Volume 1, Issue 1

01/12/2014

Tipperary Wheelers Cycling and Triathlon Club

Winter Newsletter
Ring of Kerry 2014: Leisure at its best!
The highlight of the leisure
cycling calendar in Ireland is
definitely the Ring of Kerry
charity cycling event, which
sees in excess of 8,500 cyclists takes to the scenic route
in the south-west on the first
Saturday in July each year. In
2014 we were extremely fortunate to see the largest group of
Tipp Wheelers yet taking part
in the event.
Preparation for this event
probably started in winter
2013, with many of us new
leisure cyclists using the terrifying prospect of a 180km cycle as a reason to get out of
bed for the group leisure spins
on Sunday mornings.
We
were glad of those cold crisp
Sunday morning spins when
we reached our goal of a full
days cycling in the Kerry hills
in the July sunshine.
In typical Tipp Wheeler fashion
the weekend in Kerry started
with cake and beverages in
The Gleneagle Hotel to cele-

brate Martina Byrnes birthday.

A big thank you also to Richie
Bourke who entertained many
of the guests in The Gleneagle
that evening with his talented
bagpipe playing.
An early
night was attempted by many
in preparation for the dawn
start the next morning.
I imagine this will be the only
time that Ill be on my bike
before dawn ever!! It was
amazing to see the street of
Killarney thronged with cyclists
at 6.30am, well before the official start time of 8am. The
early start was worth it when
we made it to the food stop in
caherciveen before the crowds
and so got the pick of the delicious spread on offer.
The atmosphere, levels of
abililty and the sheer volume of
cyclists was a sight to behold.
Locals lining the route with
their homemade banners and
cheers of support gave us
great encouragement as we
pedalled along the pothole-free

roads of the Iveragh Peninsula.

The fact that we could discard
our rain jackets for most (not
all) of the day also kept us
smiling!

Wheelers at the top of Mols

Gap on the Ring of Kerry.
As luck would have it the largest group of cyclists admiring
the view at the top of the first
major climb at Coomakista
were the Tipp Wheelers. Our
large congregation of red jerseys acted as a beacon for
other cyclists to comment on Some, in an effort to preour amazing team spirit. Evevent dehydration were
ryone realised that there was
seen drinking pints of
strength in numbers and by
wheaten coloured liquid
sticking in groups we would all
make it to the finish line in Killarney safely at the days end.
of Kerry cycling committee!
However the rest stop was
Zooming down off Coomakista greatly appreciated and proand into Sneem there were vided us with enough fuel to
rumours of an unofficial refuel- see us through to the next
ling stop for Tipp Wheelers and official food stop in Kenmare.
friends in the local public
house. Some, in an effort to Molls Gap was looming after
prevent dehydration were seen Kenmare. Many energy gels
drinking pints of wheaten col- were consumed at the foot of
oured liquid; Im not sure if this this fabled climb. The rumour
is endorsed by the official Ring is that Gemma Murphy may

Ride of the Turkeys 2014 Cycle for Cyclists

The "Ride of the Turkeys" 2014 is
taking place on the 27th of December at 12pm from Tipperary
Golf Club. This year the proceeds
are going to a very special cause.
Through Cycling Ireland our own
Dermot Radford was paired up
with Para Cyclist Martin Gordon.
Martin is a blind para cyclist striving to reach the 2016 Paralympics
in Rio. This year Martin, together
with his pilot Dermot, competed in
three international races including
representing Ireland in a World
Cup in Spain.

Funding is critical for Martin to be

able to purchase a race specific
tandem and compete on the international scene in 2015 with events
next year in Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland and Italy as he continues gaining valuable experience
and developing towards the 2016
Paralympics. All profit from the
2014 cycle will go straight to Martin to help fund his dream and
we're urging all local cyclist to
come out and support this one, a
cycle for cyclists.

Above: Dermot and Martin

Below: In action at GOtri League

Winter Newsletter

Photo reel from ROK 2014

Ring of Kerry 2014: Continued from title page...

have been one of the first
club members to reach to top
of this climb after consuming
her first ever energy gel. The
nice people at the energy gel
company might have a promotional job for you Gemma!
The view at the top of Molls
Gap may have been spectacular, but to be honest, I
think most of us were focusing on the relief we felt at
having completed the final
climb of the day. From there
it was plain sailing back
down into Killarney.
The
sense of achievement was
magnified upon seeing the
crowds of cheering support-

ers and photographers near- cyclists; unable to change

ing the finish line in Killarney gears and unable to put on
our helmets (yes seriously).
town.
With the right attitude, the
Wohoo! Job done! 180km on right mentors and the right
the clock! And all Tipp team-mates we are all capaWheeler team-mates safely ble of great things!
over the finish line! Needless
By Anne Marie OHalloran
to say there were a few celebrating Tipperary cyclists in
Killarney that night. Finally all
the newbie leisure cyclists of
2014 would like to say a
huge thank you to Pat Gallagher for his absolute tireless
Wohoo! Job done!
support of all of us in our
180km on the clock!
goal of cycling the Ring of
And
all Tipp Wheeler
Kerry. As promised you left
no-one behind. You brought team mates safely over
us from complete novice
the finish line

Summer Night Rider Club Tour 2014

I first joined the wheelers on
the Summer Night Riders
Tour June 2011, the clubs
second, there were 23 cyclists and the group photo
was taken outside the front of
the Local Bar in Doon, the
food/water stop. It was one
of the most enjoyable and
coolest spins I had with the
club.
The 2014 Summer Night
Riders had about 47-ish cyclists and was not just bigger
but was even better craic.

What can I say we had great

weather, great craic and a
massive bunch of cyclists to
include 8 junior members.
Some new and old faces (not
age related) took part. The
group photo was taken in the
beer garden this year and
there were bikes everywhere!
The fun starts at the Canon
Hayes Complex in Tipperary
town and never stops for the
whole spin! And if the numbers
are anything to go by, we could
have an even bigger bunch

next year! Its a spin that

never stops giving! This is
a spin for everyone!

UP AND COMING:

Crowd shots of this years

Tour taken in Doon

Wheelers Adventures in Killarney

With the help of the Tipperary wheelers I decided to do
the Killarney adventure race
in 2013, what a great event!
So good I went back for more
in 2014 and will be aiming to
do the hat trick in 2015.
The Killarney adventure race
consists of hill running, cycling and a short kayak, in
the lakes of Killarney, followed by a run and short
cycle to the finish line in the
glorious Glen Eagle hotel.

Their is 3 different distances

the 70km, 60km and the
33km mini, a coarse for all
levels. An adventure and
great time is guaranteed to
be had by all.
For training, a couple of club
members go on hill training/
running sessions over the
summer months to prepare
for Killarney so if interested
in doing something a little
different don't hesitate to
contact the club, we will

Wheelers enjoying the great

weather on the 2014 Ring of Kerry
Cycle. Roll on 2015!

gladly help you on your way

to your ADVENTURE!.
by Kevin McGrath

With all the leisure and tri-athletes

in the TWs we all too often forget
about our race pedigrees. Danny
Bresnan pictured had a great season this year representing us in
many road races and coming back
with a brilliant A2/A3 6th place in
the Tralee GP. Well done Danny!

CONGRATULATION!
TO OUR RECENTLY ENGAGED
COUPLES:
Una ODonnell and Sean Ryan
Ann Tracey and Sean Burke

Maurice, Paul, Aaron and

Kevin at the finish line 2014

AND TO OUR NEWEST WHEELER:

Kevin Bergin and Debbie Bresnan on
the birth of there son Jack
BEST WISHES IN THE FUTURE!

Volume 1, Issue 1

YOUNG WHEELERS

Club Triathlon News: Lough Cultra 2014

On May 25th Lough Cutra Castle
and grounds in the picturesque
setting of Gort Co Galway paid
host to the first Triathlon club
outing, and proved to be a great
day and introduction to triathlon
for many club members.
When the post hit the facebook
closed page 3 months previous,
it was like a whirl wind of members putting their names down to
enter especially with a relay
option available. In a short
space of time over 50 members
had signed up and started training to take on the challenge.
Thirteen teams of three and
twelve individual members had
signed up to witness what the
fastest growing sport in the
country was all about.
The national series event had

over a thousand participants in

total from rookie to pro level and
had many distances to offer
from sprint, Olympic, and half
iron distance which Tony Delaney, Matty Crowe and Val
Farrell took on with confidence
and did the club proud. Well
done lads!
The first discipline of the day
was the swim in the scenic
Lough Cutra Lake which was a
brisk 10-11 degrees (Thank god
for the wetsuits) and went off in
staggered groups. The cycle
was a single 20k loop for the
sprint and 2 loops for the Olympic. The cycle was tough and on
poor enough country roads, with
strong winds, and a couple of
tough hills to climb. For the run
leg it took in a lot of countryside
with fields and forest tracks. At

the finish line all athletes received a medal and recovery

drink for the hard efforts they
endured.
The day itself was such a great
success that next year its earmarked again for another club
day out, and rumour has it that
Paddy and Richie (Goose and
Maverick) have already signed
up for the early bird( Non feathered! Well done to all and roll on
2015.
By Tommy B

A highlight for the clubs youth

cyclist was the Suir Valley Cycle,
a 75km tour starting in Clonmel
town centre. Fantastic weather
set the scene for a great day
cycling taking in the famous Nire
Valley climb, such was the pace
of these youths even Keith Coyle
had to stop for a lie down at the
summit. Our youth brigade is a
credit to the Club and heres to
many more youth cycles and
events.
NEW MEMBER PROFILE:

Wheelers League Racing 2014

The 2014 club league was another success story of the summer and continued the year-onyear growth of the popular
event. A record number of 79
different cyclists participated
over the course of the 8 week
league. As well as the Tipp
Wheelers, there was significant
support from local clubs including Clonmel CC, South Tipp CC
and our friends and neighbours,
the Raparees.
It was the impressive consistency of James Williams from
South Tipp CC that was the

deserved winner. Mark Bergin, a

promising young rider from
Clonmel CC, took second place
and his team mate, Lee Compton, rounded out the podium.
Darren Alison of the Raparees
was fourth and Martin Breen
was the top finisher from the
host club in fifth. The combatitive award went to Eamon Bargary of Tipp Wheelers for his
"never say die" attitude.
We hope to bring you a bigger
and better league again next
year.

Open Water Swimming 2014

Once the weather started to
improve in may the open
water season got well and
truly under way. There was
several of us that went every
week for the summer
months. We have 2 venues
that we use one is an open
water lake in the bog near
Littleton and the other is the
river Suir near Golden. The
swim in golden consisted of a
warm up in the endless river
(swimming and going nowhere) followed by an upstream swim for 700m take a
break and the back down-

stream to the start again. In

the lake in Littleton we would
swim in a triangle shape
around several times to swim
a total of 1500m.

Winners of the 2014 Tipp

Wheelers League. Andrea Radford presenting the plaque to
James Williams South Tipp CC

2015 Club League

Provisional Start Date
30/06/2015

Into The Wild

Starting at the Cliff of Moher

one of our endurance riders
Richard Walsh began his
journey to the Austrian city of
Vienna. A 2674km half contiFor anyone interested in nental cycle taking in London
open water swimming a wet and Paris on his way to the
suit is a must as the water finish.
can be a bit cold. The difference of swimming open wa- Richards no stranger to enter is that you are not meetdure cycles previously cycled
ing a wall every 25m or 50m
in a pool. Make sure to join across USA from San Franus in the water this winter to cisco to Providence (4027
get you well on your way to miles) for the children in
open water swimming.
Providence School in Shillong

I Joined the Tipperary Wheelers

this year (2014). From the beginning everyone was so friendly
and welcoming, helping me
achieve my goals and coaching
me from almost complete beginner in all 3 triathlon disciplines.
With the help of TWC&TC I completed my first Triathlon on the
23rd of August in Castleconnell.
Paul Lowry
India in 2008 and in 2013, cycled
across Australia from Perth to
Sydney (via Melbourne).
Richard completed the cycle in
just 23 days and even managed to
blog his journey as he went. Read
more about this epic journey at:.
http://cycleacrosseurope.blogspot.ie/

Tipperary Wheelers Newsletter 2014

Pat Gallaghers Chairmans Address

Hi everybody, Let me just start by wishing all our members and supporters a very Happy Christmas and
prosperous New Year.

Chairman Pat Gallagher

All I can say is

roll on 2015, with
so many events
planned its going
to be a blast

It has been quiet a year for the Tipp Wheelers, so much has happened over the past 12 months that it
would take a chapter to document it all, so here goes, I am going to attempt to try and fit a few words into
a paragraph. I suppose the most significant thing that has happened is our membership has grown hugely
over the past year, we are now gone well over 100 members and counting, we have also made the decision to include junior members which was a big decision at the time given the rules and regulations that
are currently there on safeguarding these younger members, so with the help of the South Tipp Sports
Partnership we were able to go away and get certified as child welfare officers, and children's club officers
so as to be legally able to include the juniors in our club, and I have to say it has been a pleasure to be
able to take out these guys and gals along with there parents on some of our spins through out the year,
so the future looks good going forward.
So for me being tasked as chairman I would often hear the words your doing a great job, or the club is
flying, and I'm glad to say that yes it is, but this is in no way all down to me as we have a huge band of
volunteers and helpers that make the Chairman's job an easy one, so I would like to take this opportunity
to say a very big thank you to our members who help out and make the many events that we run as successful as they can be, and also to all our committee members thanks guys and girls for everything
through out the year it has been an absolute privilege to be involved, and all I can say is roll on 2015, with
so many events planned its going to be a blast, so hope you enjoy our little publication as we said it's just
a snip of what went on during 2014, so hope to see you all out and about in the near future, thanks and
bye for now, Pat

The Ironman Journey

Newcomers to the sport of triathlon
shouldn't limit themselves in the sense of
what they can achieve. Richard English,
Sean Bryan and I in our second year of
triathlon set our sights on Bolton UK
Ironman July 2014.
Training: First thing we did, we spoke
with numerous people for advice. The
recurring message was planning. Set out
your short term goals, aim for them and
then increase training and move on to
the next.
Our initial goals were Duathlons, Sprint
Triathlon, Olympic Triathlon, Half Ironman Distance then Ironman. Sounds
simple really. Kenny Curran provided
each of us with training programmes,
solid advice and continuous support
throughout the training and participating
process. Huge thanks to Kenny, I can
honestly say we tested him.
Lessons learned: Serious dedication is
required to achieve an Ironman. You will
train up to twenty hours per week between bike, running and swimming. You
will pick up niggles and more serious
injuries on the way, you will become
friendly with physios, bike maintenance
men/women, you will train in groups and
you will do a lot of long long hours training on your own. Plus there is plenty of
gear to be purchased, wet suit, Tri suits,
bike (upgrade), runners etc. Prepare to
live, eat and sleep Ironman.
Nutrition is also key to success. Proper
nutrients, diet, replacement minerals etc
are a must or else the body will find it
difficult to adapt to the strain.

Achievement: The event itself was the

best sporting event I ever experienced. It
was seriously challenging, a lot of people
didn't make the grade on the day, some
gave up prior to the event for various reasons, some unfortunately through injury or
accident on the day, some because of
mental weakness, others simply because
they hadn't prepared.
Swim: 3.8km swim was daunting to say
the least. Getting into the lake water at
0540hrs with 2000 people was unreal. In
the end we ended up doing over 4.5km.
Worth noting, don't limit your training to 3.8
max distance.

the best sporting feeling I ever experienced. Not just crossing the line, the
whole experience, living the Ironman
experience with the other athletes for the
few days in Bolton. Pushing the body to
the extremes it was pushed to was also
a learning curve, it is amazing what the
body can do and what the brain can
achieve. If planning to participate in an
ironman, surround yourself with positive
supporting people, prepare, prepare,
prepare, speak to a coach, listen to him/
her, seek nutritional advice and most of
all enjoy the experience.
By Paddy OCallaghan

Cycle: 180km of country roads with lots

and lots of bends and hills. Did I mention
the hills? Some the hills set serious challenges for weaker cyclists. Overall the bike
was hard, you can't train enough for the
bike it was enjoyable though.
Run:42.2km run was a nice way to top of
the day. It was obviously very difficult but
to be fair, the support and interaction with
a strong 10,000 supporters along the route
was mind blowing. Crossing the line had to
one of the best experiences of our lives.
There were definitely a few tears and most
importantly a major sense of achievement.
Post event: After the event people talk of
ironman blues, missing the training etc, it
might sound funny but it is real. We set our
sights on Dublin City Triathlon a few weeks
later so that again we could focus our energy and come down from the high of Ironman in a controlled fashion.
Overall on a personal level, Ironman was

Above: Richie, Paddy and Sean

Below: Paddy in action on the bike