Fundraising ride Sunday for Fermoy CYC

Fermoy Community Youth Centre is preparing to host a motorcycle fundraiser run this coming Sunday, July 18.

The local centre has been hit since Covid-19 and has yet to see many of their loyal pre-Covid clubs, associations and customers return to the centre. While the centre has applied for some funding during Covid, they have not received any financial support.

Kieran Barry, manager at the Centre, is a keen motorcyclist and in normal times, he and his colleagues have an outing on their motorcycles to enjoy the sport and help the centre with a fundraising run.

This year’s outing will see motorcyclists meet at Amber in Fermoy at 10am on Sunday 18th for a spin to Tramore. A general invite has been extended to all motorcyclists to take part. Members of the International Police Association Garda Motorcyclist Club will also be joining in on the fundraising ride.

While en route to Fermoy, the convoy will call to Araglen and support their very own fundraising initiative of a car, tractor and motorcycle run.

According to Kieran Barry, organising an event such as this has its responsibilities and indeed, risks, so he has decided that before they hit the road for the first time since lockdown has eased, some safety tips would be outlined.

“Many of the group will be experienced motorcyclists but some may be a little bit rusty in the saddle,” Kieran said.

Kieran is also mindful that in the last number of weeks the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Siochana have launched a new Bike Safe campaign, with signs highlighting the dangers of speeding and encouraging riders to be aware of their vulnerability on the road.

“Yes, we agree that speed is a factor in motorcycle accidents, but many accidents are caused by motorists in their vehicles not being conscious of their surroundings and watching out for the oncoming motorcyclist, so we all have a part to play in Road Safety.“Getting back on a motorcycle after such a separation needs to be managed with a renewed honesty that acknowledges that we are not, nor possibly are our motorcycles, at the level we were when we parked them up many months ago. So we plan to ease back in gently and be aware that our skills, and those of other road users, may not be quite the same as they were before,” he added.

So, don’t forget to give your motorcycle the once over before Sunday and check that everything is in order. Ride on!