NTW Club Notes
Good evening everyone. I hope you are all keeping well. Now that the clocks have gone back an hour, the bright evenings are well and truly gone but its not all bad, as we did have the bonus of an extra hour to sleep in, which we wont complain too much about. Where has this year gone? Its now official everyone “Winter is here” 🙂
The notes are just a little bit longer this week but we have lots of news to get covered, so go make yourself a cuppa, relax and enjoy the read.
So to start off our wrap up of this weeks events the first order of business took place on Monday evening last where we held our club AGM and it took place in the Dapp Inn, Nenagh. We have to say a big thank you to all the members who attended on the evening, it was great to see and also thank you for your valued input to the meeting it was very helpful as always. As per normal club protocol a new committee for the 2017/2018 season was elected and we now want to introduce you to them all.
Front row Left to right: Selina Hynes (Club PRO), Owen Hynes (club Chairman/President), Jan White (club secretary)
Back row left to right: Andy English, Conor Hannon (assistant club Secretary), Rob Dalton (Club Captain), Peter Moynan, John Foote, Eoin Woods. Missing from our photograph is Kevin Byrne (honorary treasurer), and Michael Molamphy.
A special word of thanks go to our outgoing Committee, your hard work and dedication to your club during the year was very much appreciated. We also now want to extend our thanks and good luck wishes to the new committee for the 2017/18 season ahead.
Finally we want to say a big thank you to Susan and Frank from the Dapp Inn for their kind hospitality, allowing us the use of the bar to host our meeting and the supplying us with hot finger food after the meeting concluded.
Here’s to another successful and fun season ahead.
Tuesday and Thursday
We held our normal turbo training session and they are going very well. Everyone is enjoying these structured classes now they’ve started back, more on changes to the turbo sessions below…
Wednesday
We are very lucky in the club to have this Pilates class available to us. This is an ideal class to strengthen your core muscles and its very beneficial for the body. Good exercises. No pain no gain as they say. We have to say thanks to Paul from Busters Fitness for putting us trough our paces and running an excellent class.
Weekend club spins.
Two great days of training by all accounts on Saturday and Sunday with good numbers out on both days which is fantastic to see. Fair play to Gary and Kevin for kick starting the training and organising a great spin which seen a good turnout of members there, even with a few of the regulars missing for different reasons, so it looks like we should have enough to have some great winter spins this year. We just need members to keep turning up so no excuses, if you want to race well next season get yerselves to these sessions!
On Saturday, a tale of not two but three punctures! It started dull but dry, but out the road a lingering heavy mist in certain parts stayed with the lads for a good chunk of the spin but a good roll over instigated by our drill sergeant kept everyone working and warm and the miles slipped by quickly with only a couple of punctures allowing people to catch their breath! It was the first time in a while a puncture was met with several sighs of relief! 😀 A badly needed few minutes break was then enjoyed in Newport where the lads had some nice coffee and even some treats! There was more rolling over intervals on the way home and the lads got a great workout into their legs and definitely got the ball rolling with the winter race training. We even heard on the grapevine that a third puncture was encountered by Gary before he got home! Definitely a trip to the shop before next weekend is now needed… 😉 For anyone with aspirations of doing well in club races or crushing that big event next year, now’s the time to get out and start your winter training. These Saturday spins will be tough but with structure and manageable and it’s these spins that will help build a great base for next year so get out there and give them a try. Don’t worry if you come out and struggle at this time of the year as there’s a lot of people coming back after a rest period and the like but there’ll always be some encouraging words to keep hanging on and even if you end up turning back early you’ll have managed a lot more than if you stayed at home in bed and every week you’ll see improvements that you might not have thought possible!
There was another great turnout on Sunday morning and it was a lovely start with even a little sunshine creeping through. After a mini debate on the route in the carpark, it was settled on a fairly flat 90km loop out to Roscrea, on to Birr and back by Borrisokane. A few others decided that they’d head over to Moneygall and tackle Army Hill and a couple of others that needed to get home early went out with the lads on the longer spin but cut back at Moneygall and headed over to Cloughjordan and home by Borrisokane. The lads got in another good training spin with a good rollover keeping everyone on their toes and giving no one a chance to relax for too long! 😉 Some great efforts put in by everyone today and they enjoyed a nice well deserved coffee stop in Birr before returning back to Nenagh.
Great to see so many out this weekend so keep it going now and keep up the good work! Well done everyone!!
Club Turbo nights – New venue
We want to get more of you to give the turbo sessions a go during the week with direction by our very own, the one and only DJ Rob. These are structured sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday night and are a fantastic way to build up your fitness levels over the winter months when the weather can be less than favourable outside. We have three club turbo trainers there available for anyone who wants to see what turbo is all about and give it a try, first come-first served. Then if you decide that you enjoy it and want to continue, you can purchase a turbo of your own. So what have you got to lose? If you require any information on the classes prior to the night you can contact our club captain Rob on 087 9234308 and he will be more than happy to answer any question/query that you may have.
So on that note, we have a bit of good news for the club in regards to our turbo training venue. We have secured a bigger premises that will allow more members to join in on these classes. The new premises is the Ballycommon Badminton club hall and we will have complete access to the club hall and facilities on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8am to 12pm up to the end of March 2018. There is the added bonus of a big airy hall so you won’t overheat, ladies and gents changing facilities and ladies and gents toilets. So, as of next week we have full use of the badminton club on those days. There is a small area just off the hall that you can store your turbo trainers securely after each class if you don’t want to take it home and it will be locked after each session but anything left there is at your own risk! The storage area can only be opened by Rob or another key holder to be determined at the start of the class. You will have to take your bikes home with you though as the storage area is limited. The only thing we have been asked by the badminton club is that you bring a turbo mat, cardboard or large towel to place under the turbo trainers and bikes while they are in use so that the hall floor stays protected and no moisture falls onto it which we think you’ll agree is only fair and everyone needs to clean up after themselves, leaving the hall in the same condition as it was found. Also note, that anyone using this facility will need to pay a token membership fee of €2 to join the badminton club on their first night. There won’t be any further charge to club members for the use of this venue over the winter as the club is paying for the hire of the venue so we hope there’s a great take up from our members of this new venue and it encourages more of you to get involved in the turbo training which any of those that have previously completed the course over the winter will attest to how much of a difference to their fitness it made for the following year! If you want to bring along a friend who isn’t a club member for a session, they are more than welcome once they are a member of Cycling Ireland or Triathlon Ireland and they can partake in the class for a small fee of €2 per session plus the once off fee for the badminton club membership. We want to say thank you to the badminton club for allowing us the use of their hall and we look forward to starting there next week. A special word of thanks have to go to Pat and Mags Bergin who have for the last few years very kindly allowed us the use of their unit in Streame for our turbo classes, it was very much appreciated by the club!!
Mudguards, mudguards, mudguards!!!!!! Plus winter safety and a special offer for members.
It’s that time of year again folks and after the weekend just gone we got a stark reminder of the importance of mudguards with only half the people out having them fitted to their bikes. It’s no good for people who go off and spend the time and money fitting a mudguard to protect other people when the courtesy isn’t returned by everyone and you get all kinds of crud thrown up at you which can lead to irritation or illness. They also protect you from getting saturated and your bike from excess wear and tear so there’s no reason not to fit them. It is also very important to be seen out on the road by drivers and other road users at this time of the year so there’s no excuse now as we have been given a fantastic deal on winter lights and mudguards to kit out our bikes for winter cycling by our own club member Peter Moynan of Moynans bike shop. Peter has offered the club a fantastic 30% discount to all members on lights and mudguards shown in the pictures below which is a super deal so we expect everyone to get at the very least a rear mudguard on their bikes going forward. Thanks Peter for offering this great package!! Give him a shout in the shop to avail, there’s something there to suit all pockets.
Club Awards night and dinner
As you are all well aware of by now our annual club awards dinner is fast approaching us and we honestly can’t wait. It’s always a great night out on the club calendar and it’s all about catching up with good friends, enjoying fantastic food and our members being recognised for their many achievements during the cycling season. So no excuses now everyone, put the 11th of November in you diaries. The dinner is at 7pm in the Thatched Cottage, Ballycommon, where we will enjoy a three course meal, followed by short speeches and then finally the awards presentations. After that you can relax and dance the night away with music by Pat Holland. Bring the dancing shoes. The cost of the evening is €25pp, fantastic value we hope you agree. Bring your friends and family everyone welcome, it is a party after all. All members who won prizes we do ask that you try attend on the night and be recognised for your achievements during the year.
Finally we ask that you let Jan (087 1374354) know if you are attending the dinner and get your place booked with her. Final date for bookings is Sunday 5th of November(that’s this coming weekend!!!) as the restaurant will need to know numbers at least a week before so they can get organised for us. Thanks everyone and we hope to see ye there.
Club midweek and weekend spins
As usual we will have our normal spins during the week and weekend so please do not be shy, come out and give them a go. We look forward to seeing ye out and about.
Tuesday: Club turbo from 6.30pm to 8.30pm in the Badminton hall, Ballycommon. Contact Aggie 087 2454408
Wednesday: Club Pilates core & strength class with Busters Fitness, Kenyon street car park, Nenagh at 8.15pm. Limited spaces available so contact Peter on 067 31293 to confirm your spot.
Thursday: Club turbo from 6.30pm to 8.30pm in the Badminton hall, Ballycommon. Contact Rob 087 9234308
Saturday: Club training spin leaving Woodies at 9am.
Sunday: Club spin leaving from Moynans. Some changes this week that need to be finalised at time of writing article. See club WhatsApp members group or Facebook page for update closer to the day.
Depending on numbers present, there will be up to three groups of different speeds which are:
“Green” that will be around 20-24kph average
“Orange” which will be around 25-29kph average.
“Red” which will do a 30kph+ average.
Sample routes here: http://www.northtippwheelers.com/club-training/club-routes/.