 Km of it, in a single day. A return trip is in the pipeline for 2009.The club was well represented at the Wicklow 200, the Tour of the Glens in Antrim, the Pat Colgan Memorial cycle held by our friends and neighbours in the Tullamore club and at a few other events and meetings too. Roland and Siobhán Topp went all continental on us and attended a few stages of the Tour de France, sending back some great reports along the way.All in all, the club give the impression of an organisation that is in rude health and looking forward with optimism to the coming year (something of a rarity at the moment).For me, the most pleasing aspect of the club is to witness the growth in membership and the appearance of new cyclists who, tentatively at first, join us on our Sunday morning outings and then rapidly become regular participants as the cycling bug bites. In 2008 we were joined by newcomers Michael O"Donovan and Hugh Logan, both of whom were press ganged into joining by their work colleague (who just happens to be chairperson of the club, Katherine Kenny). Karl Pentony, Anthony Barrett, Brian Collentine, Maria Butterly, and several others whose names escape me at the moment, also took the plunge. I"m sure that in 2009 we can all look forward to welcoming more new cyclists on to the road. And who knows, if we"re still around in 2039, when the secret government papers for the year are released, we will learn a whole lot more about what really happened in the Wheelers in 2008.Now, I bumped into former club president Paddy Kelly in town the other day. I mentioned that I hadn"t seen him out on the road lately. 'I"ve been cycling with a couple of the club"s "senior citizens"', he said. He mentioned Arthur Dempsey, George Bell, James Marshall and a few others, and then he asked if I"d like to join them. Thanks Paddy. I don"t know whether to be flattered or insulted.It looks like the club notice board is proving to be a very useful resource for the Wheelers. Members have been organising cycles, postponing cycles, moaning, complaining, chatting and generally making use of the thing. Good stuff! I see that a member by the name of the Wheelsucker (we know who you are!) has asked for volunteers to tackle La Marmotte. Sit down, pour yourself a stiff drink and I"ll tell you what that entails. Day one is a 174 Km slog up some of the most feared climbs of the Tour de France, with a combined total of over 5,000 metres of climbing (to put that in context, it is roughly the equivalent of cycling seven times up Croagh Patrick). On the second day you get up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and do a time trial up the fearsome Alp d"Huez. Incredibly, there already seems to be a dozen or more Wheelers eager to put themselves through this. Sacre Bleu!Another entry on the notice board was from Wheeler Mick Rooney who organised a day"s go-karting outing. Mick rang me on Friday to report that they"d had a fantastic day out, but I have to say that the results looked a bit suspicious. Mick won the first race and his brother won the second. I"m not suggesting for one millisecond that there was anything going on, but……….Steve Franzoni sent me a couple of texts saying that wife Sarah had been invited to participate in some very high level races at the Manchester Velodrome last weekend. A few of the British Olympic cycling team are scheduled to race. I want to get more details and then I can report fully on what looks like a great day"s racing for Sarah.Robbie Kenny"s report on the kids" day out on New Year"s Day finally arrived. Thanks Robbie! Here it is in full.'Our New Year"s Day Junior Cycle for the next generation of Wheelers went ahead as hoped on, of course, New Year"s Day. The fact that there wasn"t a sniff of frost sealed the deal and a large crew of young future stars and some old fading flickering stars gathered at the Railway Station and headed for Ballinea Bridge along the canal and back. Now to say it was cold on the way home would be an understatement, it was bloody arctic! It proved difficult to keep the whole 15 starlets together particularly when there are Reynolds, Gorrys, Fagans and Horohoes (special mention for travelling up from Roscommon) in the mix and being coached by McQueen. There was a right scramble for first one back, something that"s great to see: the auld competitive spirit.Thanks to Patsy and Geraldine Horohoe for bringing the mahogany table and putting order on the scramble for the hot chocolate and biscuits. (Mark assured them there would be no one from the C group attending therefore no dancing on it). Appreciation to all who made the effort to venture out on the day and make it a success and to stay tuned for further events in the near future.'Finally, I got a text from Arthur Dempsey telling me that he was in hospital for a few days. Get well soon, Arthur. Let"s see you back out on the road before too long.Care to join us?Would you like to join us for a cycle? Cyclists of all standards are welcome to come along. We usually meet at the Mullingar Dog Track at 9.00 on Sunday mornings. Up to four groups now leave from the dog track, including one especially for beginners, or those who may have some cycling experience and would like to see if cycling with a group is for them. Just turn up on any given Sunday, call me on 087 1216 345 or visit our website at lakesidewheelers.ie for information and advice on how to get going.Please remember to check the club message board at http://lakesidewheelers.proboards51.com/index.cgi for details of any last minute changes before setting off.