Midland League race series 2026 comes to a close
Midland League
The 2026 Midland League race series came to a close last Thursday with the final race in Bunlahy, County Longford. The league consists of 14 rounds of road racing including two TTs, one of which goes up the Cut in the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Congratulations to all participants, to the organisers, to the sponsors (OE Bikes) and finally the promoting clubs who ensured a good, safe and well marshalled race every week. Results and more info to follow.
Tour of the Lakes
Event organisers at Lakeside Wheelers are currently working hard to put everything in place for the 2026 annual club sportive. The Tour of the Lakes is one of the most popular leisure events in Leinster with over 100 riders from many different clubs taking part every year.
This year the event will be on Sunday, September 6th and as usual there will be a route option to suit all abilities. Starting with the longest, there will be a 130km option at approx. 32kph followed by a 28kph option for the same route.
If there is enough interest the organisers will also facilitate a slower group to do this long route but it may not be leader-led and participants will work off GPS maps. The remaining option will be to complete an 85km route at either 28kph or 25kph.
Unless stated, all groups will be accompanied by a Lakeside Wheelers appointed leader/s and there will also be support cars and moto outriders.
The routes are the same as last year, so riders will make their way from the clubhouse to Crookedwood, Multyfarnham, Coole and Castlepollard from where they will dip in to County Meath and do a loop section around Lough Bawn then back to Castlepollard for refreshments via Fore village.
Following a short break the routes will differ somewhat for the second legs with the longer route taking riders from Castlepollard to Collinstown, Delvin and Cloughan where they will turn for Kinnegad via Killucan and home via Milltownpass and Rochfortbridge. The 85km route will turn in Collinstown and return to base via Monkstown, Crazy Corner and the Delvin Road.
Organisers will have the routes well signed and it is hoped that all club members intending to participate will register online ASAP.
Ring of Kerry Sportive
The Ring of Kerry is obviously an extremely well known tourist attraction but once a year it becomes a mecca for leisure cyclists, who want to challenge themselves on the famous roads and complete the 170km circuit. There was a good group of Lakeside Wheelers members in the Kingdom for this year’s event and it included three generations of the Marshall family with Jimmy, his son Kevin and Kevin’s son Tadhg all crossing the line after a great day out together. The lads were joined by Richie O’Donoghue, Pat Muldoon and Mick O’Donovan for the spin so well done and congrats to all who finished this iconic route.
Club Spins
The very good summer weather has ensured that the weekend and Wednesday evening club spins were extremely well attended over the last few months. The C and D groups go out every Saturday morning from the clubhouse at 09.00am while the A and B groups go on Sunday mornings at 09.00am, also from the clubhouse at Columb Barracks. The Wednesday evening summer spins will be coming to an end shortly with the Committee set to call an end date in the next week. Anyone wishing to join Lakeside Wheelers should email secretary@lakesidewheelers.ie for more info.