Yeats Country Cycling Club is on the way up
YEATS Country Cycling Club was borne from an idea of 6 friends brought together through the competition of road racing in Ireland. The idea of the club was to be all inclusive covering all cycling categories, and ages.
Our first club meeting involved nomination of club posts and decision of the clubs name: Yeats Country Cycling Club was mentioned and it was clear from all in attendance that it just felt right and no one objected.
Quickly we went from six friends trying to set up a new club to 12 all interested on developing both their own cycling and also cycling in the Sligo area.
The club went with a basis of 60km routes around Sligo, Leitrim & Roscommon, and the short loops meant we could facilitate all riders.
Whilst most members were concentrating on improving fitness throughout the winter months, behind the scenes the club committee members were busy trying to iron out all administrative requirements by Cycling Ireland to become a fully- fledged new club, part of these requirements in- cluded club affiliation to be paid directly to Cycling Ireland, covered mainly by club members individual club membership fees but also by our first sponsorship from a very kind club members wife.
Some decided to kick off the race season in the Dublin Wheelers Open race and the rest of the lads in the Cycleways Cup on the Sunday in Navan.
Whilst nothing was really expected in these races, we were going to use them as a gentle easement back to the racing scene.
However when the line beckons in the last 200m it’s very hard to hold back sometimes, and in both races Yeats Country riders finished within the top 10. The highest being a 6th in the Cycleways Cup.
This was the beginning of what was starting to look like a great first season for Yeats Country Cycling Club and good results were being picked up along the way at this stage.
Every weekend there was some member or another taking top 10’ s, best finishers in their category and over the Easter Weekend the first win came in the Gorey three day one of the most prestigious races in the Irish Cycling Calendar, our youth branch of the club was preforming very well and was starting to show up us older members.
Morale was very high in the club and with the addition of our new club gear and a high profile sponsorship deal with a well- known Sligo hotel the Riverside, Yeats Country Cycling Club started to become a formidable force in the cycling scene in Connacht and Ireland.
But it wasn’t just the cyclists getting the results on the bike we had a number of members performing very well in both Duathlon and Triathlon competitions around the local area, also doing their bit getting the name out there, we were beginning to be recognised as a club not to be taken lightly.
Yeats Country Cycling Club continued to pick up members during the year helped both by the results coming our way but most notable the presence of club members training on the roads around Sligo and as weather improved and days were longer, club members trained not only on Saturday & Sunday mornings but also Tuesday & Wednesday evenings for approximately two hours.
As we speak the membership of the club currently stands at 28 members, but will likely increase for next season as interest has been shown by other cyclists who want to progress their fitness and join with like- minded people.
Not only do Yeats Country Cycling Club offer a club membership to these cyclists we also offer an associate membership to anyone that wishes to train or cycle with the group but don’t formally want to join for one reason or another.
So what’s next for Yeats Country Cycling Club and to the future!
In the immediate future formal winter training begins in mid- October, what does this mean?
Simply, training will begin on time and formal routes will be planned ahead of the ride and posted on the club Facebook page.
In the mid to long term future though, Yeats Country Cycling Club would like to be involved in developing more youth riders in Sligo!
This will be achieved through hard work of current members who will develop these young riders through coaching and experiences they have had in their own cycling career.
We should continue our goal of becoming a dominant force within cycling in Connacht and Ireland, and possibly taking an overall victory a “Yellow Jersey” in one of the well- known cycling tournaments in the country.
The ultimate goal being, a Yeats Country Cycling Club team entered in the An Post Ras, the yearly eight day stage race, where Irish home grown club riders get a chance to pit themselves against some of the best pro- cyclists in Ireland, England & Europe.
The goals are ambitious but the membership is dedicated and the experience is there to be tapped into, where a number of our riders have already taken part in the An Post Ras, one who has won two stages of this tough competition.
Whilst our goals on the bike are clear and we can see where we want to be!
We were very lucky to have a number of contributors of funding in our infancy year, and some that receive no acknowledgment on a weekly basis.
This is the opportunity to thank all contributors to the cause, but as our goals grow so will our need for more funding if we are to achieve our long term goals.