Slevin among winners as Shannonside CC hosts national paracycling event

As has become a bit of an early season tradition, Shannonside Cycling Club had the pleasure of hosting paracyclists from across Ireland for the second round of the National Paracycling Revolution Cup in Athlone earlier this month.

The race took the form of an ‘out and back’ 16km individual time trial (TT) with riders departing at one minute intervals along the Old Dublin Road between Ballydonagh, just east of Athlone, to Farnagh, west of Moate. Being slightly uphill for much of its length, the 8km ‘out’ leg is always the hardest, and the strong easterly breeze which was blowing this year made it even tougher going.

Even the hand cyclists on the very low recumbents used by competitors physically unable to turn conventional pedals suffered, as did athletes on racing bicycles and tandems. Once at the halfway point competitors rolled round a bollard placed in the middle of the road. Turning involved briefly holding up the traffic and both organisers and competitors are thankful to the drivers who patiently waited for this to happen.

Now with the wind and slope in their favour, riders regained some of the time lost in the first half as they made really good speed back to the finish in Ballydonagh. Then, with all the riders times now taken, timepieces and calculators were studied and winners decided with local paralympic athlete Declan Slevin from Rosemount winning the H1-H5 handcycle class.

With the hard work now complete, riders and their supporters were invited to join Shannonside members for presentations and refreshments at TUS Midlands in Athlone.

Shannonside CC’s next event is their ‘Tour of the Heartlands’ sportive on Sunday, May 11. Information about that event and the club in general can be found on the club website (https://shannonsidecc.info) and on the club’s Facebook page.