Club History 1996/1997

Club Captain Noel McGlynn and his aides Maoilíosa Ó Dubhthaigh (Secretary) and James Walsh (Treasurer) administered the club in 1996/97. Brendan Kilbride (Mtb), Jason Fallon, and Niall Murphy completed the committee. 46 members joined during Fresher’s Week. Due to the success of the previous season, notably from Niall Fanning and Jason Crowe, the Club was able to attract some experienced riders to the Club. In particular Brian Lennon (who transferred from St. Tiernans), and David Lane (Irish Road Club) were seen as significant additions to the clubs racing team. Brian had been chosen on Regional (M.E.R.), Under-23 National, and Senior National teams in the past two seasons. Brian is one of the most consistent riders on the Irish scene, and his major performance in ‘96 was his superb win in the McArdle Trophy in Dundalk. David’s fame to claim was that he was the only Irish stage winner in the 1995 Junior Tour of Ireland International Stage Race. He won the Listowel Road Race in August ’96 and finished 6^th

in the National S3 Road Race Championships in Cork the following month. David’s brother Alan (formerly of St. Tiernans) won a number of S3 category prizes in the early season races.

In all 14 Club members took out F.I.C. licences. They were as follows: Tadhg de Barra, Glenn Brennan, Jason Fallon, Niall Fanning, Brendan Kilbride, Kieran Keane, Alan Lane, David Lane, Brian Lennon, Noel McGlynn, Maoilíosa Ó Dubhthaigh, Paul Tansey, Louis Twomey, and James Walsh. Brendan Kilbride and Paul Tansey made Club history by becoming the first U.C.D. riders to compete in F.I.C. Mountainbiking events.

The season got of to a flying start as U.C.D. debutant David Lane sprinted clear to show a clean pair of wheels to perennial front men Michael Fitzgerald (Premier C.C.), Colm Bracken (I.R.C.), and David Peelo (Sorrento) to win the 46-mile Mid-Eastern Region (M.E.R.) League race at the Boot Inn. In doing so, David had defied the odds for an outstanding triumph for both himself and the Club. The following day, Brian Lennon kept the U.C.D. flag flying high by finishing 5^th in the prestigious 72-mile Beechmount Cup, while in the ‘B’ Category race, David Lane and James Walsh finished 6^th and 9^th respectively.

However this season will probably be best remembered by the exploits of Senior 1 category rider, Brian Lennon, who rode consistently throughout the entire season (March-September). He recorded 2 race wins at the highest level – the Newbridge GP and Stage 2 of the Dublin Bus 5-day, in which he finished 7^th overall; and he was just narrowly beaten into 2^nd place in the Beggan Trophy at Bohermeen. He also finished as runner-up in the Dick Comerford race in the Pheonix Park, and the M.E.R. league race at Ballymun. Due to the level of Brian’s success, which included a 4^th place in the Gene Moriarty Classic League race at Listowel, I have decided to concentrate on his Championship and Overall League results for the purposes of this report. U.C.D.’ top rider finished a very impressive 6^th behind Morgan Fox, David McCann, Raymond Clarke, Brian Kinneally, and Aidan Duff in the 110-mile Senior Road Race Championships at Carrick-on-Suir. The result is even more impressive as the student rider was competing against three (Fox, McCann, and Duff) men who had been racing full time in France. Two weeks later, Brian finished 6^th in the Under-23 Championships. He also had a very impressive end of season when his performances in the Kingdom Series saw him finish 4^th overall, and he also managed a bronze medal in the Mid-Eastern Region Road Race Championship. He took the Overall Runners-Up spot in the M.E.R. League. Brian was ranked 8^th behind David Peelo, Ciaran Power, Raymond Clarke, Thomas Evans, Patrick Moriarty, Ian Chivers, and Denis Easton in the Federation of Irish Cyclists Road Racing Rider Rankings. For the record, Alan Lane finished 17^th in the S2 Category, which was topped by Andre Engemann.

The highlight of the year, from a team’s perspective, however, was the performance of Alan Lane, David Lane, Noel McGlynn, Tadhg de Barra, James Walsh, Glenn Brennan, and Kieran Keane in capturing the team prize in the Gorey 3-day International Stage Race. English team, Milton Keynes finished as runners up. In all 38 Club/Regional teams were represented – 19 of which had 3 or more riders, thereby making them eligible for the team award. Alan Lane finished 3^rd overall out of 120 starters in the Individual Classification. The winning Gorey team was justifiably awarded U.C.D. Sports Achievements awards by colleges’ Sports Governing Body.

This year saw the Club first link up to the World Wide Web, when Niall Murphy made the breakthrough by creating a U.C.D. Cycling Club page on the Internet.

Noel McGlynn captured the Club League title, which was again held during the off-season, Brendan Kilbride retain his Mountainbiking crown while Brian Lennon was a clear winner of the Club Rider of the Year Award.Ladies Captain, Helen Kerrane made it a hat-trick of Ladies Achievement Awards.