Cuchulainn Cycling Club earned it's first win of the 2011 season when Gary Shields crossed the line first in the Senior 3 race at Kilbrannish, Bunclody, Co Wexford. This was the first round of the Leinster Mountain Bike League and puts Gary in a good position for the upcoming season. Also in the same race Stephen Kelleher finished a fine 3rd, with John Grace & Seamus McEvoy a little further back. These 4 riders are in training for the brutal off-road event, the TransAlps, a 685KM race held in July where riders have to tackle the highest mountains in Europe on the dirt trails.
On the same day in the Senior 2 race David McKeown was unlucky to puncture, while Aidan McDonald & Declan McCabe had good showings in the Senior 1 race. Arann McCann continued with his good form in the under 16 race coming home in a close battle and just missing out on a podium place in the 4th position.
St. Patricks day so quite a few Dundalk men in Dunboyne for the annual road race. The result of the day came in the A3 race where Gerry McCabe was a fine 5th in the bunch sprint. Also featuring in the same race were Dermot Keelan, Sean Loughran and Owen Martin making his debut for the season. In the other races held during the day club men were active throughout but didn't feature in the results.
The club's Leisure group took part in the Rathkenny 100km Cycle Challenge on St. Patricks Day. The route saw the riders criss cross County Meath, taking in Navan, Kells & Oldcastle among others before heading back to the Rathkenny GAA club house for some refreshments. This group is training for a number of leisure events during the year, most notably the Wicklow 200 on June 12th.
This Sunday the club will promote the annual Paddy neary Memorial, held in honour of one of Dundalk's most successful cyclists. The new route for the race, which starts at 1pm, will see the riders complete 3 laps of a circuit which includes the Carlingford Road, Ravensdale & the old Newry Road. Sign on opens from 12:00 at Dowdalls Hill GFC
Finally Monday the 28th sees the launch of the under 12 Pocket Sprocket Cycling Programme at Oriel park. Interested parents should contact Se Wes[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"130","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignleft size-medium wp-image-197","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"225","alt":""}}]]ton at youth@dundalkcycling.com