National Masters and A3 Road Race Championships 2020

Post date: Sep 15, 2020 4:25:13 PM

National Masters and A3 Road Race Championships

This year Lakeside Wheelers had riders in the A3, M40, M50 and M60 road races which were held just outside Castlebar on an extremely tough hilly course where a strong headwind also played a huge factor.

In the first race of the day the A3 riders departed Castlebar on a rolling start. Conor T Farrell made it home in a very credible 10th place while Ian Lambden came home in the pack. Ian was heard to comment later… We don’t have hills like those around Mullingar… and indeed he was right as the gradient on this course was by all accounts fairly savage.

The next race M50 was where the club had most representation with four riders lining out. In the same race last year Brendan (Tosh) Kiernan placed fifth and was hoping to go a few places better this time around. The race was marred by a crash less then 10 km after the start which put paid to Aidan Daly’s racing. Things were held up until the riders dusted themselves down and after the recommencement of racing the pace was flat out until the end.

Tosh got over the line in seventh place which considering the talent in this group was a wonderful achievement. There was even better news when it was announced that Lakeside Wheelers won the team prize in this category which each of the riders receiving a medal - a nice memento of their achievements.

Well done to Ronan Bracken, Paul Murtagh, Tosh Kiernan and Aidan Daly.

In the afternoon races we had Mick Walshe and David Lally competing in the M40 race. The M60 Race was the last of the day and here PJ Carey and Seamus Moran were taking part in Wheelers colours. The wind had by this time picked up and while it was dry, racing conditions were definitely tougher than in the morning.

A crash in lap one unfortunately involved our own Mick Walshe. We all wish him a speedy recuperation and look forward to having him back out on club spins very soon. Everyone else got back safely with the experience of another national race under their belt.

Well done to everybody who decided months ago to put in the necessary training to be able to compete at a national level in their age category.

And after seeing how well this year’s riders have done there could be even more Wheelers booking their place with a view to getting on the podium in the 2021 nationals.

Finally, thanks to Billy Cunnane and Moss Keane for their role as rider support in this long but enjoyable day in Co. Mayo.