Achill cyclists ready for Croke Park Challenge

Achill cyclists ready for Croke Park Challenge


Anton McNulty

IT will be an early start for up to 20 cyclists next Saturday when they set off from Croke Park for the 300km journey across to country to Achill for the second Croke Park to Achill cycle challenge.
The charity event is in its second year and will see the 20 cyclists leave Croke Park at 6.30am on Saturday morning, April 6 on the start of their 300km journey to Achill which will see them arrive home on Sunday afternoon.
The Achill GAA Croke Park to Davitt Park Cycle Challenge will this year raise money for Croí, the West of Ireland Cardiac Foundation as well as Achill GAA club and Achill GAA Bord na n-Óg.
This is the second year of the event which was an overwhelming success last year in terms of raising money for Achill GAA and its chosen charity, Cancer Care West, and also in terms of a social event for all the cyclists and the supporters.
Last year the cyclists who made the journey in warm sunshine said they were overwhelmed by the welcome they received on their return into Achill. The peloton were joined by another dozen cyclists in Ballaghaderreen and Castlebar for the final legs of the journey and were greeted in Davitt Park in Achill by close to 400 well wishers.
As a result of the success more cyclists have signed up for the challenge which will see the cyclists travel through seven counties along the route.
For the last number of weeks, volunteers who have put their name down to take part in the cycle challenge have been training to get themselves into peak fitness. They plan to cycle 200km from Dublin to Ballaghaderreen on Saturday, April 6 before resting overnight and cycling the rest of the journey the following day.
Despite the cold and wintry conditions over the last number of weeks, a group of cyclists have met up every Sunday morning at Davitt Park in Polranny since the beginning of January and cycled up to 100km in order to prepare for the challenge.
Cllr MicheΡl McNamara, who will be taking part in the challenge said that despite the difficult weather conditions, there was no let-up in the number of cyclists preparing for the cycle.
“Last year was a really enjoyable experience and while the weather has been cold and the training difficult with the wind everyone who has signed up has put in a good shift. It has not been competitive but has been tough and everyone has been helping one another. At this stage we are ready and really looking forward to it,” he said.
Cllr McNamara added more cyclists living away from Achill were also putting in the miles in preparation for this Saturday.
Each cyclist is hoping to raise up to €300 each for the charity and sponsorships are available throughout the island. As well as the individual cyclists raising money, there was also a fundraising night over the St Patrick’s weekend and a bag packaging fundraiser took place in Sweeney’s Supervalu, over the Easter holiday weekend.
Cllr McNamara wishes to thank Croí Achill Branch and Mr Barry McCann of Croí, for their presentation of commissioned t-shirts for the cycle and to all the people who supported the charity.