Saturday Cycle

Hey All,


Winter has arrived so we are going to head out into it.


Ride tomorrow on the road, meet at the back of the hub for 8:55am to roll out at 9am.


Plan is to head north along some nice easy roads for a while.


Rain, wind, snow or ice.


Bring some coffee money incase its very very nasty.



Greg
DCU Cycling

Welcome!

First off to those who get this who have left the club or college,
apologies, the un-subscribe bit at the end of the email is there if you
do not wish to receive these emails any more.

Hello and welcome to the DCU Cycling Club!

Sorry about the long mail, but it'll explain all that is going on!

First of all thanks for joining and, this is our 6th year back and
after the successes last year lets make it a good one!

So, down to business! My name is Greg and I'm the treasurer of the
club and ex chairperson, I've been an XC mountain biker and track rider
for years. I've also been known to do cyclocross just because I don't
get enough pain. The rest of the committee is made up off a mix of
roadies, mountain bikers, and cyclists

Michael McCarthy :Chairperson(Roadie )
Diarmuid O Cronin :Sectary (Roadie and track rider)
Greg May :Treasurer (XC and Cross)
Mick Maher :Safety (XC MTB)



_The Club:_
The club is now in its 6th year and still going strong. Last year we
hosted the most Cyclocross National Cyclocross Championships in January
of 2010. We also hosted the cyclocross intervarsities last year, where
we won the mens team event.

The initial idea of the club was to get a group of riders who are
interested in racing competitively in the MTB and road scene as well as
catering for recreational riders and people who want to compete in the
more specific disciplines like track and triathlon........oh I may have
forgotten to mention the beer which happens every now and again. However
since then we have won multiple intervarsity titles, had members race at
world intervarsity level, and compete and win at both national and
international level. For a relatively young club we have a high race
pedigree, even though deep down we are a mongrel of several different
clubs from around the country :)

_Training and trips:_
Each week you should be getting a mail from the club, this will have
a list of the activities that the club is planning for the week on it.
These will in general be either MTB spins, road spins, tri training
sessions or whatever else is going on in the club that week (races,
drinking sessions, and so on). We are going to try and alternate the
organised weekend spins between mountain and road each weekend. This
will allow those of us who like to do both, to do both! The intensity of
the spins will depend on who turns up on the day, later into the
semester we will start to have harder specific spins, and easier relaxed
spins. But don't worry the pace will always be that of the slowest
rider...unless were sprinting....or going downhill very fast.

A rule of thumb for all club spins *you must *wear a bike helmet. THIS
IS NOT AN OPTION. If you are on a club MTB spin you need to have a lid
and be aware that you are likely to crash at some point. Simple. For
all MTB, road racing, track racing, and triathlon events you also must
have a helmet this is to comply with Cycling Ireland regulations, and,
if you do take a spill on a session, its less to worry about and you'll
have to wear one racing anyway's.

Roadies
With no lack of roads to train on this wont be an issue for the
roadies or tri heads in the club. Spins from the college, either the
back of the Hub, or from the front of Spar, will be going on every
Wednesday while we still have the light, and longer spins will be being
organised for the weekends over the coming months. Local spins to the
college include laps of the Boot Inn course, laps in the Phoenix Park,
spins out in Skerries and Howth direction. Other weekend spins will be
organised to the likes of the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. In order to
make these spins a bit easier, if you have a car and a bike rack could
you send me a mail if you are willing to do a bit of driving. Come the
summer we will be looking to enter the club members in races and
hopefully get in on some interclub racing too. Also the intervarsity
road races provide a great pre season test, and we will be going so you
have a target for all that winter training.

Mountain Bikers and cross riders
Same as with the roadies, the plan is to run a major trip every second
weekend. These trips for the start will be going from DCU out to the
likes of Howth and St Anne's park. These spins will be good for those
ppl who are new to mountain biking and those who just wanta quick spin.
Trips will be getting organised to the likes of Three-rock, Ballinstoe
and Wicklow, but transport for these trips is kinda dependent on the
situation with grants and who is free on the day. So if you have a car
and a bike rack, send me a mail so we can organise trips that little
easier. Cyclocross training is being held on a Tuesday night out in
Knocklyon and people should be cycling out to it most weeks. All you
need is a cross bike or a MTB and a willingness to run about in the mud.

Track
To any track riders out there I say welcome. Plans for the winter
include trips to Manchester velodrome and some recreational grass track
racing as well as some real track racing to be arranged for the new
year, with the possibility of some intervarsity action going on too.
I'll be training at the Dublin track over the winter (weather
permitting) so you are all more than welcome. Some of us will also be
training, and racing, in Manchester in the winter league so if you're
interested in this get in contact with me ASAP. For those who have never
ridden a fixie before, its not scary, it's fantastic. Nothing wrong with
one gear, no brakes, and no free-wheel. It's perfectly safe...mostly.

In general
If you or a few others feel like just going for a spin. Do it. Use
twitter account, meet up for rides and get out there. We will always try
to run as many trips and events as we can but if you guys feel like a
spin in the middle of the week go for it! The easiest way to organise
this is....

The website and forum:
Website http://dcucyclingclub.blogspot.com/ is where we will be
updating all the info for the club, and the facebook page: . So keep
checking in. Keep an eye on the Twitter feed, this will be the easiest
way to update on spins, get other people to come for spins, and to just
shout out random things. http://twitter.com/DCUcyclingclub is the
address, and just type @DCUcyclingclub to post to it. Try to keep it
vaguely sensible its not going to be monitored 24/7

At this stage I think I have typed enough so I'll leave it with,

Thanks,
Greg

Long dark winter

The snow came.

It's nearly gone now.

Roads are clearing.

Time to get cycling again.

Supercross Cup Round 2: Tymon Park

Another race on the cross calendar saw 3 riders from DCU racing (Mick as Swords, Greg as Team WORC, and Jeff as DCU).

Perfect racing conditions with shorts and jerseys the name of the day, grip under tyre, and mud under foot on the boards. Not much more you could ask for. Warm ups were dont, much talk was done, and the pre race banter was put away as the 30 mins call was given. Last drinks in, last warm ups done

A dodgy start to a roundabout and back in the same direction saw a bunched group hit the first corner flat out. Elbows out, leaning on, and getting in the way for the first few corners led into a fast approach to the traditional boards and remount section. A short sharp up suited the more road oriented, while the slippy rutted section after suited the MTBer's.

One of the nicest off camber s bends on a 20' hill lead to sketchy moments for most riders but with most staying rubber side down. A short slog in the singletrack over to the bridge and a hard paced section along the fence into a headwind. The final finish 180's the only section of the entire course where grip was at a premium left some riders clawing for grip while others just power slided into it all for the amusement of the crowd. Good results for the club riders:

Greg: 23rd in 1:00:53 (+1 lap)

Mick: 25th in 1:02:40 (+1 lap)

Jeff: 44th in 1:01:51 (+3 laps)

Overall winner:

Robin Seymore 00:58:13

Great photos from Ollie at MAD MTB here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ollietrex/8112009TymonSupercross#

Trip to Revolution Track Meet

As per normal for this time of the year, a trip is being aranged in conjunction with the track commission to the Revolution Track Meeting in sunny sunny Manchester*. Always a great trip with beers and waffles...and some racing to be watched. Info below:

We are presently taking bookings for the Track Commission trip to the first of this seasons Revolution Track Meets. The meet we have targeted is the one on Saturday 14th November. We will be travelling by Coach on the Ferry on Saturday and returning the next day. We will be staying in the Diamond Lodge Hotel.

Cost for youth up to and including Juniors will be at the subsidised cost of €80 with adults paying €125. Costs to include Bed & Breakfast in the Diamond Lodge on a 2 per room share basis, all travel costs and entry to the Revolution Meet. Assembly will be at the port of departure (yet to be decided) and return will be to Dublin Port circa 6pm on the Sunday.

Please initially reply by e-mail to Will Byrne will@kingscroft.ieThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and follow up with a deposit to secure your place.

Places are limited and will be allocated to those who place deposits first.

Deposit for adult €50, deposit for youth €40. Balance payable a week before departure at the latest. All youth must hold a current Cycling Ireland licence and will have to complete a Parental Permission to Travel Form which we will supply.
Youth U10 are welcome but must be accompanied by an adult.

Cheques made payable to the 'Track Commission' to
Will Byrne, 13 Haydens Park Dale, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Ph 086 8047839

For those who have never been at one of these meets, they are sell out events with over 6000 paying fans in the Manchester Velodrome and the field comprises World & Olympic Track Champions mixed with stars from the road and as varied a program of events as you could wish for. We would very much like our young riders who have never seen this level of competition up close to come and witness track riding at its best on the 42 degree banking.

On behalf of the Track Commission

http://www.trackcycling.ie

*Manchester may not actually be sunny, it may be very very cold

Winter Spins and stuff

Winter....i bloody hate winter.

That time of the year again, clocks have gone back and only the daring few train in the evenings....mostly in a field...so they cant be seen.

Tuesday & Thursday nights:

Usual training in Knocklyon for the cross and MTB crew. Heading out at 6:15 as normal from Spar. Sessions are getting bigger now, nearly 16 riders at the last one....a guy left after 10 mins hence the nearly.

Wed afternoon spin:

Due to the hour going back we are going to get rid of these for a while, just gets a bit dangerous when its getting dark at 5 and a group of riders forget to bring lights! However...as of next week we will be starting turbo/roller training up in the gym again. We have an allocated slot up there and we should start to use it. Take it easy, take it hard, your call. If you've never rode rollers before come along and learn...always good fun. Probably head for a beer in the slipper after.

Saturday Morning Road Spin:

Yes they are back and with vengeance, with the cross lads talking themselves up we need to keep the roadies legs spinning over for the winter season. Going to meet at the back of the hub at the lovely hour of 9:30am and head out on the road for a few hours. Not sure on where or how long, the group will decide when it meets up. Bring a few quid incase of cake stop, bring water, food and warm clothes.

Sunday Cross Race:

Up in Lisburn, up north, 3rd round of the Ulster CX league. Good course, nice fast section by the canal, bring armbands if you dont like water, its bound to be a wet one. Info at: http://www.dromaracc.co.uk/ucx/UCX_Series2009.htm

Thats it more or less, talks of beers on Friday, more on that when its confirmed

Ulster Cyclocross League Round 2

Another weekend another cross race. Season is kicking off fully now with most people having dusted their bikes off and getting them covered in mud all over again.

Sunday saw a long drive up to Carrickfergus for the second round of the Ulster Cyclocross League, first round also being the Supercross Cup the weekend before in Lurgan. 2 hours 45 mins later we finally arrived in a field in the middle of nowhere. Wind blowing, rain tanking down, and what looked like a sodden field beside the playing pitches. Thankfully we found out that we were going to get showers after the event so the mood was cheered up a little....despite the obvious standing water in the field.

Only 34 riders turned up due to weather, roadworks, and general apathy. On top of that only 5 riders from down South, poor show lads. Gridding up after a pointless two lap warmup, which ment that 30 mins were spent cleaning the bike before warming up on the road again, had me sitting on the second row with a direct line at the holeshot.

10 seconds, clip in, check the gearing. GO. Gun it up the hill and get into the first corner in 6th place. Hold it through the first few corners until the second hill. Drop a place to Fergus and so the fight began. 5 laps back and forth each of us fighting for every inch in the corners and hills. Every descent I'd take him, only to loose it on the hill. 5th lap and I put in a big effort, get a gap of 4m going into the hill and just kept going, needed to drop him! Top of the hill and he's blown, keep it going on the descent and by the end of the lap I have maybe 10seconds on him and he's slowing.

7th lap and disaster; chain pops off as i hit it with my heel pedaling through a tight right hand corner. By the time i have it back on and get moving again Fergus has caught me and gone past. Doing my best for a lap to get back onto him but not a chance, he's motoring and i cant get back.

7th place, just outside the prize money. But good points in the league non the less.

Lots of photos from Andy Potts at : http://mitzelphoto.fotopic.net/c1773205.html