Photos from Sligo-Letterkenny Charity Cycle 6th July 2008 organised by Paddy Delap of Clarkes Newsagents,Letterkenny






























Dinny Doherty(2nd),Jim Doyle (1st) and Joe Barr (3rd).


Below are photos taken at Charity Cycle for St.Muras National School Buncrana on 29thJune 2008.
Sum of €3,085 was raised on the day.



Paddy Mc Callion gives a last minute instruction to the cyclists at St.Mura's School Charity Cycle Sunday 29th June.


Postmaster Christian Mc Ginley turned out for the charity cycle despite injuries received at last weeks Tour of Malin Head.

There was a huge turnout of cyclists from all over the Northwest on Sunday last for this event, organised by the North Pole Cycling Club. Over 70 cyclists completed the 50k.course and funds raised on the day totaled in excess of €3,000.Though not a race there was an element of competitiveness among some of the participants.The two local clubs,North Pole and Four Masters were well represented and were keen to test themselves on this challenging course. The superior experience of Four Masters shone through and they had the first four finishers.Jason Mc Hugh,Joe Patton,Paul Gallagher and Shaun Stewart all from Four Masters finished in well under 90 minutes.Local Cyclists,Pat Mc Laughlin,Paddy Mc Daid,Cathal Wilson,John Mc Laughlin,Patrick Mc Laughlin and Eddie Duffy from Carrigart finished shortly afterwards.












Thanks to all who helped make today a success;
Cyclists,
Motorists,
Marshals,
Broomwagon drivers,
Tea ladies and gents,
Collectors,
Those who contributed,
Numerous others.



Tri-bars.
Cycling Ireland is currently in discussion with Triathlon Ireland re setting in place a mechanism which initially would allow triathletes, who are licensed members of Triathlon Ireland, to compete in club and inter club time trials without the need to take out one day licences.

However the Board has been made aware that in some instances triathletes are currently competing in club and league road races with 'clip on or tri bars'. These bars are strictly forbidden within C.I.'s Technical Regulations for use in road races.

Currently if clubs are accepting non C.I. members in club or inter club events then, irrespective if they are licensed by Triathlon Ireland or not, a one day licence is required and under no circumstances can anything other than classic handlebars be used in road races.


NORTH POLE CYCLIST OF THE MONTH

Cyclist of the Month for June 2008 is........ Cathal Wilson


Runner-up...............................................Sandra Mc Laughlin
Seen here after receiving plaques for their achievement of cycling from Mizen Head in County Cork to Malin Head (405 miles) are North Pole CC members, L-R,Karl Mc Laughlin and Sandra Mc Laughlin whose son Ronan cycles professionally for the Sean Kelly Ireland Team,Eunan Mc Laughlin,Liam O'Donnell (President North Pole CC) and Patrick Mc Callion.


Third place...............................................Christopher Carter


TOUR OF MALIN HEAD



The second Annual Tour of Malin Head was held on Sunday 22th June at The North Pole Bar in Drumfrees in Co.Donegal. There was a total entry of 77 from most of the local clubs despite the inclement weather.A large group from the neighbouring Four Masters Club were there to support the event as were Roe Valley's,Mary Boyd and Keith Sharp.,

Joe Barr who never misses a North Pole fixture was in fine form and evidently in a hurry as he completed the 100k.course in a time of 2 hours 50 minutes coming in just ahead of Four Masters Jason Mc Hugh who hung on like flea on a dog for the 100k.

We got a number of commendations on the event. Phoenix member Brendan Mc Cartantravelled from County Antrim with Andrew Rooke instead of doing the 40k.TT at Woodgreen.Brendan was pleased to have made the long journey to the North Pole Bar.He promised to be back to Inishowen in four weeks to do the Tour of Inishowen 150k,possibly the toughest ride in Ireland. Andy and myself left at 6.30, were in Derry at 7.40, cruised to Buncrana and had a leisurely breakfast- black pudding & the works. Some 70 riders, including a large number of local youth riders, left North Pole bar at close to 10 am. A group soon formed in front of the pack led by Joe Barr but it soon disintegrated when we hit the hilly section nearer Malin and after that we were all in little groups of 2, 3, 4 etc. After a brief stop for water we headed off again with 5 of us in my group - Mary Boyd & Keith Sharpe from Roe valley and Owen & Cathal from North Pole club. We had a lovely steady run to the finish and I enjoyed it so much I never noticed when the rain came on but apparently it rained like hell for last 20 miles! The route was well marked and marshalled with cheery faces popping up all along the course. Little clubs like this put many of the bigger clubs to shame.
Back at the North Pole bar some tea and sandwiches revived the spirits - there was enough grub prepared to feed a large army. I had 2 pints of Guinness as a recovery drink and left for Belfast, with Andy driving, a happy man. Chapeau to all concerned in North Pole club for putting on this great event and many thanks for their great hospitality. Brendan Mc Cartan,PhoenixCC.

Roe Valley sent two of their key people,Mary Boyd and Keith Sharp.
Thanks to all at North Pole C.C. for a great day out. Even with the very wet conditions the enthusiasm and warm hospitality shone through. I had a great ride in a group with Cathal (N.P.C.C.), Owen (N.P.C.C.), Brendan (Phoenix C.C.) and Mary (R.V.C.C.). With the banter the miles seemed to fly in. I think as the word spreads of the traffic free roads and friendly welcome your events will go from strength to strength.

Keith Sharp Roe Valley C.C.

On a more local level Derryman Allan Mallett was also glad to have got wet in Inishowen. He wrote;
Carl,
Just a quick note to say thankyou to the NorthPole CC for their warm
hospitality yesterday. As a relative newcomer to the world of cycling
(just registering with the Foyle CC team) I was pleasantly surprised
with the level of organisation and thought whch you and your team put
into this event. The encouragement from the support vans & cars, the
water break at Docks & especially the hospitality back in the pub was
superb - please pass on my sincerest thanks to al those at the pub who
helped organise and make it a great day despite the weather.

Congratulations to you and all your support team - well done.

Allan Mallett, Derry by e-mail
Thanks Brendan,Keith and Allan for the kind words and thank you to all of the other real cyclists who turned up on such a wild day.
.









Whats on next?

6th July	George Faulkner Memorial Cycle	Quigleys Point	10am.	40k.	Marty Noone
6th July	Sligo-Letterkenny Cycle 120k.	Sligo	11am.	120k.	Paddy Delap Letterkenny 074-9122240

MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL TOLAND,ONE OF OUR LONG-DISTANCE CYCLISTS

Carl,

Just dropping you a line to let you know about a cycle I am doing starting this Saturday with two friends of mine from Galway and Mayo. I spoke with you about it away back if you remember one day I met you outside Coyles in Cloontagh. Basically we're going to retrace the “Flight of the Earls” route through Europe, and in doing so raise funds for cancer charities. This journey will incorporate 2,200km of cycling over 22 days. We will pass through several countries including France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy arriving in Rome on 20th July, 2008, crossing the Alps as we do so.
We're paying for everything ourselves and all monies we raise will go directly to charity without exception. I've chosen Donegal Hospice and Carndonagh Hospice but you can also donate online through our website to Cancer research; our website which has all the details of the trip and us is www.flightoftheearlscycle.com/ The Derry Journal has an article on us today and the Inish Times are doing a piece tomorrow. We'd really appreciate it if you'd pass the word around the lads in the club and so that anyone that wants to donate a few euros they can. As I said they can do it online or they can donate direct to Donegal Hospice or Carndonagh Hospice at; Michael C. Toland Michael C. Toland c/o Isobell Doherty c/o Gertie Monagle Donegal Hospice Carndonagh Hospice Knocknamona Carndonagh Hospital Letterkenny Carndonagh Charity No. CHY9993 Co. Donegal Thanks Carl appreciate anything you can do, sorry for not being in touch earlier or getting to the Sunday morning runs over the past few weeks but things have been hectic as I'm based in Letterkenny at the min and have been doing a lot of training up there for the cycle. Give me a ring if you want to ask me anything about it ( 086 8418338 ), thanks again, Michael Toland

BACKGROUND OF NORTH POLE CYCLING CLUB

North Pole CC was formed in 2006.
There are currently over 50 members in the club all holding Cycling Ireland licences.The club has training rides each Sunday throughout the year which start at the North Pole Bar Drumfrees at 10.30am. These are ideally suited to beginners and improvers and a typical ride is 30 miles at approximately 15mph.Youth training also takes place on Sunday mornings at Drumfrees School at 10am.More experienced cyclists are also catered for on Sundays by a 9am.ride which starts from The Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana. These vary in distance traveled but a speed of over 17mph over a 3 hour timescale is the norm. The club also has organised a number of special events throughout the summer months which replace the regular rides. These are listed in the club calender as are the contacts details for the various club events.The club welcomes all cyclists to join in their events subject to them holding Cycling Ireland licences where required.
The club holds a Cyclist of the Month(CotM) competition on the last Sunday of each month.The organiser of that days event will chose a cyclist who he feels has deserved recognition for his performance during the month.Winners of CotM are listed later in the website.North Pole Cyclist of the Year 2008 will be chosen by ballot by all club members from the twelve finalists.Presentation will be made at the club's AGM in January/February 2009.

Cycling with Sean Kelly in Majorca.

In April 2008 a number of NPCC members attended the Sportactive Training Camp with Sean Kelly in Majorca.The trip was such a success that there will be 20 North Pole places in the 2009 Sportactive programme expected to take place on 17th April next year.Anyone interested in joining this excellent cycling holiday should contact the club secretary as soon as possible.