2009 Boot Inn League wrap-up
Click here for all images from race 6 in our photo gallery.
Bray Wheeler's Orla McEvoy became the 2009 Boot Inn Champion at the final round of the league last night. The winner on the night was Sandra Fitzgerald (Lucan). This year we have run the league as a shorter competition consisting of 6 rounds run in (almost) consecutive weeks. Despite the weather putting up a constant challenge, with rain and wind most weeks, we saw some of the best boot inn racing to date! For the final round, while the turn out was relatively low, four previous league winners turned up, with three time winner Roisin Kennedy (Lucan) in joint first place with Orla McEvoy (Bray Wheelers).
The 2009 league saw many newcomers turn up, with a remarkable improvement in new riders like Orwell's Sandra Telford, and Swords' Laura Banfield. The 6 round league consisted of two 10 mile time trials and four 20 mile road races. The time trials were a good measure of each rider's improvement at the half way stage, and the road races saw some aggressive riding from both the beginners' Limit group, and strong Scratch riders. In the earlier races in the league the Scratch group were quickly gaining time on the beginner groups, but as the league went on a combination of the beginners getting stronger, and a decrease in the size of the Scratch group, saw the top six over the line moving from being Scratch-dominated to being a mix of Limit and Semi-Scratch, making for exciting racing coming into the last few rounds.
In the final round, last night, the Limit and Semi-Scratch groups combined due to a low turnout, and with the guidance of Dave McLoughlin they worked well together, making the most of their handicap. This first group on the road worked together hard to maintain their lead, with riders like Orla McEvoy (Bray Wheelers) and Sandra Telford (Orwell Wheelers) aware that valuable points were on the cards. Monica Marconi (Orwell Wheelers) had been producing fast times in the Time Trial, so had all to gain in the race. The winner of the last round, Sandra Fitzgerald has made decent jumps over the past few months in both performance and experience, and raced a smart race. The Lucan rider was aware that her teammate Roisin was in the running for the win so was careful to not help drive the pace on. However, once it became apparant that Scratch wouldn't catch her group, she made it an impressive two in a row, jumping clear of the group approaching the line, with Sandra Telford an impressive second. Monica Marconi came third ahead of league winner Orla McEvoy. Orla's teammate, Fionnuala ní Bhradaigh (fresh from her fine silver medal performance in the European Duathlon Champs), came 5th with Laura Banfield claiming 6th place. Valerie Fenton just missed out on extra points, finishing in 7th place.
Scratch consisted of talent transfer rider Caroline Ryan and Roisin Kennedy, Siobhan Jacob and Kate Rudd - who were all previous league winners. There was a slight delay at the start line, while the group waited for Kate Rudd, who is still adjusting to the time difference following her very successful week of racing in Holland. Once they got going the four set a strong fast pace, quickly making up ground on the group ahead. Lucan rider Roisin Kennedy was keen to reclaim the title which she last held in 2007 and Caroline Ryan was keen to score points, as she went into the race just trailing the lead by 3 points. However, the fastest Scratch rider on the line was Siobhan Jacob (2003 winner), who attacked her group at the roundabout on the last lap, taking 8th place on the line.
The domination of the first group on the road in this final race meant that Orla McEvoy secured the overall win, with Sandra Telford, who was second on the night, climbing up into second place. Roisin Kennedy took third place, and in joint fourth place were Sandra Fitzgerald, Heather Boyle (Ravens) and Monica Marconi, giving the overall top 6 a good mix of riders from all the groups. Next year's league will more than likely take on a similar format - being run over 6 consecutive weeks.
Thanks
As always none of these races would be possible without the assistance of all the marshals who have turned up week after week despite the miserable weather. Most notably to the Lallys and Dave McLoughlin who we can always rely on, even when the race clashes with big soccer games! Thanks to Brendan Culleton who has been fantastic, turning up each week to record the magic moments, and for publishing the photos for us so fast always. Thanks to Paddy Doran for all his coaching advice in the league, Paddy coaches many of the top riders in Ireland, so we are lucky to have him working with us. Over the league we had several coached races, with Geoff Liffey, Anto Moran and Hugh Byrne all helping out, and we also appreciated the timing expertise of Danny and Jo O'Shea from Bray Wheelers at the time trials. Thanks to everyone who turned up from all the host clubs, Orwell Wheelers, Usher Irish Road Club, Ravens and Lucan. Thanks also to Valerie Considine and Orla Hendron from the Women's Commission for putting in a lot of effort to ensure everything runs smoothly each week - often having to opt out of racing themselves to ensure the course is sufficiently marshalled.
What next?
Although the Boot Inn League has come to an end for the season, there are still a lot of opportunities out there for the women.
Wicklow Women's League
Next Tuesday (2nd June), the Wicklow Women's League will be kicking off. This is a very exciting race run by Jenny McCauley and the Bray Wheelers, and is raced on a 5km flattish circuit around Ashford. Last year's inaugural race was won by former runner Geraldine Hendricken, in her first year on the bike, and the race is also open to youth riders who are capable of the 25-30km race.
Track League
The newly surfaced track at sundrive has recently been opened to the public, and the popular Wednesday night league has already started. Track racing has become very popular, largely due to the fact that the GB Team at the Olympics in Beijing commanded a lot of attention with their savage performances. Everyone is welcome to try track racing in Sundrive. However, you must be accredited first - and accreditation is run on a Saturday morning at about 11am. Check out www.trackcycling.ie for more information.
Women's National League
The next step for any women who ride the Boot Inn, or any beginner's league, is to try a National League race. These are slightly longer, but are still run on relatively flat circuits. As it is the races are a mass start, with extra points being awarded to less experienced riders. Racing these events is the best way to improve at cycling, even take Sandra Fitzgerald as a good example of a rider who started winning races after racing in the National League races. The next league race is in Navan on 14th June. We recommend this race to anyone who has raced at all, from club races to beginner's leagues, if enough Limit riders turn up we might even consider giving them a head start!!
Women's National Championships
This is the highlight of the road calendar in Ireland, and takes place in Dunboyne on the 27th June. This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to race against rider's of all abilities right up to those racing against the best in the world - like current National Champion Siobhan Dervan, who was 24th in the World Championships last September. We would really like to see everyone support this event as it is the main event on the women's racing calendar. We will soon be announcing details of a training plan for riders who are unsure of whether or not they are up to this. Note also that it is a laps of a relatively flat circuit, so you can start it with the aim of staying in for as many laps as you can. We would really appreciate seeing you all turn up for this event, as it will reflect the progress of women's cycling in Ireland... for the record we have already equalled in five months the membership of all of 2008!!!
