And so we have come to the close of what has been, a truly epic week for Comeragh CC. There are a number of things to write about but where to start? The obvious one is with our team who completed the most grueling cycling event this small island of ours has to offer, the An Post Rás. The riders, Martin, Tadgh, David, Ciáran,& Noel went through what they’ll initially remember as a hell of a week, but as the bodies recover and the form they’ve gained through the week comes to them over the next few weeks and months, they’ll look back on the week I’m sure with fond memories. Sure the suffered lows, from the obvious ones of the crashes on day 1 to the less obvious of holding the pace that the world-class pro riders at the pointy end of things would inflict on the county riders, everyone of whom had truly deserved their place on the start line of this great race.
But the lads exploits during the race only told one side of the story, none of it would have been possible without the help of their fantastic back-up team Morgan, Cian, John & Alan. We must express our huge thanks to them.
Another huge thanks must go to the sponsors who came on board, to help the team achieve their goal of becoming ‘Men of The Rás’, EirGen Pharma, Q1 Scientific, Mean Bean Coffee, Hutchinson Auctioneers, Full of Beans, Chia Bia, Iveagh Fitness Club and Nearform.
During the week, we followed Cian’s updates that he sent us on Whatsapp and that he posted on Facebook, we followed the Twitter updates and we read with great interest the reports that the riders themselves put up on their dedicated Facebook page: Here
Then of course we had our man Ciáran on the podium on day one for the first county rider, we understand that after recieving the jersey he rang his wife Lisa to gloat that he had now worn all the prize jerseys of the Rás, only to be swiftly shot down when he was reminded that he had never worn the young riders jersey. Oops. Well and truly burned.
Ciáran once again made waves and headlines for this selfie which he took on day 2 as he rode the Conor pass. The pic which earned him a €90 fine. Ciáran, who along with the Waterford Racing Club pair of Robin Kelly & Shane Power recieved the sanction for: “Taking ‘selfies’ with a mobile device during the stage”
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/three-irish-riders-fined-for-taking-selfies-during-ras-stage/
This picture it seems may have started a bit of a craze as selfies from riders all over the Déise have appeared all over social media with tags along the lines of “hope I don’t get fined”
On Saturday the lads on the normal 9.30am training spin from the Bank of Ireland on Paddy Browne’s Road in Waterford decided to head for the hills of south Kilkenny to shout on race and especially our lads. A fine stropping bunch of lads! However two of the lads, not content with just cycling up and then home, had bigger plans. John Tracey who will on June 18th do a solo 400km spin Details here along with David Howell did a fine 250km spin on the day.
Some however decided to offer their support in a different manner by teasing the lads by sending them a pic of himself supporting a lovely Rás t-shirt enjoying a coffee outside a café in Tramore, not T-Bay, by the way, tut-tut Tommy, although he did claim it was in jest. We believe him.
Two of our underage members managed to get a picture with stage 7 winner Eddie Dunbar. Were sure at least one of these 3 youngsters is set for greatness in the future.
While all this was going on, there was the certain matter of the normal, weekly racing. On Saturday May 28th Rás Ceatharlach. Result of the day went to Brian Cullen who sprinted for third place in the A4 race. Well Done Brian. Even managed to find video footage of the finish.
And finally……
News filtered through on Twitter on Saturday that Comeragh CC had made the final 20 shortlist in the competition for the “best sports club in Ireland” run by The Irish Times.
More info on this great accolade can be read here: Click Here
