Local members enjoy Spanish trip
Lakeside Wheelers notes
The past few weeks were a complete mix of everything the Irish weather can throw at you with temperatures ranging from below zero and everything that entails to glorious sunshine and even some heat.
Lakeside Wheelers members, for the most part tend to ride in all conditions for the twelve months of the year but the early part of 2026 really tested everyone’s patience. So much so, some decided that enough was enough and they went in search of some badly needed sunshine and that all important Vitamin D.
Paul Murtagh, Mick Walshe, Ronan Bracken, Paul Gibney, Peter Rimmer and David Lally all headed to Rafelcofer near Valencia in Spain for a week’s cycling in the nearby hills. This is an amazing area which has been a favourite of professional teams for early season training for years due to the excellent road surfaces and the very manageable gradients on the many hills that lie just inland from the coast. Athlone native Pat Buckley has been hosting cycling clubs in Rafelcofer for many years and it’s not the first time the Lakeside Wheelers lads have experienced his hospitality.
Pat’s knowledge of the roads and back lanes make his spins almost stress-free for his guests and the Mullingar crew was delighted to have him escorting them each day. The weather was perfect for what the lads wanted and they enjoyed six great days on the bikes.
The same week saw Charlie Sheridan and Shay O’Toole head a little further north to the cycling mecca that is Girona in Catalonia. The geographic location of this medieval city with France and the Pyrennees just a few kilometres away means it is home to several professional cyclists who train daily in the surrounding area.
Like the Valencian region, the road surfaces around Girona make it a dream for cycling and when you throw in the sunshine and the gourmet food it is a destination well worth visiting. The lads even managed to bump into former club mate, Caoimhe O’Brien who now plys her trade with professional women’s team EF Education Oatley on one of their spins which was a great surprise.
Caoimhe had just returned from racing in Italy and is now preparing to head to Belgium for some of the biggest races on the calendar.
Lakelander Gravel Grinder
Last Saturday three Lakeside Wheelers members travelled to Fermanagh to participate in the Lakelander Gravel Grinder event. This is one of Ireland’s most difficult gravel cycling challenges with distance options varying from 100km to 60km to 50km but the plus side is the beautiful terrain, the remoteness and the spectacular scenery the routes pass through. Well done to Paul Cronin, Tess Martina and Seamus Moran, who completed this great event.
Racing
The Irish road racing scene generally gets up and running in March so with Paddy’s Day parades and pints now a distant memory the calendar is well and truly opened up. Neil McDermott went to the Lucan GP recently and raced in the C2 category. This is always a very competitive race and Neil did
very well to finish in the fast paced bunch. Last Sunday Nicholas Vorwerk drove a little further north to participate in the Jons Drogheda Wheelers promotion of the Coombes Connor Memorial race. Nicholas is currently a C3 cat rider but has extensive experience from when he raced in Ireland in the past and he did very well to finish in the leading bunch on Sunday.
The Midland League committee met in February to finalise dates for this year’s series of races and it has been decided that Lakeside Wheelers will host two rounds on May 7th and July 16th.
50th Anniversary Celebration
With the weekend of April 18th and 19th fast approaching it is now time to turn our focus on the big celebrations to mark the club’s 50th anniversary. The organising committee have been working very hard in recent months putting everything in place to ensure that this is a weekend to remember. An email with all the relevant details will be issued to members in the coming days. If you are still interested in joining in for the cycle and dinner on the evening of Saturday, April 18th please do so ASAP as final numbers will be issued to the Hodson Bay Hotel next week. Please contact any committee member or email secretary@lakesidewheelers.ie for details on how to register.
Membership Renewal
The clocks will be going forward next weekend and this often inspires a lot of members to get back on the bike for the longer and hopefully warmer days. The committee ask that everyone ensures that their 2026 membership is up to date.