2008
Index
First
Tour of the Season by
John Ward January 2008
IVCA
Tour of North Co Dublin by
John Ward February
2008
Intervarsity
Cycle C/ships by
Hugh Byrne March 2008
50 in
4 -IVCA Tour by
John Ward March 2008
Tour
of Flanders by
Hugh Byrne April 2008
The
Sliabh Bloom Challenge by John
Ward April 2008
Tour
of the Heartlands by John
Ward May 2008
National
Youth Track C/ship by
Hugh Byrne June 2008
Le
Etape Du Tour by Mike
Brookefield July 2008
National
Vets Track Omnium by Hugh
Byrne August 2008
Conor
Christle Memorial by Hugh
Byrne August 2008
Ras
na mBan by Swords
CC Ladies. September
2008
Swords
CC CycloX by Conor
McGrane December 2008
Swords
CC CycloX Race 20th
December 2008
Report by Conor McGrane
Race
Distance: 21.7km (8 laps each 2.7km)
<Report &
Photos on IrishCycling.com>
Robin
Seymour triumphed again today at the Christmas Cross 2008
race, the first ever cyclo cross event staged by Swords
CC. This race was staged over 8
laps on lands owned by Fingal county council at
Rogerstown Estuary, Turvey, Donabate. It was run in muddy,
wet but relatively mild conditions.
The course was a mix of gavel,
fireroad, single track and grass. The start was fast and
furious with the field lined out almost immediately. At
the end of the first lap Robin Seymour (WORC), Conor
Campbell(Newry Wheelers) and David Gill(WORC) had pulled
away from the rest of the field. On lap 2 Conor Campbell
managed to carve out a small gap and was in the lead.
Lap 4 was where the decisive move was made. With powerful
riding and an impressive display of bike handing The
multiple Irish champion and Olympian pulled away to lead
by a full minute. Behind Conor Campbell and David Gill
were fighting out a close and hard fought battle. Drew
McGinley was riding a lone but strong race pulling away
from the rest of the field.
It finished in this order
with “Mr MTB” finished 3 minutes ahead of Conor
Campbell who ran to the finish from the final obstacle to
finish 10 seconds ahead of David Gill. Drew McGinley
finished clear on his own to finish a strong 4th.
Roadie Colm Aherne (Orwell) was a surprise but impressive
5th. 6th was Noel Carr who
put in a solid performance to narrowly beat Luke Manning.
The first rider from Swords
to finish was Barry Byrne who was riding cyclo cross for
the first time since the late ‘80’s. Sean
Halpin was unfortunate to suffer a mechanical on lap1.
The underage race was
convincingly won by Graham Fallon (Sundrive Track Club)
from another Crumlin rider, Justin Kennedy with
Barry’s son Liam finishing a strong but exhausted 3rd.
Overall the event went of
well. The land (ex land fill) got very muddy but held up
well as the race went on. Swords would like to thank
Event organiser David O Neill for his Trojan efforts in
getting the venues and race organised. Paul Deans (and
his Lion of Flanders flags), Sam McArdle, Bernie McNally,
Andrew Maudsley, Hugh Byrne and other Swords volunteers (I
forgot the name of the new member who marshalled the last
corner and cleared ½ a kilometre of building tape)
helped the event rub smoothly. We would also like to
thank Fingal County council for their help and support.
We would also like to thank Ritchies Bike shop for
providing the high quality spot prizes and to long
standing Swords CC sponsor McNally Joinery.
<Link to Photos by
Conor McGrane>
<More Photos by Bernie
McNally>
Overall results
1 Robin Seymour 00:58:33
2 Conor Campbell 01:01:49
3 David Gill 01:01:59
4 Drew McKinley 01:04:19
5 Colm Aherne 01:06:05
6 Noel Carr 01:06:23
7 Luke Manning
8 Scott Hannon
9 Robin Mooney
10 Fred McSorley
11 Peter Bissett
12 Barry Byrne (1st Swords)
13 Tony Solan
14 Mark Solan
15 David Askin
16 Paddy Daly
17 Aiden Mc Donald
18 Sean Halpin
Ras naMban 12-14th
September 2008
Reports
by Louise Fullerton, Louise Harlwich & Elle
Forrest
Ireland’s premier international ladies road race!
This year the Ras was held in the Ring of Kerry on Friday
12th, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September 2008. There
was a strong entry including teams from Germany, Holland,
the UK and a number of strong Irish Teams. For the 2008
Ras, the Swords team featured 4 Swords riders plus 2
guest riders from Ballymena Road Club. The Team ranged
from new riders with little race experience to team
riders with a number of Ras's and International
experience under their belt.
The Stages:
Friday, 12 September: Stage 1, Road Race, 60km
Saturday, 13 September: Stage 2, Road Race, 80km
Saturday, 13 September: Stage 3 – 5km TT
Sunday, 14 September: Stage 4, Road Race, 90km
The Team:Louise Harliwich, Coleen Foley, Norah Daly (Swords)
Louise Fullerton, Elle Forrest (guests)
Bernie along with Grace, Tony and Alistair provided
fantastic support and encouragement to the team.
3 of the team riders have written reports on how the Ras
went for them. I hope it inspires you to give it a go
next year, or maybe it will have the opposite effect !
Read on and decide for yourself:
Louise Fullerton (1st Ras, 3rd year racing)
(FRIDAY) It was my first Ras and I was apprehensive as
what to expect, I was glad to have my fellow club mate
Elle Forrest joining me in her first ras. When we were
asked to guest for Swords I was elated, to have that
support network with a group of experienced cyclists and
the supporters that came with them.
Before the first stage I was really stomach churningly
nervous but when the race started, after a few miles I
felt calmer.
My first stage in hindsight wasn't my best. I was slow to
anticipate a surge that meant i was chasing with 2 or 3
others to get back onto the bunch. We eventually caught
them at the bottom of Molls gap, having used up a fair
bit of energy chasing I struggled on the climb. Although
i wasn't alone and a bunch formed at the top and along
the way we picked up some. I was happy with how I worked
within that bunch into the finish.
LESSON LEARNT:- PAY ATTENTION, POSITION IS KEY IN THE
BUNCH AND CLIMBING ISN'T ONE OF MY STRONG POINTS.
(SATURDAY) The 2nd stage for me was a better race and
after taking on good advise on recovery between stages I
felt stronger today than the previous and climbed well on
that nightmare of a draggy mucky country road feeling
more confident in myself with each lap. It was a good
bunch who worked well together and despite the downpour
it was an enjoyable race.
I suppose I personally was pleased to come in with that
bunch which included Valerie Considine, Norah daly,
Colleen Foley (my Swords team mates) as they are some of
the scratch cyclist from the boot inn league and I was
semi-scratch, so to be on a par with them was a
confidence booster.
The 3rd stage, the TT, I wasn't planning to go all out on
this. I figured this was probably more crucial for the
front runners. It was thankfully short but the roads were
hard, rough, full of pot holes and of course again it was
very wet. I was happy enough with my time considering my
effort.
LESSON LEARNT:- ''what you do to recover from the moment
you get off the bike to the next time you get on it is
key in stage racing'' - Paul Vaughan. WET CLOTHES OFF,
SHOWER AND GET WARM, RECOVERY DRINK, SPORTS MASSAGE, REST,
EAT AND SLEEP.
(SUNDAY) 4th stage - This was my best stage and i was
surprised by this as it was the longest and toughest race.
I felt fairly comfortable until we reached the mountain
climb, I hung in as long as i could, I concentrated on
keeping a steady pace and could only take my turn once up
this climb. Once reaching the summit, I was never so
relieved to still be with the second bunch and on the
decent I was cautious and stayed a good bike length
behind the group. The loop round Waterville was tough as
we were chasing the front bunch and the pace was on. I
took my turn when I could but knew I was starting to tire
so sat in and hung on. When we caught the main bunch the
pace was more comfortable.I guess everyone knew the
mountain was coming again. My legs were feeling it when
we hit it and it wasn't long before I was out the back,
but trying to listen to advise I'd been given, tried not
to panic.
I found myself and team mate Norah Daly together. Norah
and I worked steady up the climb with great encouragement
from the team car and Geoff Liffey who stayed with us the
whole way onto the back of the bunch again. I have to say
we were determined and worked very hard down the decent
and through all the support cars until we got onto the
back of the second bunch, It was exhilarating. The drag
before the end of the race was torture but we manage a
sprint for the line anyway. When I saw I was only 7 mins
in behind Louise Moriarty and it was my best race I was
pleased with myself having never done this before.
LESSON LEARNT:- YOU'VE SOME TRAINING TO GET IN FOR NEXT
YEAR GIRL!!
It was a great experience and I plan to be back!
(Ed. Louise Fullerton finished beside Coleen and Norah on
Final GC in this, her first stage race - an excellent
result)
Louise Harliwich (3rd Ras, x years racing!)
It was a great weekend with lots of laughs! the stages
were harder this year with day 2 being really challenging.
Great having a full team and getting to know team mates.
A really great opportunity for us and really awesome that
Swords club gave us the opportunity! A big thank you to
the club for funding the team and making it possible for
us all! A big thank you to Tony, Bernie, Alistair and
Grace for their time and hard work! Can't wait for next
year!!
(ED. Louise is being very modest - she finished well up
the field on each of the 4 stages and was the highest
Swords rider on Final GC)
Elle Forrest (1st Ras, 1st year as a cyclist - 2nd ever
Open race !)
Thanks to Swords for inviting Louise and I to join them.
The guys and
girls were all great, and it was lovely to be part of a
team. Many of the other riders commented on the big
Swords presence and said that it must be great to have a
good strong team around you. Which it was!
My sport for the last 7 years has been motorcycle road
racing and I started cycling just under a year ago to
help me train for that. One thing led to another and my
first cycle race was Ashford GP in June 2008. As I had
never in my wildest dreams imagined that I'd be doing a
stage race (or any cycle race!) this year, I found I just
didn't have enough miles of training in the bank. It
seems that there are no short cuts to stage racing !
I found the 1st stage quite enjoyable and although it was
tough at times, I found the pace and climbing pace
totally do-able. I was happy to finish with Louise
Harliwich and a bunch of 8 strong girls only 5 mins down
from the stage winner. I enjoy climbing, especially long
climbs, so the first stage suited me well. I felt I'd
left a little in reserve for the next day too.
Unfortunately I found the 2nd stage race very tough!
After some spectacular bad positioning (and a predictable
crash, not mine!) I ended up at the back of the bunch at
the start of the climb - even i know that is the last
place you want to be ! I ended up in group including
Coleen. It was so frustrating as my heart rate showed I
wasn't being pushed but I still couldn't get my legs to
do anything. As a new cyclist I wasn't sure what was
wrong and tried eating, drinking, in the seat, out of the
seat, spinning, big gears, holding my breath (joking) but
nothing helped. I was glad when it was all over ! I lost
time, but with a good stage 1 I was still about the same
on Overall GC as the rest of the team. I really didn't
want to let the Team (or myself) down.
I decided to ride the TT at a moderate pace in the hope
my legs would recover for the final stage. It was
tempting to go all out because I enjoy TT's and it was
the best my legs had felt all day, but I kept it steady.
Final stage! There was no fairytale ending unfortunately.
I was really really disappointed to get dropped as I had
looked forward to climbing the mountain in the bunch, but
my legs said otherwise. Like Saturday, my heart rate said
'everything is ok, loads left in the tank', and my legs
said 'on empty, please leave me alone'. I have no idea
what causes this, but what it meant was that I couldn't
hang in any longer despite not really being on my limit.
I had a pretty cool ride over the mountain in the mist
and I just rode to Waterville like a TT - as a lone rider
it was unlikely I'd catch up but I didn't give up. I had
a really nice fast ride from Waterville to Sneem with
another 2 girls so all was not lost and I ended the Ras
on a positive note !
I enjoyed the experience and was happy with my 1st stage
ride, but was so disappointed that I couldn't ride like
that 3 days in a row. The rest of the Swords team seemed
to cope with having to do back to back stages better as
they all have a number of seasons of open racing (and
years of training) in their legs. I'll never know if it
gets easier to recover unless I try it again with another
year's training !!
Thanks again, Elle
Conor Christle Memorial 31st
August 2008
Report by Hugh Byrne
Last
weekend Stephen Halpin (Swords CC) took a win in the
Category Collins Christle Memorial in Kilmessan. A most
welcome result as it was our clubs first win at this
level for quite some time. Stephen got into the decisive
break of 15 riders which got clear on the 2nd of 6 laps.
The break worked well but no one else got across
despite the efforts of the teams who had missed it, which
on this occasion unfortunately included our good
neighbours, Stamullen. Local club, Kilcullen were well
represented in the break with three riders and they went
into the laps lap 1 minute clear of the remainder of the
100 or so riders who signed on. On the final lap Greg
Swinard (Usher) got away from the break but was pegged
back only for a counter attack from Mick Steed
(Kilcullen) and Stephen to then get away. These two
worked well together as the break break behind
disintegrated and was left with three riders chasing the
two escapees. Stephen got the jump on Kiaran in the
finishing straight and finished a few bike lengths clear.
Nice one Stephen!
National
Vets Track Omnium C/ship August 30th 2008
Report
by Hugh Byrne
This
was our most successful Vets event to date with 21
entrants taking part in the 4 event omnium, including all
three medalists from last year and entrants from as far
afield as North Down and Limerick. All events are ranked
all they way down with the winner needing to be
proficient in all 4 events to see who is the best
veteran track rider on the island. The day started with
the 'flying 200' TT to seed the riders for the sprint
rounds and was followed by the Pursuit. The shorter the
time trial - the greater the pain! Alan Neenan set
the early pace winning the pursuit, an event he had been
working on all season, with defending champion Aidan Ryan
in second spot. Liam Collins, a specialist sprinter ,
knew he would have to dig deep in the pursuit also to
give himself a tilt at the title, and he duly did posting
the 3rd fastest time. Next it was the rounds of the
sprints, with all riders getting at least 2 sprints and
we were treated to both tactical and eyeballs
out matches. Most entertaining though was the match
between Brain Hammond (Usher) and Paul Swenarton (North
Down) . Brian stuck him to the fence three times but each
time Paul extracted himself and twice launched
jumps only to be countered by Brian - the third
jump was successful though! Liam Collins (Cycling
Pursuits) took the sprint event from Ger Ivory (Bray)
while defending champ Aidan made do with the 3rd place
run off as Terry Cromer tried his favoured tactic of
controlling it slowly from the front all the way around,
but Aidan was to experienced ...........and too fast! Next
was the scratch race with all 21 riders on the track.
Largest bunch of vets I have ever seen on the track and
you had to remind yourself the this wasn't a road race
and that we were all on fixed! The omnium couldn't
be won here, but it certainly it certainly could be
lost especially as 15 riders were still in the pack with
one lap to go. Terry Ferris put in some track time over
the past few weeks and it paid off when he took the
group sprint with all major contenders well placed. The
standing going into the final event, the 500m TT was
Aidan Ryan leading on 7points from Liam Collins on 8.
Liam knew he had to win this one and all the training
done on that quiet road in Limerick where his track squad
train would see hm do as required. However Aidan took 2nd
spot and both riders ended up on equal points for the
championship. As is the rule for an omnium, the
result would go to the combined times for the 500m and
Pursuit, giving the title to defending champion Aidan
Ryan with Liam having be contend with silver despite
winning two of the 4 events.
A most enjoyable
days racing had by all and we expect all these riders to
come back for the inaugural IVCA Track C/ships on the 20th
September when we expect an even bigger field as all
event on that date all events are run separately and will
be further split by age. We would hope that more vet
riders would come to us at Sundrive on either on the next
two Saturdays in order to gain accreditation to ensure
participation in the IVCA C/ships as did Paddy
Fitzsimmons, Susan O'Mara and Lloyd Berry last week. All
three riders participated in all events today and
equipped themselves well.
Event 1 :
Pursuit (5 Laps)
1. Alan Neenan (Usher) 3.08.79
2. Aidan Ryan (Sorrento)
3.11.54 3. Liam Collins (Cycling Pursuits) 3.13.34 4. Ger
Ivory (Bray Wh) 3.14.19 5. Paul Swenarton (North Down)
3.14.88 6. Hugh Davis (Usher) 3.19.30 Event 2
: Scratch Race (20 Laps)
1. Terry Ferris (Murphy Gunn) 2. Aidan Ryan (Sorrento) 3.
Alan Neenan (Usher) 4. Liam Collins (Cycling
Pursuits) 5. Ger Ivory (Bray Wh) 6.
Hugh Davis (Usher) Event 3 : Sprint
1. Liam Collins (Cycling Pursuits) 2. Ger
Ivory (Bray Wh) 3. Aidan Ryan (Sorrento) 4.
Terry Cromer (IVCA) 5. Alan Neenan (Usher)
6. Terry Ferris
(Murphy Gunn) Event 4 : 500m TT
1. Liam Collins (Cycling Pursuits) 38.65 2.
Aidan Ryan (Sorrento) 39.53 3. Terry Cromer (IVCA)
39.79 4. Alan Neenan (Usher) 40.56 5.
Paul Swenarton (North Down) 40.80 6.
Hugh Templeman (Orwell) 41.39
Overall
after 4 events
1. Aidan Ryan (Sorrento) 7pts 2. Liam Collins (Cycling
Pursuits) 7pts 3. Alan Neenan (Usher) 13pts 4. Ger
Ivory (Bray Wh) 20 pts 5. Terry Ferris (Murphy Gunn)
23pts 6. Terry Cromer (IVCA) 27pts
LE ETAPE DU TOUR July
6th 2008
Report by Mike Brookfield
After
breaking the collar bone and hand in March I decided
racing was out and I would focus on doing a big event.
The L’Etape du Tour seemed like the obvious choice
for someone who really wanted to punish themselves so I
signed up with Sports Tours International for the event.
Preparation
It’s worth noting that it’s
not cheap doing the etape and this adds added pressure to
be prepared, do well and have fun! Aidan Hammond
gave me a plan and I stuck to it religiously as well as
picking the brains of Sean Lally, Paddy, Liam, John and
the rest of the Thursday group/Swords riders on how to
get through this kind of event unscathed. Events I took
part in leading up to etape included local tours, the
Skipton training weekend in Yorkshire (highly recommended
but tough going), Mizen to Malin and the Wicklow 200.
Aidan’s program required some serious stamina in
itself with 5 days riding per week and 2 days on core.
I really enjoyed training for the event and highly
recommend Aidan as a coach if your taking your training
seriously.
The Trip
We flew over on the Friday and stayed
in Lourdes. Registration was on the Saturday with a
2 hour ride from Lourdes to Pau - it was raining but
nothing like what was to come! Went to bed early the
night before but did not sleep well due the the heavy
rain and thunder roaring away outside - this for me felt
like a disaster and filled me with fear as
descending is not one of my strong points having just
recovered from the broken bones (also being a
professional musician requires fully working limbs!!).
Got up at 4.15am and dressed for a cold ride with
overshoes & winter gloves - the full shabang!
Stuffed my pockets to the max with food. The bikes
were in storage in Pau and the bus ride there was dark
apart from the odd strike of lightning & silent with
a soundtrack of rain, thunder and windscreen wipers!
It was like the opening scene of a horror movie! We
had to ride 7-8k to start but 100m down the road a rider
came off his bike on the slippy road markings, this was
the first of many accidents I saw due to this and avoided
them as much as possible.
The Etape
We were divided in to
“chicken pens” and the first riders set off at
7am. I got over the start line at 7.11am which was
quite good as my main mission was not to get swept up by
the broom wagon. I started off quite gently but
then realised this was not a training ride - this was
“it”, the real deal so I upped the gears and
let rip. Visibility was bad and my sunglasses
didn’t get used all day! The pace was now fast
with 2 climbs before reaching Lourdes.
I jumped from group to group with survival being the main
objective as there was the added obstacle of bottles and
riders coming off bikes in front of me. The climbs
were good for me as it slowed the pace down but the
descents were nasty with lots of accidents to avoid and
slippy surfaces. I had to resist using the brakes
as my back wheel was sliding all over the place and was
relieved to make it to Lourdes in good shape, if just a
little mentally head wrecked?! I saw Grainne and
apparently roared “it’s horrific - absolute
carnage!”. I took a couple of bites of a
sandwich and set off again. I also stopped at the
food stop in Lourdes which was mental because of the
volume of bikes and riders clambering for refreshments.
It was 9.40am and I was behind schedule, the broom wagon
was due at 10am so there was no hangin’ about. After
10 minutes or so I found myself on a long windy rolling
section with no one to draft. A motorcycle went by
and I think he could see me trying to work up to a group
up ahead. He briefly made eye contact with me and
then pulled ahead of me riding at about 5kph faster than
me, just to my left. I seized the opportunity,
jumping on his wheel and flew up to the group ahead.
This made me feel great as nothing was said or
instructions given. I saw the motorcycle guy
further down the road and gave him a thumbs up! Got
over the next climb, the Loucrup with no probs and I was
feeling the benefits of drafting. I was behind a guy in a
Specialized top for about 10k, he was setting a great
pace and I wasn’t working too hard. As we
approached a town a rider came in close to his left side
and he shouted at him in French to be careful, the road
narrowed and the rider did the same again except this
time, wham! he sent my man down over a bollard. I
felt bad for him as he was a strong rider and it was
unavoidable for him, the offending rider never even
looked behind.
The rain had eased off but now it was time for the big
one, the Tourmalet! I saw a guy I had met in
Skipton and it was good to chat and share our experience
so far as we headed up into the clouds. I kept it
steady and this is were the training started paying off
as I rode very strong to the ski resort Le Mongie which
is 4k from the summit. Stopped here to eat, then got a
push off some spectators to get going up the hill again
and grinded out the last 4k which was steep! There
was very little talk as we climbed and it reminded me of
a zombie movie on bikes - slow motion in the fog with
deafening silence except for the sound of the
rider’s heavy breathing. At the summit I ate again
& tried to take a picture with my phone of the famous
stone statue of a cyclist but it had been banjaxed by the
weather & altitude. I shoved newspaper down my
top, clenched my buttocks and started the descent, it was
very cold, wet and fast. I’m sure health and
safety in the UK or Ireland would have shut this event
down but we were in France and they like to go fast!
My hands were frozen onto the brakes (which were on fully
almost all the way down) and it was hard to keep the
speed down. When we finally came through the clouds,
I started turning the legs again and we descended in to a
valley which was lovely and warm for the first time in
the ride - about 6 hours in! I knew Grainne would
be at the foot of the Hautacam so that was good for me
mentally, I stopped when I saw her with food and enjoyed
a little break. I was well ahead of the broom at
this stage. I felt strong still & it was great
to know I only had the final climb to tackle. I headed up
the Hautacam and started counting down the kilometers. This
was a different climb to the Tourmalet as the gradient
varied more. I was climbing pretty fast and had to
constantly weave around riders as the road was divided
with cones down the middle for the finishers who had to
descend on the other side of the cones on the same road.
At one point I heard “Hey Mike, Whoa, whoa, whoaaa!”
- this was Chris, a Swedish rider I had met who spoke
with a strong Scottish accent, he had problems with his
pedals but thankfully did not go over the edge. I
also got a “come on Swords!” off a rider
descending which gave me an extra boost, small things
like that make a big difference at this stage. It no
longer felt like a physical test but a mental one as I
knew I had the strength but my head was exhausted.
3k to go.... 2.9 to go.... 2.8 to go, etc the last few k
were tough because I knew I was so close. I heard
somewhere that it leveled off toward the top, this turned
out to be wrong as it zig zagged at a nasty gradient all
the way. Finally finished! Got the medal,
handed in transponder, phew! Hang on... still have
to descend for 40 minutes in freezing cold and avoid
climbers! When I finally got to the festival
village my brakes, which were less than a week old, had
almost worn out!
My time including stops was 8 hours 05 minutes - I’m
happy with this as I hadn’t pushed myself to
exhaustion but had completed it at a good pace that
reflected my level of ability. Back at the hotel we all
swapped stories and I was surprised and saddened for the
large amount of riders that were swept up by the broom
wagon. We spent the next few days relaxing around
Carcassonne - the weather had changed and we enjoyed
several sunny days up in the 30’s. I got to do
some riding in the Black Mountains too, which was lovely
with the sun on my back and I got to wear my sunglasses
after all!
Anyone fancy the Marmotte next year? :-)
Mike
NATIONAL YOUTH TRACK
C/SHIP June
14th 2008
Report by Hugh Byrne
Last w/end we saw track newbie Adam
Lawler represnt our Club at U16 in the National Youth
Track C/ships at the Orangefield Track in Belfast. Adam's
father John, was a cyclist in his younger days and
instilled his love of the sport into Adam. Last Christmas
took a trip to Jimmy Humphrie's and bought hin his first
racing bike, and as he sits accross from in work, the
next obvious thing to do was to join Swords. He has
been on a sharp learning curve in our League and more
recently he has been coming to the track at the w/ends
and developing his skill there also. He seemed quite
quick and made some sweet moves when working on Sprint
tactics so I encouraged him to come to Belfast for the
experience. He was last to go in the 500m Standing Start
and he got the bike moving quickly and kept a
good pace posting the 3rd fastest time. A 500m TT sounds
easy, but it is quite technical and the start is akin to
weightlifting followed by a sprint longer that you
would wish. His next event was the 'Flying 200' which saw
him qualify for tightest of the semis in the Sprint. All
his opponents had psted similar times, although
the other three were huge on experience. He rode
intelligently keeping a watchful eye on his opponents as
they were more intent on watching each other. He launched
the move down the back straight, getting the jump and he
got a defendable gap which put him into the final and
another medal. He was really up against it in the final
and when the attack came, his response was hampered by
pulling his foot out. Realistically though his final was
getting into it! His last event was the scratch race
where once again he rode well. This race was pretty much
neutralised as the favourite David Neill (Team Madigan)
was a class act and everyone was afraid to attack, thus allowing
him to control the race. When the attack did come Neill
countered with some class and and it was race for silver
& bronze. Adam wasn't far off the mark finishing just
outside the medals and once again leaving more
experienced opponents in his wake. All in all a
good day out and exceeding all our expectations.
TOUR
OF THE HEARTLANDS May
11th 2008
Report by John Ward
Hi
Everybody,
Sundays tour was 165kms long on what could be described
as an undulating route, with no major climbs. Five
Swords riders made the trip down, with more than 70
riders participating overall. The first 60kms of the tour
was controlled at a speed of 28kph. A special mention
here for new Swords member Maggs Ward, who cycled very
well, for her first serious tour. On the second section
the pace increased considerably. As we flew through the
Westmeath countryside there was a great welcoming
atmosphere as local people stood to watch the bunch pass
through.
We
had a very enjoyable tour made even more memorable when
we looked at our computers and saw we had an average
speed of 31.3kph for the 165 kms. (That’s 19.5 mph
for 103 miles in old money). Special thanks to
Shannonside cycle club, for a well organised and safe
tour.
Safe
cycling. Regards John
THE SLIABH BLOOM CHALLENGE April
27th 2008
Report
by John Ward
Hi
Everybody
Today’s tour was a first for the Swords touring
section in that we had the use of the official club car.
Five Swords riders made the trip down to Carlow. The
number of riders taking part was up on last year with 120
riders signing on. The weather was poor at the start,
however after half an hour things started to improve.
This was a relief because the course was an undulating
one, with two significant climbs, challenging in good
weather, but unpleasant and dangerous in bad weather. The
pace was well controlled for the first part of the tour
up to the tea stop.
The second part saw many groups forming with riders
naturally finding a group of their own ability. All
Swords riders rode well today, in particular Derek
Brangan one of our new members. I would like to take this
opportunity to congragulate Carlow Road Club on a very
well organised event, we also had the use of a swimming
pool after the spin which left everybody refreshed and
able to enjoy the great spread that was waiting for us
afterwards. The next tour is in Athlone next week.
Hope to see as many of you there as possible.
Safe cycling, Regards John
THE SLIABH BLOOM CHALLENGE April
27th 2008
Report
by John Ward
Hi
Everybody
Today’s tour was a first for the Swords touring
section in that we had the use of the official club car.
Five Swords riders made the trip down to Carlow. The
number of riders taking part was up on last year with 120
riders signing on. The weather was poor at the start,
however after half an hour things started to improve.
This was a relief because the course was an undulating
one, with two significant climbs, challenging in good
weather, but unpleasant and dangerous in bad weather. The
pace was well controlled for the first part of the tour
up to the tea stop.
The second part saw many groups forming with riders
naturally finding a group of their own ability. All
Swords riders rode well today, in particular Derek
Brangan one of our new members. I would like to take this
opportunity to congragulate Carlow Road Club on a very
well organised event, we also had the use of a swimming
pool after the spin which left everybody refreshed and
able to enjoy the great spread that was waiting for us
afterwards. The next tour is in Athlone next week.
Hope to see as many of you there as possible.
Safe cycling, Regards John
TOUR of FLANDERS April
5th 2008
Report by Hugh Byrne
Today I fulfilled one of my all time dreams of
watching my favourite race, the Tour of Flanders on what
is usually the decisive hill , the Kapplemuir. As far as
cycling goes this is holy ground and this is where many
decisive attacks have been made in the history of this
great race.
<more photos by Hugh Byrne
& Dermot Moyne>
Pictured
above is Stijn Devolder, cresting the Kapplemuir, 20
seconds clear of two chasing riders and with teamate Tom
Boonen in the select group behind those two. To a Belgian,
this is their World Championship. It is the greatest one
day race of them all and it is only ever won by the
greatest of great riders and in particular by
Belgians. Kelly was 2nd on three occasions in this race
and it is the only classic that eluded him, and as he
lived in Belgium and had so much akin with the Belgian
pysche, this was possibly the one he wanted most. If you
look at the list of winners down the years you will
understand why it is the greatest one day race of them
all. 250k on narrow roads, with 20 short but sharp, often
cobbled, climbs over the last 80k to sperate the men from
the supermen.
On the
previous day myself and one of our newer junior members
Joe Moyne and his dad Dermot, had joined with approx 16,000
other cycling fans had tackled those same climbs. We took
on the 140k version of the event which included all the
climbs. This was Joe's first venture at such a
challenging sportive and he had never riddden such
steep climbs and he had cetainly never even imagined that
they would be cobbled! Ihad taken part last year also and
I remember thinking at the time as to how some of these
climbs could be attempted in the wet and this year saw
the return of the Koppenber! On the morning of the
sportive it was a typical grey misty Belgian day with
overnight rain clearing. I kept hopeing that we would
have a dry assent of the first climb of the day, the
Mollenberg as this is quite steep and the cobbles are
very big, rounded, uneven and its very narrow.
About 5 miles from the climb and down came the rain!
Doesn't make much of a difference as all climbs are done
in the saddle, but more people would be walking which
would make the assent more tricky. Not many gaps on it
but bounced off a few people on the way up and all
three of us made it up this one. The hills would come
thick and fast now, but most quite do-able until we hit
the climbs of the Paterberg and Koppenberg. Cobbles
were wet and muddy and when we got to the 20% gradient of
the Paterberg <photo> , most people were
walking. Dermot got a clear run and made it all the way
on this one but I was negotiating my way through some
heavy cylist/pedestrian traffic I lost the front wheel as
I was getting through the narrowest of gaps. I was very
consious of the fact that there was a train behind me so
I dragged myself quickly out of the way before the whole
hill came to a stop! Even when its dry you have to be
lucky to get a clear run on the more difficult hills. The
next hill was the dreaded Koppenberg, the most difficult
of the all. Dermot came a cropper on this one when he ran
into someone who stopped suddenly (as you do!). He even
shed blood on the sacred slope! I got off before I fell
off .....
The Koppenberg - very few managed to cycle up
this one.
All ok
after All Ok after these minor mishaps and we completed
the challenged in horrendous weather but to say we were
tired would be an
understatement. We had intended to cycle around and catch
the race in a few places the next day, but after hosing
the bikes down, we didn't want to get them dirty again.
Okay, the legs were willing but the arse didn't want to
know about sitting on the bike for another few days!!
<Report from my trip last
year with links to details of hills etc>
50 in 4 -IVCA TOUR March
16th 2008
Report by John Ward
Today was round 3 of the IVCA Leisure League. When you
consider how bad the weather has been all week Sunday was
fairly good. Although some of the lads thought they could
have a lie on, but it was not to be. Seventy plus riders
departed from the Phoenix Park at 9am. Swords CC had 17
riders today.This is a big increase in numbers and is a
reflection of the number of new riders joing our club. A
special welcome to Lloyd and his wife, and Derek.
The
pace on the first half of the tour was well controlled
There was a blusterly tailwind behind us until we reached
Trim. As we turned for home the headwind was quiet strong,
but most riders coped quiet well with the change of
conditions. Teresa was going very well today,
and maintained her position in the main bunch. As we
approached Kilmessan and on to Dunboyne the speed
increased. The groups started to string out at this stage,
with the racing lads testing the waters before next weeks
racing begins. This pace continued for the last section
of the tour. As I understand it everybody got around
safely. Many thanks to John Heeny for organinising todays
event.
It
was noted that Paddy Griffen was in a hurry as we
got closer to Swords. Geraldine later confirmed that he
was on a promise.
Looking
forward to the next tour. Safe cycling
Regards John
(Special
mention to all those hardy souls who rode over from
Swords bringing their total for the day to in excess of
150k! Myself and Chris felt the full brunt of the wind
that ye faced on the way home as we crossed the bridge at
Clonee as we headed back to the Park - and our thoughts
were with ye!! Go on ye legends!! Hugh B.)
Intervarsity
Cycle C/ships Mar 9th
2008
Report by Hugh Byrne
I met Brian Crinion on a very wet Saturday
while he was out scouting the course for following
days Intervasity Cylce road Race C/ship. A state
visit had caused the route to be ammended and the course
for the road race would include S bends and the dreaded
Kyber Pass up by the Magazine Fort. Seven laps for
the men (up the Kyber!) would make life interesting on
this rolly course <course
map>.The Kyber is a favourite spot
for some secret interval training and I do know that
Brian would be quite familiar with it! Brian told me that
he would be concentrating on the Road Race, even though
the afternoons TT at the Boot Inn would be an event that
we would have considered to be his preference in recent
years. On the day of the race Brian got clear of the
bunch on lap 3 with 4 other riders which included
Maurice O'Brien (UCC), Tim O'Regan (DCU), William
Connolly (UCG), and Michael Reddan (DIT). All names that
you would be quite familiar with. In the last 1k Maurice
attacked and got a gap of 40m which he held on to leaving
the remaining 4 to sprint for 2nd. This went to a photo
betweem Brian & Tim O'Regan, with Tim just edging out
Brian. In the afternoon Brian placed 4th in TT, which
when combined with his 3rd in the Road Race gave him 2nd
place overall.
<Report
& photos on IrishCycling.com>
IVCA
Tour of North Co Dublin Feb
17th 2008
Report by John Ward
Today's tour was series two in the IVCA
leisure league.This was a 70kms tour of North County
Dublin brough us familiar territory with a steady climb
of the Nag's Head, an a reurn leg around the coast Evelyn
and Teresa did a great job as tour organisers, even going
over the course the day before to check for any potential
problems. 43 riders participated despite the frosty start.
Swords was very well represented today with 9 members
riding.
The first half of the tour started at a leisurely pace.
The conversations were good and there was a strong sense
of the new season being just around the corner. After the
halfway point the pace quickened considerably. All Swords
riders responded well to the change in pace. In fact Ken
Brennan who is in good form had a controlling influence
for the majority of todays spin. Thanks to all who took
part. Please remember to check the touring page link on
Swords club website for regular updates. Regards Joh
First Tour of
the Season Jan
20th 2008
Report by John Ward
A group of riders left Swords at 9am and cycled over meet
up with the IVCA 'East Meath Tour' which was departing
from the Pope's Cross at 10. The Tour started at a
relaxed pace and most riders seemed to have good
condition and the large group of approx 40 riders pretty
much stayed together on the outward leg. The pace lifted
ever so slightly when the group turned right heading for
Dunsany, and the return leg was brisk (to put it mildly!).
All Swords riders were in good condtion and showed good
form for at such an early stage of the season. Special
mention to Tommy Markham, who rode very well, welcome
back. Congrats to Ciara and best of luck with her new
bike. This lightweight special seemed to sprout wings
when the road went up! Swords was well represented on the
tour considering the weather and so early in the season.
Rumour has it that Victor Hynes was away on an early
spring training camp, and was sporting a great pre-season
tan. We believe he is buying mudguards................for
whoever was riding in front of him on the way in!
Please keep an eye on the Swords touring page for up and
coming tours.
Regards John
News
n' Reports from 2001 <Click Here>
News
n' Reports from 2002 <Click Here>
News
n' Reports from 2003 <Click Here>
News
n' Reports from 2004 <Click Here>
News
n' Reports from 2005 <Click Here>
News
n' Reports from 2006 <Click Here>
News
n' Reports from 2007 <Click Here>
News &
Reports to Hugh Byrne at swordscc@eircom.net
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