NBCRI's Into the West cycle challenge is back
The popular Into the West Cycle Challenge is a unique event where participants cycle from Mullingar to Galway and back – a 300km round trip – over two days, and it’s back again in 2013.
This will be the 19th year of the event which raises much needed funds for the National Breast Cancer Research Institute (NBCRI). To date the event has raised almost €1 million for breast cancer research.
This year’s challenge is on Saturday and Sunday, September 7/8, and is kindly sponsored by O’Brien’s Renault in Mullingar and Bradley’s Renault, Galway.
The entry fee is €60, and each participant has to raise a minimum sponsorship of €200 for the National Breast Cancer Research Institute. Sponsorship cards and books of tickets for a draw for a holiday for two in Florida are available to help raise the sponsorship money.
Online entry is at https://eventmaster.ie/event.php?event_id=337, or you can contact joe@nbcri.ie for a manual entry form.
Over 200 people took up the challenge last year, and in 2013, riders from the four corners of Ireland and even from the UK and continental Europe will be involved.
The first 150 entrants receive an attractive cycling jersey so early entry is advised. Participants will be provided with hotel B&B plus evening dinner in the Connacht Hotel, Renmore Road, Galway.
The 350-bedroom hotel has a wonderful leisure centre which is a great way to relax following the long cycle. A celebration dinner is followed by music and craic in the hotel.
Five groups will be on the road with backup vehicles and motorbikes, in addition to Civil Defence and Garda support. The first group leaves the Mullingar Park Hotel at 9am on Saturday morning, September 7, while the last group leaves at 11am.
The first group away caters for less experienced riders who want a relaxed pace, while the pace in following groups gets progressively stronger. The last group on the road is for the strongest and most experienced riders.
All cyclists will regroup in Oranmore, Co. Galway, within a ten minute period before the Garda motorbikes lead the peleton of several hundred cyclists into Galway City’s Eyre Square.
On Sunday, the riders will follow a similar format and arrive back in Mullingar at approximately 4.30pm.