What a weekend it was, my first outing over the border for a 2-day cycling festival in the Boyne area since the restart of the season, the biggest smile of last Saturday morning was my wife Maggie’s when I left the house, as I was staying overnight with her sister in Carlingford she finally got a weekend for herself, she even packed extra underwear and t-shirts just in case I want to stay a bit longer..lol! North and south united in a sportive way for 2 cycling events promoted by local club Drogheda Wheelers, this in memory of three members of their club, Peter, Kitty, and Brendan. On Saturday a Southern lad (Daire Feeley) won the Peter Bidwell Memorial Trophy in Donore, and on Sunday the North got his win with John Buller taking the Brendan Campbell Memorial main race at Cooperhill near Bellewstown Drogheda.
A weekend of racing I was so looking forward to, and it didn’t disappoint, cold turkey was over as I got my fix, especially on Sunday when Caroline Kerley joined me on the road doing our thing. We discussed safety first as the virus is still about, sitting in the back of the car with a mask was mandatory for Caroline…A day of laughter started after that, you just have to love her, the boring waiting for the riders to pass doesn’t exist with her about!! Hundreds of photos have been taken and the link to some of Caroline’s photos here: https://www.facebook.com/caroline.kerley.50
The first race of the day was the A4, got the start covered but too late to take the winning shot due to a miscalculation of the laps on my part, but at least some before and during the race…A full field which was great to see, the hunger for racing didn’t disappear, the virus didn’t destroy the SPIRIT…our sport will survive for sure!
A4 result:1st. Robert Kennedy – Ballymena Road Club
2nd. Sean Mullen – Unattached
3rd. Andy Ross – VC Glendale
4th. Luke Coll – Drogheda Wheelers
5th. Conor Alymer – St Tiernan’s CC
6th. Fergus Craddock – Dublin Wheelers
7th. Pawel Jonkowski – Starsky CC
8th. Fergal Kennedy – Carlow RCC
9th. Tony Woods – Clontarf CC
10th. Robert Bowen – St Tiernan’s CC 1st U/P Lady. Caoimhe O’Brien (Weston Homes-Torelli-Assure)
KITTY CAMPBELL MEMORIAL A3 & Junior Race
1st. Mark McGarry – Dungarvan CC
2nd. John Priest – Lucan CRC
3rd. John Mason – STRATA3/VeloRevolution Racing Team
4th. Kevin Leech – Drogheda Wheelers
5th. Michael Green – Phoenix CC
6th. Ciaran Dixon – Team Type 1 Junior Team
7th. David O’Sullivan – Powerhouse Sport
8th. Darren Rafferty – Island Wheelers (Junior)
1st U/P Junior. Liam Crowley – O’Leary Stone Kanturk
2nd U/P Junior. Daniel Yon Hin – O’Leary Stone Kanturk
3rd U/P Junior. Dean Harvey – VC Glendale
1st U/P Lady. Maura Claffey (UCD)
The Richies Bikestore “Brendan Campbell Memorial” A+/A1/A2 race
1st. John Buller (Banbridge CC)
2nd. Richard Maes (STRATA3/VeloRevolution Racing Team)
3rd. Conor Murnane – UCD
4th. Fintan Ryan – Kingspan-TrackProject.ie
5th. Adam Stenson – UC Monaco
6th. Andy Maguire – Spellman-Dublin Port
7th. Aaron Wade – Powerhouse Sport
8th. Paul Forristal – STRATA3/VeloRevolution Racing Team
9th. Shay Donley – Team Dan Morrissey – McCarthy Insurance Group – Pactimo
10th. Tomas Walsh – Team Dan Morrissey – McCarthy Insurance Group – Pactimo 1st Unplaced A2: Shay Donley – Team Dan Morrissey – McCarthy Insurance Group – Pactimo
2nd U/P A2. Eugene Murtagh – Lucan CRC
3rd U/P A2. Shane O’Connell – Blarney CC
4th U/P A2. Ryan Byrne – Spellman-Dublin Port
5th U/P A2. Lean Janse Van Rensburg – Sandton City
It was a great weekend overall, so glad to see friends and supporters again, the smiling faces, the competitive spirit, the camaraderie, and all that in difficult times…Organising an event with strict rules for safety is already a big task…promoting 2 in the same weekend is a mammoth task and so well executed by the wheelers. A thank you to the committee of Drogheda Wheelers for supporting the Belgian Project, and the effort of putting the races on, and the devil does it all Gearoid Campbell for the results of all the races this weekend…a big chapeau is in order!!
