With the races kicking off today, Jennifer O’Reilly continues her race diary…

The last few days have been spent in a haze of resting up in the hotel and going to the track for a quick session every day. The sessions have gone well as a whole and we are feeling good individually and as a team.

The trips to the track are still the highlight of the day, watching the goings on from the team bus is just fascinating. Everything in Columbia is done at high energy – it’s no wonder the national produce is coffee – they seem to be high on life at all times of the day. Stepping into the bus is like stepping straight into a nightclub, with the blaring Latino music you can’t help but feel pumped for a good session.

The locals have started to gather outside the track and we signed our first autographs yesterday, luckily I have been practicing for this day since I was five. My style and panache really showed the years of commitment I have put into the formulation of a proper celebrity signature!

From chatting to various teams at the track it seems that we have been very lucky in being in full possession of all our athletes, bikes, luggage and staff. Most others are still missing at least one of the above. A couple of our bikes were delayed by a day but other than that we have been blessed so far.

Tonight we went to the track for our final training session. We went through our race warm up and then did a 1.5km (half the race distance) effort at race pace. It went really well and so we can sleep easy that the pace and ability is within us. We just need to keep the head and execute our “mission” as Andy has called it.

 See you on the other side!

CYCLING IRELAND PRESS RELEASE

IRISH TEAM COMPETE IN TRACK WORLD CUP, CALI

The Irish Team are racing in the track world cup in Colombia, this week. Cali is the host of the 2nd World Cup Round in the 2011 season, providing the 3rd opportunity of 12 for nations to gain qualification points for the London Olympic Games. Ireland’s main focus is the women’s team pursuit and Omnium.

Racing starts on Thursday 16th December, with a full 3 days of racing in store for the team. On Thursday Ireland will be represented in the Women’s Team Pursuit and the Men’s Scratch Race. Friday’s racing includes the Men’s Omnium and the Women’s Individual Pursuit, and on the final day, Saturday, Ireland will race in the Women’s Omnium, the Women’s Points race and the Men’s Sprint.

There are 12 opportunities for European nations to gain points towards qualification in the 2012 Olympics. These comprise of 8 world cup rounds, 2 world championships and 2 European championships. Nations are awarded points at these events based on their results, and the top European nations will race at the Olympic Games. The Irish team kicked off their Olympic bid in Poland last month in the European Championships, where they gained valuable race experiences and produced strong performances.  Last week Shannon McCurley represented Ireland in the Melbourne World Cup, unfortunately she did not qualify for the finals in the heavily populated Omnium event.

WOMEN’S TEAM

Caroline Ryan

Ciara Horne

Jennifer O Reilly

MEN’S TEAM

Martyn Irvine

Felix English

COACH:

Andy Sparks

Brian Nugent

MECHANIC:

Brian Kenneally

MASSEUSE:

Karen Doyle