Island Wheelers Cycling Club, Coalisland, Co. Tyrone. Northern Ireland Official website for the Island Wheelers Cycling Club
Weekend Start Times now changed slightly
With the changes of the hour going forward, so too has the weekend start times for club runs slightly changed. The Saturday Pleasure Team remains currently the same start time of 10.30am meeting at the Cornmill, Coalisland but this start time could change over the summer months, as longer rides are taken on – so keep in touch with Gerard Scott and watch the notes for any upcoming long ride info. The Sunday group start time has now changed to the earlier time of 9am from the Cornmill.
Wednesday Night Runs
Wednesday night runs started in earnest last Wednesday with an almighty turn out at 6.30pm at the Cornmill! If only we could get all these riders out for the Saturday and Sunday runs together – it would be some showing! There were plenty of new gleaming bikes on show as riders caught up with one another and looked forward to a nice evenings cycling. As always on a Wednesday night due to the size of the group, and the time of evening, for safety reasons we usually split the riders into 2 maybe 3 groups – these tend to split into groups where one group just wants to maintain a steady pace and another may want to up the speed at times – so there is something for everyone on a Wednesday night – so come along, you’ll be made very welcome!
Sunday Group Notes
Sunday 3rd April was the first club ride this year leaving the Cornmill at the earlier start of 9am – there was a lower than normal turnout and this was put down to a few perhaps not getting word of the earlier start or others with their Mothers day duties taking priority and trying to rack up a few brownie points for use later in the year when they want to go on the Clubs annual summer trip (more info below!) Even Barney failed to make the start, so someone had to be designated the ‘Barney rider’ for the day where they must make at least 5 break aways during the ride when no-one’s looking!
The group pulled out of Coalisland just after 9am on a mild spring morning but rain was looming in the air – thankfully we outrun any rain and it was a cracking day overall. The group moved at a steady pace over to Donaghmore unusually quiet and that soon become clear when we turned off to begin the Altmore hill climb towards Galbally. A steady climb was followed by a very nice run overall via Seskimore, Augher, Aughnacloy, Dungannon and home with the pace getting faster on the 2nd leg of the route.
Once again another rider was caught out by the ‘Mars Bar break away’ where a rider takes his time at the shop stop and doesn’t realise the group has pulled away so quickly – we’ll mention no names, but Nigel you should know better! At least he got a wee bit of TT practice pulling the group back in!
Overall a good 60mile was done and was enjoyed by all. Keep an eye on the website for next Sundays route coming soon.
Inter Club Race Season Starting
It’s April – so that means Inter Club Racing is beginning – beginning this week with a nice 5 mile TT run by East Tyrone CC – starting at 7pm sharp and will be run on the Omagh/Cookstown road. On our website the full timetable of Inter Club Fixtures is now published – so we hope to see as many of our riders taking part in these.
Summer Trip to Sligo
Martin O’Donnell has 15 rooms booked in Sligo for Saturday 25th June. We currently have not got all the details yet of the cost but if there are any members interested in doing this cycle – please let Martin or Sheena know ASAP and if you are going please pay a deposit of £10 to secure your place ASAP to Barney or Cathal.
