Eventful Weekend in the Wild West

Post date: Mar 16, 2015 9:15:28 PM

(By Philip Wade)

Another fun filled weekend for the youth section of the club. Temperatures were a little cold on Saturday morning with frost just lifting at 10 so we decided to do a turbo session. This had a two-fold benefit , we worked with some of our new members on understanding their gears better and we had a few planning on racing Sunday so had a light session with some "rev-out" sprints added in. Moss gave them a good work out. We are seeing some great determination and skills ramp from our new members, Gabby, Aoife and Caoimhe , watch this space!

On Sunday, 3 of the guys headed to Mayo for Rás Maigh Eo. In the morning we had a time trial, followed in the afternoon by road race. The guys did well in the time trial with Conor taking 9th and Aaron 10th out of a field of about 30. Naomi competed in the Under 16 girls and continues to improve in strength although they never said having to stop for sheep on the road was going to be something you need to know how to do on a time trial course. We will know for next year.

The road races got the best of our crew this time around with Conor and Aaron getting caught up in crash and while not injured lost lots of time and then Aaron in a chasing group got sent the wrong way by marshals on the course. Conor played a a great race and worked with two other guys to continue the chase until the very end, there are great things to come from this guy.

Naomi also was part of the Under 14 Boys start and hung in there for the first few Kilometers until they reached the first big hill on the course, piggery is going to have to become her new best friend. On the second lap, her crank fell off as she was heading up the hill. Loosing over 10 minutes someone was finally able to get it reattached on the course and allowed her to complete all three of the nine kilometre laps coming in just behind the last of the Under 14 boys. The current bike mechanic ( Dad) is having his contract reviewed as we speak.

All in all , some more experience racked up for the guys. Sheep, crashes, bad direction and mechanicals are all part of the fun of cycling and will only add to their experience base for the future on how to deal with these issues. Roll on the summer .

Naoimi and Aaron Wade ready for off in Rás Maigh Eo