O’Brien sisters honoured with formal Address of Recognition

Lakeside Wheelers club notes

Caoimhe and Aoife O’Brien, who are both Lifetime members of Lakeside Wheelers, were honoured last week by Westmeath County Council for their continued achievements in cycling. This came about as a result of a proposal from the committee of Lakeside Wheelers to the elected members of the Municipal District of Mullingar and Kinnegad.

The mayor of Mullingar, Cllr Mick Dollard, represented the elected members and officials at a ceremony in the Atrium of the County Buildings last Thursday, where a selection of local heroes from the worlds of sport and culture were presented with scrolls of recognition.

Due to racing commitments, Caoimhe was unable to attend, but Aoife, albeit carrying an injury received racing in Belgium recently, was present to accept the scrolls on behalf of both herself and Caoimhe.

There were also a number of invited guests and family members present for the ceremony.

The O’Brien sisters were proposed for this formal Address of Recognition by the committee following their selection to represent Ireland at the 2024 World Cycling Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.

Everyone at Lakeside Wheelers wishes Caoimhe and Aoife continued success for the coming season and hopefully we will see them racing on home roads at the National Championships which will be held in Co. Mayo in June this year.

The 2026 Midland League began two weeks ago with the usual first round individual Time Trial on the 15km Horseleap, Moate, Horseleap circuit. Sixteen club riders took to the start line for the opener with Neil McDermott registering the 5th best time in the A race. John Donoghue just held off Pete Rimmer in the Bs with John placing 4th and Pete 5th and continuing the run of 5th places we had Norman Blakeley in the C race.

Lakeside Wheelers was also very well represented in Round 2 which was promoted by Tullamore Cycling Club. This road race was held on the Horseleap/Clara circuit and featured the usual three groups racing in categories A, B and C. John Boyne was best of the finishers for Lakeside Wheelers in the A race once again coming home in 5th followed closely by Neil McDermott, Stuart Cox and Mike McCafferky who also made the top ten placings.

David Lally had a similar result in the B race with Steve Franzoni and Ronan Bracken also finishing in the top ten while club President, Jack Nugent had a great race in the C division making it a trio of 5th place finishes for the club with Seamus Moran and Ali Alshawib featuring strongly too.

This evening, Thursday, it is the turn of Lakeside Wheelers to host the 3rd round of the MiL which will be run off on the Dalystown/Castletown Geoghegan circuit. Please let race organiser, Steve Franzoni know if you are available to marshal as all races are depending on club members to ensure the race is safely controlled. If you are not free this Thursday, don’t forget we will be hosting a second edition on July 11.

Open Racing

With the new road racing season now well and truly up and running some members have already pinned on numbers and attended races in the Leinster region. Neil McDermott, Nick Vorwerk and Richie Lenehan have all raced in Carlow and more recently in Bohermeen with all showing well so early in the season.

Mallorca 312

Three club members were in Mallorca last weekend for the hugely popular 312 Gran Fondo event which attracted a crowd of 8.500 cyclists from all over the world. Charlie Sheridan, Mossie Keane and Brendan Kiernan represented Lakeside Wheelers with each attempting the three route options available. Charlie entered the 226km, Mossie the 167km while Brendan took on the mammoth 312km event. This annual festival of cycling on this most famous of cycling islands gives riders a fantastic opportunity to ride on closed roads with great support throughout the day.

Each of the three lads said they thoroughly enjoyed the experience despite the pain and suffering that comes with spending so many hours on the bike. They had very favourable weather as they traversed the island known as the Mecca of cycling in Europe with all routes involving several metres of climbing. However, the biggie is the 312km event which demands huge endurance to complete the distance in the allowed time and climb over 4,500M along the way. Well done to the lads who surely won’t find Slanemore or Skeagh Hill a challenge anymore!!!