Summer 2006 Newsletter

Club Leisure Tour:
The annual club tour will take place on September 3rd from Fingallians GAA Club. Registration is at 8.30am, departing at 9.00 a.m. There will be an 80 and 50 mile route as in previous years. The tour follows the same itinerary as the last few years with a tea stop in Jullianstown (The Old Mill Hotel).

Weekend Away:
Our annual weekend away takes place on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of October. The venue this year is Bloomfield House Hotel which is situated just outside Mullingar. The cost per person for evening meal, bed and breakfast is €80. A route has yet to be organised for those wishing to drive to the hotel and then cycle. Anyone wishing to reserve a place should do so as soon as possible as I have booked for 30 people. Cheques should be made payable to Bloomfield House Hotel and forwarded to me Martin Joyce, 14 Seabury View, Malahide, Co. Dublin. Phone 086 3809039.

Club Spins:
The weekly club spins continue to be the following times:
Thursday (tea stop) – 9.15am (Lord Mayors) – Distance 60 miles
Saturday – 8.30am (Blakes Cross)- Distance 50miles approx
Saturday (tea stop) – 9.00am (Lord Mayors) – Distance 50/60 miles
Sunday – 9.15am (Lord Mayors) – Distance 60 miles approx
More info on Noticeboard page on Club website

Photo courtesy of Triathlon Ireland

Caroline Kearney
The shock of Caroline’s untimely passing will remain with us for some time to come. She was a member of our club since she was 16 and her name appears many times on our Club TT Trophies. She was well respected by all across the sporting divide as a top class athlete. We considered her very much one of our own and although we took great pride in her Triathlon achievements many of us wished she would stick to cycling and we were sure we would have a national Ladies Champ in our Club. Her loss is still felt deeply by all her friends, training partners, and by all who cared about her in our club and across the many clubs of which her diverse sporting disciplines brought her. She will be the inspiration for many young Triatheletes for many years to come (Hugh Byrne)

(The photo above was taken by Arthur O’Donnell – one of the Belpark Tri club and is from one of this years Duathlon Series in the Phoenix Park this year)

Racing update: Brian Crinion – season report
This month I am going to give the limelight to Swords Club member & Triathlete, Brian Crinion. He had some illness problems during the early season, but under the direction of Dr Conor McGrane made a full recovery. Also on Conor’s advice he didn’t push himself too hard on his comeback, and now is in flying form as his recent results show.

On the 25th of June he placed 5th in the ‘Hell of the West Triathlon..Everyone’s allowed to have a bad day!!!! .Then on the 8th July he placed 6th in Athlone. This was an elite race with the draft legal format.This format suits the top swimmers and works against the reasonable swimmers, like Brian, as you end up chasing a well organised pack. The next week he won the Ballina Triathlon in a sprint finish, and was 2nd the following week in Bray. August started with a 3rd place in the Dublin City Duathlon followed by a DNF in the Castwellan Tri. As he put it “My first dnf in years, the zip wasn’t there so stopped trying to flog a dead horse and saved it for the next weekend”. This turned out to be a wise move as he took back to back wins on the 12th & 13th of August. A remarkable feat, made all the more remarkable as he beat 3 full time athletes in the process!

His stats for the year so far are:
Races: 15 Wins: 4 (Plus the Limerick Tri, where he was penalised for not having 6 toes); 2nd: 4; 3rd: 2; 5th: 1; 6th: 1; DNF: 1& one 17th place in the Home Nations Duathlon Champs.
“To be honest, I’m surprised to be still racing, giving how broken I felt in April. I going to finish my season with the Midland Duathlon in September. I’m going to give the European Duathlon Champs in Italy a miss as I don’t think I’ll last till October, plus my first cousin is getting married the same day”.

Where to now?
August: Lough Neagh Tri (top 3 aim)
September P&O Tri (only a maybe)
Dublin Tri (top 3 aim)
Mullingar Duathlon (top 3 aim)
Plus there’s the ongoing pipe dream of bringing home 20 race wins for Belpark Tri club in the clubs 20th anniversary, currently we’re at 18.
The nearest rival club at 10″. (Hugh Byrne)

Extra event (not counting towards League)
Club C/ship 25 Mile TT
Saturday 2nd September: Batterstown
Sign on 10.30 for 11am start
Visitors welcome

Anyone available to steward on the day please e-mail Hugh