Lakeside Wheelers

Last night I went up to Dublin to see the mega talented rockabilly singer Imelda May at Vicar Street. If you haven"t already heard of her don"t worry, you will - talent of the magnitude possessed by Ms. May won"t stay hidden for too long.I don"t know what IT is, but she has IT by the ton. Now, why I am telling you this in what is supposed to be the club cycling notes? Well because it cheered me up no end and helped lift me out of a bout of mild depression brought on by the events in Wicklow last weekend. So I"m in a happy frame of mind for once on a Monday morning as I regale you with tales from the world of cycling.And I needed a boost after failing spectacularly to conquer the Wicklow Mountains. Did I say conquer? Actually, I barely made it out of the car park - the type of effort that gives failure a bad name! My freewheel packed it in less than 100 metres from where I"d parked the car, leaving me with little option but to abandon the Wicklow 100 and head for home. It seems that a few little bits and pieces within the said freewheel had sheared off and jammed the inner workings. Craig down at Outdoor Escape, once he"d repaired the offending mechanism, explained all this to me in great technical detail, even going so far as to show me the bits of broken metal that he"d removed, but my eyes glazed over as he explained how it works. I have almost no capacity to understand how anything mechanical is supposed to work - the workings of a salt cellar are more than enough to confuse me.National Cycling Week is already upon us. The first event - a fun cycle along the canal - was run on Sunday night and the word reaching my ears is that a great evening was had by all. Monday witnessed the junior cycling event at Tudenham where younger cyclists (up to age 16) enjoyed some fun under the expert guidance of youth development officer Robbie Kenny.But Wednesday will be the big one, the day when the club stages the Criterium Race round the Town Centre. Town Centre racing is not particularly common in Ireland (I can"t recall coming across one in recent years) but the format is designed to ensure an exciting spectacle with lots of thrills and spills in store. There will be two races and the basic idea is that the riders go hell for leather for a set period of time over a very short lap distance (2 km in this case) and once the set period of time elapses, the bell goes for the last lap. Any rider being lapped is automatically disqualified, so there is plenty of incentive to keep the hammer down and avoid the humiliation of being ordered to dismount. It makes for flat out racing with little room for tactics and lots of room for excitement. The streets will be closed off for the racing, so come along, bring the kids, and witness a great local event. Who knows, the sight of lots of local riders going toe to toe with riders from neighbouring clubs, and competitions" officer Mark Horohoe tells me that interest from other clubs has been phenomenal, might just make you decide to give cycling (the healthiest pastime on the planet) a try.A couple of weeks back Shay O"Toole send me an email with a report on how their training for La Marmotte is going. I fear for them - La Marmotte is a monster. Here"s Shay"s report on their day out;Sunday 24th May saw nine Marmotte bound Wheelers accompanied by a Shannonside Cycling club man also bound for France in June, leave Mullingar at 7am for an arranged rendezvous with an exiled Wheeler (Peter Woods)in Blessington for some mountain training and a recce of the Wicklow 200 course. With some early morning sun on our backs we rolled gently out of Blessington for roughly half an hour before turning into a sharp climb up to Hollywood and then into the long drag that is the Wicklow Gap. After a nice descent into Laragh the gourmet deli was too hard to pass so it was cappucinos all round while we sat out in the glorious sunshine. The sustenance was badly needed as from here we headed straight up the Sally Gap and over Lugala mountain to avail of some serious views over the Guinness family estate on the shores of a picturesque Lough Tay. After a steep descent we turned left over the shoulder of Djouce Mountain where the road revealed more fabulous views, this time over the Wicklow coastline. This led us up a long tough drag into a headwind to a welcome lunch stop in the Glencree 'Peace and Reconciliation Centre'. 'Peace' for our legs and butts, 'Reconciliation' however, was scarce!!! Our post-lunch reward was a stiff climb up the Sally Gap this time from a different side before a fast descent into Kilbride and a good fast spin back to Blessington. Total spin time was 4hrs and 20mins with almost 7000 feet of climbing and, best of all, we had sun on our legs all day. Special thanks to Peter Woods for a great trip with some interesting info thrown in along the way. The travelling Wheelers included, Shay O"Toole, Noel Kennedy, John Nugent, Paraic Devine, Kevin Marshall, Peter Coroon, Brian Collentine, Michelle Culligan, Robbie Kenny and Billy Walshe (Shannonside). Roll on the Alps!!Thanks Shay. Now Tom Shaw, a glutton for punishment if ever there was one, has been going really well of late and when you consider the amount of hard training days he"s been putting in of late, it"s not altogether too surprising. I got another of his infamous texts on Saturday suggesting an early morning 145Km trip towards the Slieve Blooms and back. I declined with as much politeness as I could muster in the light of my recent experiences in the land of the Biffos. Tom and a few Wheelers made the trip and he duly filed some notes on the outing.'Ahh ya shuda come.....the Blooms looked magnificent today!! Anyway, arose at 4.45am, on with the grill, rashers, sausages, etc.....the full Monty!! I wouldn"t like to be hungry going over those hills!! Met up with Dorothy Duffy, Seamus Bracken, Dave Byrne & Frank Morgan. Headed towards Tullamore...Frank joined us as far as Tullamore but had to be back early. On to Clonaslee and a tea break before heading up the Cut. The sun was beaming down. I never felt as good climbing as I did today, I reached the summit ahead of everyone, but knowing I"d be caught on the downhill, I kept going and sure enough Seamus shot past me on the descent!!  Same happened on the Wolf Trap, up first by my nerves slow me down descending so I was again passed. After a short break at Kinnity crossroads, it was a 16 mile spin to Tullamore where we took our final filling station tea stop, before completing the 22 miles back to Mullingar. 90 miles in just under 6 hours cycling time, we were very happy with, no delays, no punctures & no PAIN. That"s was our day, quite enjoyable despite feeling a bit tender after 6 hours in the saddle!!' Well done, one and all. I did notice that, like me, Tom is a fairly cautious descender of mountains. Some Wheelers come down a mountainside in flat out kamikaze mode, but I just don"t have the nerve for it. I suppose the fact that I once hit an obstruction on a descent, parted company with my bike and flew in a graceful arc over the handlebars, ending up in hospital, has something to do with it.This weekend there was a ladies race in Navan and Sarah Franzoni flew the Wheelers" flag, but unfortunately she took a tumble and suffered minor injuries. Her bike suffered terminal damage though and is now gone off to that bike shop in the sky. The A group (with Stuart Cox back on his bike only a fortnight after dislocating his shoulder) put in a training spin in the direction of Tullamore. B and C riders also headed towards Moate / Tullamore putting in a useful 80km or so.The team time trial was held on Wednesday last and the record from last year was trashed by a quartet comprising Craig Sterret, Peter Rimmer, Paul Crowley and Dave Fagan. The winning team, under Mark Horohoe"s fiendishly complicated handicapping system, was made up of Sarah Franzoni, Brian Collentine, Mick Reynolds and Georgie Bell. I"m not sure how the handicap works - maybe cash changes hands - I"ve no idea.I see that Wheeler Karl Pentony has set up a new car valeting service on the Dublin Road where Atlas Motors used to be. It is called Norma Jean"s and is apparently doing well. Good luck with the new venture, Karl.One last thing, I got an email from a chap called Ronan Ganter who is setting up what might be a very handy service for cyclists / hikers in the Mayo and Galway areas. It is called Bagcab and it offers to transport your luggage daily on to your next accommodation. So if you are on a cycle tour in say, Galway, you can have your luggage taken ahead to your lodgings in Clifden for as little as €5 an item. Sounds like a useful service. Check them out at www.bagcab.comCare 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 car park at 09.00 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. The beginners" group covers about 30 - 50 Km at a fairly leisurely pace, but even to complete that sort of distance would require a basic level of cycling fitness and a suitable bike. 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. For the summer months a group leaves the dog track car park at 18.30 on Wednesdays. Please wear a helmet and remember to check the club message board at http://lakesidewheelers.proboards51.com/index.cgi for details of any last minute changes before setting off.