Lakeside Wheelers are delighted to announce that the rescheduled Ladies and Vets National Road Race Championships will go ahead at Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath on Saturday 20th September. Thanks to the great assistance we have received from the local community, Westmeath County Council, Civil Defence, and the Gardai,  we will have closed roads on the circuit for the championships. Race HQ will be in Multyfarnham Community Centre beside the GAA pitch and the original race entries and start numbers will stand.

 

Sign on will be from 9:30am , the Ladies will close at 10:30 and the Vets will close at 11am. The Ladies race will start at 11:00 and the Vets at approx 12:15.  

 

Entry for both events has been reopened until Friday 12th September to allow for anyone who missed or was unavailable for the original race date.

A Time Trail cycle race will take place between 6.30pm and 9.30pm on the R446 commencing east of Rochfortbridge to Kinnegad, turning back through Rochfortbridge and turning back again east of Tyrrellspass and finishing in Rochfortbridge. The roads in the area will remain open. Motorists and especially buses are requested to be vigilant and to take care of the competing cyclists who will be starting in the Time Trial at one minute intervals.

In order to facilitate two days of the National Road Racing competitions (Ladies, Veterans and Elite Men’s), Westmeath County Council has authorised the following road closures:

All diversions will be signposted.

Local access arrangements will be in place for local residents, please co-operate with the Race Marshals.  Visitors and spectators are requested to access Multyfarnham for the Races and the Multy Fair from Dublin, Mullingar, Sligo, etc. from the N4 will be via Bunbrosna on road L1820. Parking will be available as you approach the village of Multyfarnham. Limited access to Multyfarnham will be available from the north via Coole.

Contact:

Roibeard O Ceallaigh

Safety Officer

087 1258462

roibeardog@eircom.net

The list of invited guests and dignitaries included Mr. Geoff Liffey, CEO of Cycling Ireland, Mr Edward Tyrell, Grange Motors Mullingar Toyota, Cllr. Peter Burke, Chairman of Westmeath Co Council. Cllr. Aidan Davitt representing Mullingar Town Council and Sgt Ciaran Williams representing Mullingar Gardaí. Representing the competitors were world track cycling star and current ladies National Time Trial Champion, Caroline Ryan, National Team Champions, Team Aqua Blue led by former Lakeside Wheelers member, Damien Shaw and finally a selection of Lakeside Wheelers riders. Also in attendance were members of Westmeath Civil Defence, members of the local media as well as Lakeside Wheelers chairman and president, Mick Reynolds and Kevin Monaghan.

In opening the launch, Shay O'Toole chairman of the organising committee welcomed everybody to Mullingar and stated that it was a great honour for Lakeside Wheelers to have been selected to host these championships. He thanked Grange Motors Mullingar Toyota for their very generous sponsorship of this event and for their long running support of Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar. Cllrs Davitt and Burke both spoke of the importance of the event to Mullingar and its environs.. "Nothing happens by chance and the arrival of this event in Westmeath is a testament to Lakeside Wheelers and all their hard work over the years" said Cllr Davitt while Cllr Burke stated "The spin-off from the championships will be great for Mullingar, Rochfortbridge and Multyfarnham.

Chairman of Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar, Mick Reynolds, spoke with great pride as he described the importance of the National Championships to all riders and highlighted that this year's event falls very nicely for Mullingar as it comes between the Giro d'Italia starting in Belfast and the Tour de France which starts in Yorkshire England. Chairman Reynolds said that the opportunity to see the same professional cyclists such as Nicolas Roche, Daniel Martin, Philip Deignan and Sam Bennatt who will compete in these two monumental tours racing in our area will not come around too often. He also mentioned the four times champion Matt Brammeier and former World Track Champion Martyn Irvine who will both be favourites for this race. The final speaker Mr Geoff Liffey outlined the competitive process which clubs must go through in order to be selected to host Ireland's premier cycling race and stated that the attention to detail in relation to safety and the professionalism which Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar have displayed in the past were instrumental in them securing this years championships. In particular, he mentioned the National Criterium Championships which Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar hosted in 2011 and 2012 as examples of their ability to organise and deliver top class cycle racing.

Following the launch the host club took the visiting riders out to Multyfarnham where they cycled two laps of the undulating Road Race route under the watchful video and camera lens of Black Umbrella directors, Adrian and Jill.

On behalf of the event organisers Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar would like to thank everybody who attended the launch and give special mention to John Cochrane, Manager of the Greville Arms Hotel for providing refreshments. We hope to see you all in Rochfortbridge on June 26th for the time Trials and in Multyfarnham on June 28th and 29th for the Road Races.

The local Toyota dealers have been associated with Lakeside Wheelers for many years and have supplied vehicles to all our major events including our Grand Prix and Two Day races and more recently,  the National Criterium Championships in 2011 and 2012. Our racing team also has a long standing relationship with the garage through club member, Edward Tyrell who arranged for a car and van wrapped with club colours to be available for members going to stage races. 

Dealer Principal, Mr Paul Coleman stated that it is a huge honour for Grange Motors Mullingar to be associated with such a prestigious sporting event and wished the club every success with the planning and organisation over the coming months.