Another week and another win for Cuchulainn in the IVCA race in
Batterstown, Co. Meath. The race was a handicapped affair, held over
80km & Cuchuklainn had Martin Gray, Jimmy Flynn and Ray Fedigan all
race alongside Sé. The groups came together after 30km and the riders
started to attack on mass to try and get away. Sé managed to find
himself in a group of 10 riders that worked well together to establish
a gap on the main bunch. Their cause was helped by a crash in the main
bunch that brought down all the Dundalk men, luckily none of whom were
hurt. As the lead group approached the line Sé knew that he would not
be the strongest sprinter so he attacked with 1km to go and in a gutsy
display held over his fellow breakaway riders to take an impressive
win.
Also in action on Sunday were a number of club riders in Balbriggan
for the Ben mcKenna Memorial race, held in memory of Ben McKenna, a
winner of the Rás in 1957. In the A4 race Dermot Keelan had a superb
ride to take 3rd in the race, with team mate Paul Creighton also in
the top 10. In the main race Colm Quinn was part of the winning break
and continues to build ahead of the Rás in may, but didn't make it
into the top 5 in the end. On Saturday Bryan McCrystal in the Tour of
Ards Classic, which was a 100km loop around the Ards penisula, came
home in 4th position as part of the winning break.
The clubs leisure cyclists were also out over the weekend with almost
50 club riders completing the Tour of Carlingford. The scenic but
challenging saw the riders tackle 80km of rolling countryside setting
off from Silverbridge in Armagh. Afterwards tea and coffee along with
a great spread of food was well enjoyed in the SIlverbridge clubhouse.
Some of the club's riders used the tour as training for longer events
such as the Wicklow 200 and rode from Dundalk out to Silverbridge and
home again, adding another 30km to the route.