Busy weekend ahead for Navan Road Club
It's all systems go for a busy few days of action next weekend when Navan Avonmore Road Club stage two events that have become annual fixtures on the local cycling calendar. On Saturday night the Ballivor Grand Prix will be staged at 7.0. This race will be run over a distance of 60 kilometres and is guaranteed to attract a large entry. The focus on Sunday will be the Tommy Brady Memorial Cup at Robinstown. Here the activities get underway at 11.0 with the u-12, u-14 and u-16 races. At noon the senior event will get underway and this is open to categories A1, A2, A3 and A4 riders. This race will be contested over a distance of 90 kilometres and will be staged over a flat, fast circuit which is bound to provide very exciting racing which is sure to suit the sprinters. Another busy club in the north east this week will be Cuchulainn CC in Dundalk. They will promote the All-Ireland Criterium (short circuit race) championship this Thursday evening in Dundalk Town Centre, 7.30. The prestigious event is being held in Dundalk as part of the Cuchulainn Cycling Club's celebrations to mark 75 years in existence. Drogheda Wheelers promoted the first round of the annual Mark Mullen Memorial League at Donore which is run on a handicap basis. The aim is to encourage new and young cyclists into the sport, and to give them a chance to compete with the well-seasoned and experienced riders. This is exactly what happened on the opening leg, when young Paul Dargle, a member of the Stamullen Martin Donnelly Club, riding in his first ever race, was let off in the first group to depart the start line. This group had a starting advantage of seven-minutes on the scratch group. Throughout the race they worked very well together and going out on the final four-mile lap, the original group was whittled down to just two riders, Mick Rock from the McNally Swords and the Stamullen youngster. When they came into view on the long finishing straight, it looked like it could be a large bunch sprint, as the gap was closing down fast. However, they managed to hold off the chasers by a very narrow margin and Dargle sprinted to victory from Rock with Stamullen's Javan Nulty securing third position. Others to finish prominently included Stamullen's Gary Gorman who was fourth, Dunboyne's David Cassidy who was fifth and Benner Maguire from the promoting Drogheda Wheelers who secured sixth position. The Mark Mullen Memorial League continues for the next two weeks, on Monday 19th and 26th July, Donore, 7.30. Navan's Colm Laverty crossed the line in first place on the opening day of the two-day Expert Mullingar A2/A3 time trial at the weekend. Laverty achieved an excellent time of 7.40 minutes in very bad weather conditions and went on to secure second place overall in this challenging event. Laverty's club colleague Simon O'Dea was ninth in the first stage and fifth on the second day. Gerry Harte NRC completed the A4 time trial in 9.6 seconds but was unfortunate to finish early on in the second day's racing due to a puncture. Declan Byrne finished in the leading group in the A2/A3 section while Heather Byrne and Hazel Hall were also involved in the action.