Richie Byrne, from Epic, is organising a skills day for any kids interested in giving cycling a go.. its basically a skills loop in and around the start/finish Area , in and out of Cones, a see saw..a couple of Ramps..they all get a Cert for completing it and any age from 0 to 16 . A lot of kids turn up at races, afraid to have a go..this might encourage them
HERE – EPIC MTB

The weekend will include lunch, spins and coaching talks on both days, kicking off at 12 noon on Saturday. Female coaches will be on hand and would like to encourage all youth girls to attend. Cost is only €35 for the weekend so get your name in quick!

Please direct all applications and queries to:

Martin McNally

4 St Patricks Terrace

Westport

Co Mayo

Ph: 0872226260

Cycling Leinster Youth Commission are holding a one-day training camp on Sunday the 16th of January 2009.

The camp will be open to all boys and girls who plan to do road racing in either the U14 or U16 categories next season. That is a boy born in the years 1994 -1997 and girls born between 1992 -1995. The camp will be held in Bray Wheelers Clubhouse, which is situated, on Schools Road of the Boghall Road in Bray Co Wicklow. The starting time is 10am and ending at around 3:00pm. There will be a training spin followed by a talk on training, diet, and enjoying sport. All riders should bring road bikes, full cycling gear for all weathers including helmet. Riders should also bring along a packed lunch. Also at the camp we plan to pick twelve riders representing Leinster to attend a national training camp in Castlebar in February.

For any further information please contact Gerard Campbell on 086 8192205 or Colm Rigley on 085 1740544.

At the end of the night Jenny gav out the prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Jenny had a spot prize, we put our numbers in a bag my (aibhle ivory) number 104 got pulled out, i won gear. Me and kayleigh had a good night of raceing and wants to say thanks to Jenny McCauley.

Avon Ri, Blessington, Co Wicklow

Suitable for all abilities, from beginners to experienced racers, leisure riders to triathletes!

Cost is €100 (€75 Youth/Junior) which includes: coaching, speakers, accommodation, lunch sat and sun, 3-course dinner on saturday.

Avon Ri Lakeshore Resort has a pool and gym facilities that you are also welcome to use.

Schedule of Events:

Saturday 21^st

9:00 Sign-on, check-in to apartments

9:40 Assemble for spin, coaches will give a run-thru of training session

10:00 Training spin

1:00 Lunch

2:00 Lecture: bike position for Time Trialling

2:45 Tea and Coffee break

3:00 Lecture: Training, tactics and opportunities for women in cycling

Lecture on advanced training techniques (follow-on from previous training camps)

3:45 Finish

7:00 Dinner

Sunday 22nd

9:15 Assemble for spin, coaches will give a run-thru of todays session

9:30 Training spin

1:00 Lunch

2:00 Motivational talk: Olympian Jamie Costin gives an insight into his athletic career

3:00 Finish

For more information or to sign-up, email jenzerwoman@gmail.com or call 0876119637.

The development programme can be found HERE . Team selectors are Orla Hendron and Richie McCauley. The races that will be used as selection races for the teams are the National League races, and also the belgian races which are open to everyone.

In short the race programme is as follows:

1. 18/19 April – Belgium – open to everyone
2. 9/10 May – Belgium – open to everyone
3. 4/5 July – Belgium – open to everyone
4. 24-26 July – IDT Belgium – only Irish Development Team
5. 15/16 August – IDT – only Irish Development Team
6. 29-31 August – Paderborn Juniors/Youth only
7. 11-13 September – Rás na mBan – Irish Development Team

The Irish Development Teams will be announced on 6th July – not the 1st as outlined in the calendar, link below.

The target for the Junior is the European Championships – more information to follow shortly.

Riders are expected to race at least one weekend in Belgium, which will be partially subsidised by the Women’s Commission. Riders are expected to attend training camps, which will provide coaching and information for the athletes. Results in National League races will be considered in the selection of riders.

I have put up our calendar in the events page HERE .

On the 20th of February, the youth members of Navan Road Club caught the early ferry to Manchester. I am very proud to say that there were far more girls than boys on this trip! This made a nice change, with only four boys and nine girls! This is due to the huge work that Julie O’Hagan did in the club. This was also the first year that Julie and Brian Taffe were not with us because they were occupied with newborn baby Brooke, we did miss them!

Navan R.C. arrived on British soil on Friday and organizer PJ Nolan had a surprise in store for us, he brought us tobogganing in Wales, which was great fun and something none of us had experienced before. Then that evening arrived at the Diamond Lodge hotel and were told to get a good nights rest (which we probably should have but didn’t)   

We had an early start the next morning when we arrived at the velodrome at 8:00 am. We all got fitted for our bikes and were ready for the track. Some of us had been on the track before and it was just a habit of getting used to the fixed gears, but for some of the younger members it was there first time. Everyone from Laura, aged 10, to Thomas, aged, 17 went on the track, practicing going up on the bank and back to the black line.

We had two or three falls but everyone got back up again. For the younger riders they had an hour training time with the track to themselves, but for those of us on it before we had three hours and did some racing techniques with the young experienced riders that do this training every week. It was a great experience to be in a large group of riders on the track and still keep going. Myself, Fiona Guihen, Thomas Corbally and Aidan Wall handled the challenge well, however when they put cones on the track for practicing control of the bike I didn’t fare as well as the others.

After the training we had a snooze and some food and went to the velodrome again for the revolution 24. Before-hand we watched the Madison championships. Revolution 24 lived up to the expectations of the sell-out crowd on Saturday and was platform for the spectacular last race from Arnaud Tournant. We had a table in the centre of the velodrome and were able to go and meet the cyclists inside. We met Bradley Wiggins, Jason Kenny and even got a photo with Gregory Bauge.

Nicole Farrell, Ciara Beirne and Conner Bartley were only some of us who did the Rollapaluza challenge over 5oo meters, but we all saw Matt Crampton beat Chris Hoy’s record. He set a record of 17:90 seconds. It was great to watch.

The following day we were wrecked as we headed on the ferry for home. It was great and I would like to say thanks to Pj, Thelma, Allen and everyone else that arranged the trip it was excellent and we look forward to next year.  

Heather Beirne

The Women’s Commission, with the support of Women in Sport, will be holding a cycling weekend in Avon Rí, Blessington on March 21-22.

This will be a fully coached camp catering for all levels of female cyclists, from beginners to experienced competitors. The attendees will be split into suitable groups based on ability, and the training spins will vary from one hour to four hours. Everyone is welcome regardless of age or discipline, as we will have a focus on fun bike skills for the youth, and also have a coached mountain bike spin.

Following the training spins there will be the choice of various presentations on training, advanced training, cycling opportunities for women cycling in Ireland and fun bike skills. There will also be a guest motivational speaker. Avon Rí Lakeshore Resort is a leisure complex in Blessington, with a state-of-the-art pool and gym facilities that you are welcome to use.

Last year we held two winter camps in Avon Rí which proved very successful, acting as an introduction to cycling for newer members to the sport. It also was a good opportunity for the competitive riders to come together for a coached training weekend – which is always a welcome break in the long winter. This winter we held several one day camps, along with two trips to an indoor track in Holland. This will be the only weekend winter training camp this year.

WHEN: 21-22 March 2009

WHERE: Avon Rí Lakeshore Resort, Blessington, Co. Wicklow http://www.avonri.com/

COST: €100 including accommodation, lunch Sat/Sun and a 3-course dinner on Saturda night.

COACHING: The cost of coaching and presentations will be covered by the women’s commission with the support of women in sport.

CLOSING DATE: Closing date for sign up is the 11th March.

CONTACT: Please send a completed application form to Jenny McCauley. Application forms can be downloaded from our website http://womenscycling.ie/blog/2009/02/04/womens-cycling-weekend-march-21st-22nd/ and must be accompanied with a cheque made payable to the “Women’s Commission”. Jenny’s address can be found on the application form. Queries can be sent to jenzerwoman@gmail.com.

MEMBERSHIP: Note that if you are not a member of Cycling Ireland you are still welcome to attend the cycling weekend. In order to be covered by the insurance you must purchase one-day licenses for each day. HOWEVER, we recommend that you sign up with Cycling Ireland (info@cyclingireland.ie) as a member – as membership is just €10 for first time members this year! This will work out cheaper for you!

The weekend will involve fully coached training sessions, and various presentations. It will also have a social aspect, being located in the Avon Rí complex, in Blessington.

For more details please open the below poster, and download the application form HERE . All queries can be directed to Jenny McCauley at jenzerwoman@gmail.com .

march-training-camp-poster-2

Check out the reports on last year’s training camps JAN HERE and FEB HERE