Cycling Ireland Development Camp Report

A large contingent of Ulster riders attended the Cycling Ireland Development Camp in Westport, Co. Mayo over the weekend. It was attended by juniors with ambitions of being selected on elite and development squads for the road and track in 2010 along with Under 27 females and Under 25 males who wish to make the national development squad. Cyclists and volunteers arrived from all parts of Ireland, along with some foreign based riders on Friday evening.

Icy conditions on Saturday morning meant the proposed training spin set for 9.15am was postponed until 1pm. Three groups departed the Mayo tourist town for a 50 miles training ride that took in several roads that have been used in recent years for the Junior Tour of Ireland. Ulster representative on the national road commission, Stephen McKenna accompanied the Under 25 males spin. Fellow East Antrim – Audi CC member, Gary Wilson led one of the junior groups and had McKenna’s group who had departed shortly before under pressure to maintain their gap throughout the 50 miles of rolly terrain.

A steady high pace combined with several sprints along the course led to several riders losing contact throughout the day from the various groups. The current level of fitness and abilities of the riders were being tested under the watchful eye of representatives of the Commission’s along with Cycling Ireland’s High Performance Director, Phil Leigh, and Development Coach, Beverley Chamberlain. This was followed by interviews with all of the potential development squad members and elite juniors for 2010.

Conditions overnight remained above freezing, enabling the scheduled 9.15am ride for Sunday to go ahead. 70 miles on hilly and exposed terrain from Westport to Achill and back awaited the riders. The two junior groups and Under 27 females were combined into one group for the second spin of the weekend. With extra riders at his disposal, Gary Wilson ensured this group managed to catch the Under 25 males, making it a tough day in the saddle for several riders.

Cycling Ulster Talent ID Officer, Anthony Mitchell along with Cycling Ulster Track Coach, Brian Cardy were also amongst the province’s mentors that attended the weekend, providing advice and support to the riders throughout the weekend. The North Down CC team vehicle also helped transport some of the riders to Westport which enabled them to attend the development camp. Donegal volunteers included Carl Fullerton, Mark Buchanan and Patrick McLaughlin from North Pole CC.

Many Ulster riders equipped themselves very well throughout the weekend and the province should therefore feature prominently in the squads that are due to be released later in the week.

The volunteers who attended the camp were pleased to receive the following email from Phil Leigh;
Dear All,

Many thanks for your hard work before and over the weekend in Westport in ensuring the training camp was a positive experience for the almost 80 riders who attended. Without your dedication, enthusiasm and willingness to give up your valuable time
events like this could not happen in Ireland. We have a good set of up and coming riders and I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers of juniors and U23 riders that attended. An area we need to support going forward is the women, however from the 8 who attended we have the nucleus of a development squad to build on. Additionally we now have a lot more information on all 80 riders from observing them on two road rides and from the 1:1 interviews we held with each athlete.

Special thanks to Bev (Dev Coach), Dan (Head of road commission) and Liam (Head of track commission) for the excellent corporation between you and organisation in pulling the camp together. We know there are improvements to be made and these will be incorporated into future camps. Thanks too for your patience when we had to put back the Saturday road ride due to icy conditions on the roads.

The initiative and working relationship we are building between the commissions and the High Performance Unit of Cycling Ireland is very pleasing to see - I'm sure this will now spread into other disciplines of our sport.

I look forward to working with you again in future camps and events that help us move the next generation of riders from novice to champions on track and road.

Phil Leigh

REPORT: Patrick Withers

Pics Gary McIlroy (Road Commission)