'Tis the season where we sit down, eat mince pies, drink wine, and watch whatever "year in review" programme" is on the telly. We said we'd jump on the bandwagon, and therefore publish our own "year in review" to look back and see what we have achieved in cycling this season.
Our year has been split into two distinct seasons for all riders. For some it was the road season, then the cyclocross season, for others it was the drinking coffee/beer season followed by the cyclocross season. But other than drinking a lot of coffee and eating copius amounts of cake throughout the entire year (see our celebration of the coffee spin here stfinbarrscyclingclub.weebly.com/home/in-praise-of-the-coffee-spin ), what have the club achieved on a cycling level? It was a largely quiet season for the club in the road racing scene this year. Work committments, family, and age all played a part in less club riders racing. However Richie and Seán were regulars in racing most Sundays over the course of the season. Seán was racing A4 and picked up a few nice results considering this was only his first full season racing. While he didn't quite manage to get the upgrade, he had some outstanding performances, and is very close to moving up the ranks to A3. Richie also performed solidly, regularly picking up top 15 places on the road in strong A1/A2 bunches, with his top result 2nd in the Deenside Cup. He also managed to pick up a couple of Wexford County medals along the way (That's a story for another day). Our own St.Finbarrs GP road race promised to be a great event. The sun was shining and numbers were good. Unfortunately for us the event the event was halted soon after the start due to a bad crash for one of the competitors. This was the low point of our season, but this event will be back again next season. Where the club really thrived this year was on a social level. The numbers on the club spins increased over the summer and this can only be a good thing. After all, cycling isn't all about racing, and it helps to be mindful of that also. The biggest success for the club came in the cyclocross season. It really restarted the club's racing side and we had 8 riders compete throughout the CX season. The standout highlight for us was of course Crossbarrs at Fota. This was the start of a brilliant cyclocross season in Munster and we were honoured to start it off with a bang. Over 100 competitors flocked to Fota, and while there are some improvements to be made next year, it was really a celebration of all that was good with the club. Everyone came together and created a wonderful event. Highlights of the race can be seen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K39gkMVQgVQ On top of that event, our riders performed superbly throughout the season. Ger and Stevie progressed from B to A. Robbie had a few podium finishes in the B races and is well on his way to being an A next season. Carlton and Kevin dipped their toes in and were hooked by the racing, while Paul, Karl and Keith are chomping at the bit to get stuck in next season. Russell and Richie regularly featured in the results of the A race, both securing podium finishes in the League and the Champs. As a whole this has been a very good year for the club. It has been a very different year from previous seasons without a focus on the early season Easter Racing in Rás Mumhan, but it has been just as (if not even more) successful. We are all proud to be a part of this success and long may it continue into the future. We'll be taking a break from the blog for the next couple of weeks so all of us here at the De Barrs wish everyone who follows us here, on Facebook, or on the road, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Give us a wave if you see us on the road. Hon the Barrs!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
St.Finbarrs Cycling ClubEst. 1938 Archives
October 2017
Categories |