Last autumn, one of the first pronouncements of the new president of the Irish Cycling Federation, PJ Nolan, was that for the federation to survive it needed to become a far more professional body. Progress has been made in this area, due partly to the appointment of Eamon Duffy to the new position of chief executive officer, and now the next stage in the ICF's development is taking place.
Earlier this week the federation released the latest draft of their new strategy plan, an impressive document which plots their approach for the next few years and shows how they will attempt to effect a rise in membership and improve the prospects for both racing and leisure cyclists.
All clubs will have received copies of the strategy document, also available at www.icf.ie, and it must now be studied and endorsed by members of the ICF.
Four regional meetings will take place next week for this purpose: Tuesday's Leinster Federation meeting is at 8.0 p.m. at the Red Cow Business Centre. Meetings follow in Ulster (Wednesday, Lisburn Civic Centre), Connacht (Thursday, Travellers Friend hotel, Castlebar) and Munster (Friday, Mallow Park hotel). All are welcome.
On the competitive front this weekend, six Irish riders compete in the European cross-country MTB championships in St Wendel, Germany. Beth McCluskey and Don Travers line out in the senior events, Colm Mullen goes in the under-23 category while Glenn Kinning, Niall O'Shea and Johnny Reid take on Europe's best juniors. Tarja Owens will miss the race due to illness, while Robin Seymour is concentrating on a Norba race in America.
National senior road manager Declan Byrne has named Mark Scanlon, Dermot Nally, Denis Lynch and Gary McQuaid for next weekend's European road championships. He describes the first three as being in "great form".
McQuaid was chosen due to his freshness. "Gary didn't race that hard at the start of the year and has good reserves," Byrne said.
"The quartet will miss the Irish under-23 road race championships which, bizarrely, is being held on the same weekend as the Europeans. The junior and veteran national championships will be held on the same day, while the national time trial titles will be decided tomorrow in Castlebar.
The Wednesday night track meetings at Sundrive road will continue for the immediate future.
Next Saturday the schoolboy championships will be held, with road bikes permitted, while fixed gear machines are required for the women's, juniors and senior event one week later. Contact Will Byrne at 086 804 7839 for more details.
