THE FLYING MILE
The Flying Mile was brought forward as an evening race and was contested on Thursday evening last on the N52 bypass over a measured mile. The riders raced as three groups of similar ability and the three group winners were Duncan Hodgins, John Foote and Pat Bergin, the latter being only the fourth rider to beat the 2m barrier. He clocked in at 1.59 while Eamon Hartnett was timed at exactly 2m.
Club riders heading for the start of The Flying Mile
2011 CLUB ROAD RACE CHAMPION IS PAT BERGIN
It was a miserable day for a race - wet and quite windy. And the problems started before the race even began! On the way to the start, there was a crash involving six riders. All got up and continued, contesting the race but afterwards, it was discovered that jim Carey, who had ridden to a 7th place, had broken a bone in his hand. The riders started in three groups according to handicaps and nine riders from all three groups combined to make a very exciting sprint with Eamon Hartnett claiming third just behind second place man, Shaun Payne while Pat Bergin took the win at the head of affairs.
Thurday is the Flying Mile - the last evening race of the season - and next Sunday is the Club Championship Time Trial.
Pat Bergin - Club Road Race Champion
RESULT OF WARM-UP HILL CLIMB
Well done to Shane Scully who completed the hill climb 1m 07 ahead of his nearest rival, Shaun Payne and John Foote took an excellent third place. The course is hard - from Castlelough car park to Portroe school - a distance of just 2.3 miles with three very nasty hills en route. The same course will be used for the Club Championship Hill Climb in a couple of weeks.
Shane Scully - race winner.
WARM-UP HILL CLIMB
The Warm-up Hill Climb will be held on the proposed Championship course - Castlelough car park to Portroe School. The Warm-Up is held to allow us to judge handicaps for the event.
This will be held on Thursday 1st Sept., leaving Moynan's shop at 6.30pm SHARP. As it is a Warm-Up there is no race fee.
RESULT OF 9 MILE ROAD RACE
The road race held on Sunday 24th July was held in rather miserable conditions although it did manage to stop raining for the actual race. The route was from Birdhill to the Five Alley and the riders left in three groups according to current ability.
The ever-improving Mikey Connors took third place while Duncan Hodgins just lost out to John Spillane in a very exciting final sprint. This was John's first win for a while and we were all delighted to see it. Once again, well done to all those who took part after turning out on such a dirty morning!
John Spillane storming to a win in the 9 mile road race.
OVERALL RESULT OF THE J.MOYNAN TT SERIES
With six hard fought races done and dusted, it was time to do the calculations and see who the overall winner might be. With four races to count, the first stage was to eliminate the two worst times from those who had completed six and one from those who had ridden five. Sadly, those who rode just the four had to put up with just those times. Then as the TTs were of different lengths this year, we brought the times down to minutes per mile which were added and divided by four to give a fair result.
The stages were won by Eoin Woolley (2), Paul Lenihan, Aidan Killeen, Shane Scully and John Foote. The stages on flat time went to Shane Scully (3), Eamon Hartnett (2) and Pat Bergin.
The winner of the flat race was Shane Scully with Eamon Hartnett and Pat Bergin in 2nd and 3rd., but when the time adjustments were made Kevin Byrne took 3rd place, John Foote was 2nd and Shane Scully was the overall winner, managing the double - a great achievement! Well done Shane and to all who took part.
Overall double winner - Shane Scully
RESULT OF TT6
There was a great sign-on for the final TT in the J. Moynan Series even though it was one of the longest at 15 miles. The route was from the Birdhill roundabout back to the first Nenagh roundabout and finishing at the Roundhill. With the two recognised "fastest men" missing on the night, it was up to the remaining riders to set a leading time and that was achieved by Pat Bergin with a 1m 1sec. gap over his nearest rival, Liam Callaghan and John Foote was only 11 secs. adrift of Liam. When the time adjustments were made Pat Bergin took 3rd., Mikey Connors snatched 2nd and Eoin Woolley sealed his second stage in the series with a fine win.
Eoin Woolley - winner of TT6
J. MOYNAN TT 5
The penultimate TT in the J. Moynan Series - no. 5 was contested last Thursday evening on the Limerick road. The 10 mile course going from the Yellow Bridge to the Birdhill roundabout and back to the Yellow Bridge. It was a beautiful evening, sunny and breezy and once again, there was a large sign-on. The fastest times of the evening went to Shane Scully in 1st place with Pat Bergin in 2nd and John Foote in 3rd. When the time adjustments were made John Foote took the win and Keith Horan managed to snatch 2nd place from Shane Scully. It was good to see Patrick Rohan making a come back on the bike for the second week in a row and we were also pleased to welcome Eric Brannigan and Darren Dunne, the latter doing a brilliant time for a lad just turned 14 years of age. Certainly one to watch!
John Foote - winner of TT5
RESULT OF THE LOOKOUT TROPHY
Paul Lenihan - Lookout Trophy winner.
The Lookout Trophy was resurrected last Thursday evening. This is a 5 mile race from Ballina to the Lookout and although it is just 5 miles, it is deceptively hard! And to add to the hardship, it was the worst night we have had for racing this season - just wet, wet and again, wet! The riders raced in four groups according to the time adjustments and in a hard fought battle with riders all over the road, Paul Lenihan led the way home with Mikey Connors hot on his heels and Keith Horan claiming third. Well done to all the club members who turned up to race on such a miserable evening - such a large sign-on was amazing!
RESULTS OF 14 MILE ROAD RACE
Eoin Woolley (right) just taking the win ahead of Paul Lenihan
The route had to be changed due to poor road surface and the Limerick road was decided upon. The race was from The Five Alley out to the Birdhill roundabout and back to the Yellow Bridge - a distance of 14 miles. The weather was good, dry and sunny and very little wind. The riders went off in three groups according to time adjustments and we had two very exciting sprints. One was for third place between four riders and in this one, it was Kevin Byrne who proved to be the strongest. The other sprint was for first and second and that was fought bewteen Eoin Woolley and Paul Lenihan and it was Eoin who took his second club win in just a few weeks.
Next week, July 7th sees the return of The Lookout Challenge and the route is Ballina to the Lookout - a distance of 5 miles.