The Tippwheelers had the largest turn out for the Ride of the Turkeys this year. A very cool 48 riders in all, some locals, not so local, some home from America and Sweden. The weather was perfect, cool, damp and no rain or clouds to be seen anywhere (slight exaggeration). All 48# riders headed off at 12:30 from Roches Bar on the Galbaly road heading to Garryspillane. This year’s route had a shortcut at Ballywire Cross which let the younger and family riders take a shorter distance to take them out just after Emly. The pace was steady at 20kph keeping everyone together for the whole event. There were two punctures, one computer jumped off and a gear index. Santa arrived to a lot of cyclist this year and there was a lot of happy boys and girl out on their maiden voyage.
Not having a stop half way made the event even better, keeping it smooth, progressive and safe. We had a quick regroup at Ballywire for the shortcut. After a couple of minutes we set off again and into our first puncture courtesy of Nora Cunningham. This gave the main bunch a good distance on the repair crew James Cunningham (Husband), Keith Coyle (some random person), Dave Dineen (Nora’s brother) and Nora. This allowed the group of four give a good chase and sprint on to get the blood flowing in the cold winter air.
We had a regroup again at Knocklong and then we headed off on the home straight to Tipp Town VIA Emly. There was a few new cyclist getting gear tips from other cyclists to help them enjoy the cycle instead of it being an uncomfortable 40KM fight. A couple of cyclists were on MTB’s just to give themselves a little extra drag.
The last 12KM from Emly to Tipp Town had a slight drag to Lattin and a steady decent heading home and a well-earned beverage and food in Roches. It was great to see a line of cyclist heading into town, all arriving home at the same time. About 1km from Town Maurice Crowe got a blow-out, Grainne Keogh (visiting from the USA) helped him home and he’s a mechanic too… Cheers Grainne! The feedback was very positive on the route and the pace. Some ideas for next year were shared round, so we’ll see what happens.
The club wishes to thank Roche’s Bar of Tipperary Town, all of the participants and Sean Crowe for providing vehicle support. Happy New Year everyone.
Before I start, I wish to thank everyone who turned out for the annual Ride of the Turkeys this year. I would also like to thank Brian Devitt for volunteering to marshal, “Shepard his herd” along with his little amber light and his audio book. We had a huge number of riders and fair play to him for hanging in there with us. What made it more enjoyable was the weather. It was sunny, cool and dry with a gentle breeze…perfect! It seems the “word” spread like wild fire and the numbers appeared, as the picture shows. We had a few colourful characters too. The guy (Mr Coyle) in the Santa hat, who still believes in Santa…and a turkey on a bike with a turkey on the Bike (Mr Stokes), you can’t see him but he is in there, gobble, gobble. We had two students with us for the day, Robert, daddy Tadgh Murphy and Darren, mammy Phyllis Richardsons.
We set off from the Canon Hayes just after noon, turning left heading into town. It was a mass, two wheeled invasion! Brilliant! Through the town and out the Galbally Road with the amber light in tow. We didn’t head far when we had to stop for a regroup just after the Co-op. As I looked down the road, just beyond the group, I saw one of the riders just “fall over” while still on their bike!!! Didn’t get his/her name but it was funny! You know who you are. Anyway, we set off, again. It was a great cruise, holding up traffic and more traffic. The banter was good, catching up with people whom you haven’t seen since the Summer /Autum.
About 10k into the spin we stopped again for a regroup at the Shamrock Lounge. At this stage the group had split into three or four packs. Spirits were high and the cycle was making a steady progress out into Limerick. The breeze picked up into a cross wind, made pumping the legs a little tougher! 6k on we hit Galbally, we regrouped again and headed off into Lisvernane. Coming into Lisvernane and nearing the halfway point of our spin we came upon a convoy of over 200 tractors (you read this correctly) out for their post Christmas joy ride through the county. A couple of question came out of this, 1. why? And 2. who sent the teamer out for that event??? I have full respect for agri, but isn’t that what the Ploughing Champs are for? Anyway up and over the hill we all cycled tipping along nicely heading for our rendez vue in the Coach Road Inn for light refreshments.
Sambos, tea, coffee, some light chat and little did we know that the Coach served alcohol. To our horror a number of cyclist who will not be named Keith Coyle, Michael Looby, Martin Hickey, James Beston, Dinny “bike breaker” Lynch, Maurice Crowe, partook in sampling these beverages. So anyway, 45mins later, all watered and fed, we headed off on the return leg of the cycle back to base, the Canon Hayes. Not long after leaving we had a punchture. The damsel in distress Mrs Daly, the heroes to the rescue Tommy Byrnes (camera man) and Martin Breen (the pump guy). The sober spectators Martin Hickey and Keith Coyle did offer their services but the hero’s had the job in hand. What is that clown like with the hat??
From this point the cyclist broke into groups again. The main bunch heading on into Tipperary Town, a small bunch of rogue bikers that were very dehydrated ended up in O’Heneys in Bansha, after all it was a very warm, humid December day and lastly the two heroes and the damsel. We all made it back to the Canon Hayes before dark and without incident. It was a great day out for everyone, with only one puncture. Roll on the 2012 Turkeys…Again I would like to thank everyone who took part in the event and wish you and all your families a very happy new year.
Click here for Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/116103533386092433086/20101227?authkey=Gv1sRgCJycl9Gamt2SoQE#Some very nice photos of the Ride of the turkeys can be seen by clicking the above link
Ride Of The Turkeys Report
There were 30 turkeys present for the inaugural Ride of the Turkeys which has been a tremendous success for the club. We had racing bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids and all sorts of machines for the fun Christmas cycle. The cycle started well with Jeremiah Ryan getting a puncture after 500 metres. However Club chairperson/mechanic Dermot Radford had Jeremiah back on two wheels faster than a formula 1 pit stop. The cycle continued to Galbally with a brief stop for Liam Butler to take some snaps of all the Turkeys on the cycle. The cycle then went on to Lisvernane where some nice pics of the Turkeys climbing up through the village were taken. We then took a brief stop at coach road where lots of Sandwiches were consumed along with some nice warm tea, Jimmy Hally must be thanked for his up keep of the fire during our warm stay, the owners of the pub had to ask Jimmy to slow down adding timber to the fire as they were running low, however Jimmy being the club Farmer/Local lumber supplier attempted to sort their problem by getting a sale. It was time to get back on the road. Unfortunately as the turkeys went to leave Tommy Byrnes noticed his nice shiny MTB bike was stolen. Tommy was quick to point the finger at Club Secretary/ Slightly Hung-over Brian Devitt. However after a brief laugh at Tommy’s misfortune It was discovered that the “Big Mac” was the thief. After club Thief/Garda John Mc Cormac had returned the bike to Tommy the turkeys were on the road home. About 1 mile from the finish another hung-over Turkey Neil Ryan got a puncture, Neil had no spare tube but thanks to Andrea Radford in the Tippwheelers team bus Neil got home with his feathers intact. Thankfully all turkeys returned home for what was a very fun day for club members. We really hope the ride of the turkeys will become an annual fun cycle for club members and anyone else who dares to become a Christmas Turkey for a day
Big thanks must be given to Dermot Radford for his design of the poster and promotion of the cycle, Thanks also to Jim Kissane for organising the tea and sandwiches which went down a treat with everyone, Thanks to Tommy and Martina Byrnes who helped organise, promote and involved the 1 life charity in the cycle. Thanks to Liam Butler for taking all the photos which can be accessed at the link above. Also, a big thanks to Keith Kelly who helped keep the turkeys going for the last fifteen minutes! Thanks to every cyclist who turned up for the bit of crack and banter. Let’s hope we will all meet again for Ride of the Turkeys 2011 on the 27-12-2011 and be turkeys for a day again.
Shown below is more photos taken by Tommy and Martina
Ride of the Turkeys will be rolling out of the Cannon Hayes Sports Complex at 12.00pm sharp on Monday 27 December. See below for start point of cycle and for further details.
Click here for Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/116103533386092433086/20101227?authkey=Gv1sRgCJycl9Gamt2SoQE#
The Tipperary Wheelers are hosting The Ride of the Turkeys this Christmas. We invite everybody with an interest in cycling to join us on Monday 27 December for an enjoyable, social cycle through Tipperary Town and the surrounding locality. This will be a fun event to help work off that Christmas dinner.... and the leftovers!
Starting from the Cannon Hayes Sports Centre at 12pm sharp.
Route Details: Tipperary, Galbally, Lisvernane, Bansha, Tipperary, 42.5 km with a one hour stop at the midway point at the Coach Road Inn for refreshments.
Cover Charge of €10
Participants cannot join the cycle without a suitable helmet
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