Another great turnout, and another successful camp for women’s cycling. The Women’s Commission of Cycling Ireland, with the support of Women in Sport have organised two Winter Camps for female cyclists of all abilities. The second of these camps took place this weekend, 23-24 Feb, and with a lot of new faces there was a good mixture of abilities - some riders were enjoying their first training camp with women, while others were checking out the progress that they have made in the last four weeks.

Following positive feedback on our venue for the first camp, we used the same location, and a few new routes. Avon Ri in Blessington has been an ideal base for our camp, and once again, luck was on our side with the weather for both spins!

The big addition to this camp was our underage group, who rose to the two day challenge, supervised by Ger Ivory and Mark Loughran. The pressure was on, with their efforts being recorded by a French Camera crew, who were taking some footage of our camp for a documentary that they are doing. 

Aidan Ryan brought his mountain bikers on a few local trails. His confident manner brought the best out of his group – as one by one they threw themselves off cliff edges, or something like that! Nutters…. Brave nutters….

On the Road Aidan Hammond and Geoff Liffey took out two groups of varying standards. Aidan was accompanied by expert GB Cyclo Cross Coach Steve Grimwood on his spin, and Geoff was assisted by Kate Rudd on Saturday, and Alex Dobbs on Sunday. The first day showed that the groups needed to be adjusted slightly, so with a few small switches, everything ran a little smoother on Sunday.

The Development Squad, under the guidance of Paddy Doran, started making advances forward, in preparation for the fast approaching race season. The Group of 12 on Saturday (including our strong English addition - Caroline Gammel) was split into two teams, and had a bit of race simulation, when they practised the tactics of attacking and defending. Sunday was a long steady spin, where they travelled over both the Wicklow Gap, and the Sally Gap. Some super views out there – through the sweaty eyes… Encouragingly the Group expanded on Sunday – to 16 riders.

Everyone was looking forward to the talk on Nutrition with Beth McCluskey on Saturday – and, as usual, she gave a very interesting explanation of the nutritional needs of the female rider.  

Following this talk, the riders attended some workshops. Aidan Hammond did a bike position presentation, while Aidan Ryan went through bike skills – through demonstration. Everyone got on their bikes, and practised hitting wheels and knocking each other off.  Paddy Doran conducted a workshop that had a practical approach to goal setting, with an emphasis on the importance of having a definite and real focus – whether it is winning a race, or being able to finish a long training spin.

While this may be the end of the Winter Training Camps – we hope to hold a few more camps later in the season. For some the focus is switching towards the racing season - with the first National League Road Race starting next week. For others the next step is to find a local club, and suitable, fun group to train with.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and making it a great weekend for all.

Photos courtesy of Paddy Doran.