With the success of the 2011 road race season under our belts, it's time for the off road season. This Saturday, the 17th of September we are on the trail of an MTB race loop in Bansha Woods. We welcome all riders to the forest to help with the mapping. We are meeting at 10:30am in the car park and we will be riding out for about 3hrs. This will be at a steady pace which will be good for beginners. Someone said to me the other day, "These woods are a great place to cut your teeth on'. I couldn't agree more!
After another very successful year for the club our AGM was held, all members of the 2011 committee stepped down to facilitate new members and new ideas and the continued growth of the club for the 2012 upcoming season. Those of us stepping down wish all the best to the new lads and look forward to seeing the lads put their mark on the club. The new committee and the men to contact with any queries about the club or joining the club are as follows. Chairperson Keith Coyle 0878072154 Treasurer Keith Kelly 0872351710 Secretary Martin Hickey 086198264 Once again the Sean Kelly Tour was well represented by the Tippwheelers,with members taking part in all categories from 10k to 160k.Sunday started with glorious sunshine reflecting back off the sea in the beautiful harbour of Dungarvan. Full of enthusiastic cyclists eager to start .First off at 8:30am were the brave who tackled the160k Comeragh Challenge including the mighty Mahon Falls,Seskin and Powers the Pot hills of Waterford.At 9:30am the 90k riders took on the hilly Kelly coast and at 10:30 am the 50k cyclists took off for the Kelly Cruise.The Great man himself was there signing autographs and standing for photos. Also attending were the Rubber Bandits and the Taoiseach Enda Kenny.Well done to all who took part and thanks to all the organisers and stewards who made it such a great day.For those thinking of taking part next year check out this link to see what you are letting yourselves in for. http://www.itsafeeling.com/photos2011/90km-2011.html Click the link "Liam Butler's Club Photostream" on the sidebar to see Liam Butler's excellent photographs from the final night of the Club League. A huge thanks to Liam for doing such a fantastic job in capturing the atmosphere of the night! The 2011 Tipperary Wheelers Club League came to a conclusion on Thursday 01 September with Stage 8 of the series taking riders on a road race from Tipperary Town to Galbally, on to Lisvernane and up to the finish line at the top of the Christ the King climb. Jimmy Beston made his move on the climb through Lisvernane and managed to finish in first position, clear of the ever impressive Martina Byrnes in second and Keith Coyle in third. The climbing split things up considerably and Vinnie Maher was the first Cat 2 rider to cross the line, finishing in 6th position on the night, followed by his other Cat 2 competitors Noel Ryan and David Connor in 7th and 8th respectively. Dermot Radford was the first Cat 1 rider to finish, taking 9th, just managing to hold off Eoin Greene in 10th. The overall winners in the 2011 league were: 1. Dermot Radford – 57 points 2. Tagdh Murphy – 53 points 2. Martin Breen – 53 points The best improved time trial went to Tagdh Murphy with a 1min 39 sec improvement between stages 1 and 5. A cumulative race finish competition was also being tracked where each competitor was awarded points based on their finishing places in each of the road races. As per the overall league, the best 3 from 4 race results are added to give a total points score and those with the lowest number of points come out on top. Congratulations to the winners: 1. Martina Byrnes – 4 points 2. Harry Towmey – 17 points 3. Ken Costello – 18 points 3. David Connor – 18 points The final prize was awarded to the person who best embodied the spirit of the league. The criteria laid out included competiveness, sportsmanship and enthusiasm throughout the entire league and the person selected by the committee was Mick Kelly. Congratulations to each person that participated during the eight weeks and we thank you for making the 2011 Tipperary Wheelers Club League such an immense success. We were delighted to see so many from other clubs and your contribution to the league was critical to its success. Also, congratulations to all prize winners. Ride safely and we hope to see everybody again in 2012!   Below is the map of the final stage of the Tippwheelers league for 2011. The route will finish on top of Christ the king. Sign on will be in the sports complex from 6:55 to 7:05. we will then move to the race start by the Tipp co op for a 7:15 start. We encourage everyone to show a face for the final stage and maybe come to the top of christ the king and watch the finish or be there for the prizes and sambos at the complex afterwards. If anyone can be available for steward on the night please contact Brian and let us know you can help as this will be one of the tougher routes to steward. it should be an exciting finish to the league. hopefully we will have a good turn out. This route will suit the climbers, we might see Danny Bresnan and Philip Ryan at this one as the finishing climb will suit them and their climbing ability. we encourage family members to come and have a look at the race. Their will be some lovely viewing spots on Christ the king at the finish of the race. And sambos for all at the complex after the race The Tipperary Wheelers Club League Stage 8 - Preview The Tipperary Wheelers Club League was first run in 2010, in the first year of the clubs re-emergence having been reformed in January of the same year. The 2010 league title was competed for over six weeks between its own members, with a small number of local riders from other clubs also participating. On that occasion it was Dermot Radford who emerged on top of the league, a slender few points ahead of Ruaidhri Devitt. In 2011 the mission of the Tipperary Wheelers’ league was to formulate a race and time trial series that promoted equality amongst all participants whereby anybody was capable of winning the league by competing against people of similar abilities, yet also competing between the different categories for the overall title. The emphasis of the league was on enjoyment, giving those who have never raced or time trialled a chance to get a taste for the captivating thrill of competition while also increasing their enthusiasm for the sport. Experienced riders would also benefit by intense competition amongst themselves, torn between the need to stay together to ride down the categories in front and the necessity to outmanoeuvre their opponents. The league has consisted four time trials and four (one remaining) road races on alternating weeks, with time trials used to establish handicaps for the road races. After seven weeks of competition, the last road race stage will be the decider and the overall winner of the 2011 league will have to battle it out on the road to Galbally, up the hill in Lisvernane, and cumulating on the slopes of the Christ the King climb to the hill top finish. The points race is very close at the top of the table, so who are the people who will be battling it out? The current leader and last year’s winner, Dermot Radford, will not have the luxury this year of sitting on his closest rival on the climb to the finish line and relying on a final attack, he will first have to ride down the handicaps if he wants to claim the title, or will he decide to gamble on conserving energy and hoping to outsprint the other Cat 1’s to take 10 points and hope that will be enough? His current lowest race points score is 9 so if he rides to these tactics his maximum points gain to his overall tally will be only 1 point, which might not be enough unless he can claim so Stage top-three points also. Tagdh Murphy has put in a late surge to take him up to second place in the league with exceptionally strong performances in consecutive time trials, claiming maximum points in Stage 5 and again on Stage 7. Tagdh is only 4 points off the lead but has a potential points gain of 8 should he cross the line in first position to gain the critical extra 3 points for the stage win. Even without the additional 3 points he still stands to gain 5 points if he can be the first Cat 3 to the top of the climb. Is the early leader of the league, Mick Kelly of Worldwide Cycles, out of contention? He has an 8 point deficit with a potential gain of 6 if he crosses the line in first position on Thursday evening, this will not be enough to win but could be enough for second. He has been swapping the table-topping position with Dermot throughout the league but the difficulty in claiming time trial points has finally ousted Mick from the top. Richard Bresnan has shown impressive form. Richard is new to competition but has shown a tactically astute approach and improving fitness each week to pull himself level with Mick in third position. Richard’s lowest race points tally is 7, perhaps that puts him out of contention for the overall title but he is certainly in for a mighty battle with those around him for a top three finish. How about Martin Breen? Martin has been going somewhat unnoticed in amassing a fine points tally that puts him in a very strong position in claiming the title. Martin has only done two races to date, therefore his full points total for the final Stage will be added to his current 47 points total and is therefore well within reach of a table topping finish. He needs to climb well though, and with Richard, Mick and Tagdh all needing those points it will prove to be an epic battle on the climb. Martina Byrnes has led the ladies throughout and proved more than capable of holding her own with the men and with some superb performances. Martina would be a worthy top-three finisher. David Connor of Worldwide Cycles has put in consistent performances throughout to ensure he is also up there in the mix while Dave Stokes and Dinny Lynch are also in with a chance of a top three finish. Predefined prizes have been decided for the time trials, however the predefined prizes for the road races are still up for grabs. These prizes will not be announced prior to the last stage but every single position gained on the last road race counts! The Tipperary Wheelers Club League 2011 will be decided on the slopes of the Christ the King climb. Even if you are not competing, get out there and show your support for those that have battled it out over the previous seven weeks! | SHOUTBOXCategoriesAll   ArchivesMay 2013 |
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