The summer and long Evenings are back and no one loves it more than the cyclists. It’s brilliant!
At Marble City Cyclers, we are organising spins on Monday evenings for people just starting to cycle or who may have a bit done but want to join a cycling group.
This is ideal for you if:
- Your thinking of doing a Charity Cycle to raise money for that much needed charity but have no experience – this is for you.
- You want a new healthy and enjoyable past time – this is for you.
- Always fancied to do a bit of cycling but was afraid you couldn’t keep up with the group – this is for you also!
Basically this is for anyone who interested in doing a bit of cycling!!
Monday Evening Spins are ideal for those who are just starting out in the sport of cycling or those who want to get used to riding in groups. Riding in groups is also a lot more fun than going solo too. These spins are about 25 to 30 miles – but don’t worry if that is too long for you, as you can always join us for the first few miles . But we must warn you that you could be surprised at how quickly you can build up your fitness to do this distance!!
For anyone starting out, we suggest that they give themselves the heads up on the safety of cycling by clicking here
So where, when and what time do we meet?
We meet up at the main gate of Kilkenny Castle at 6.50pm every Monday evening and our routes are then determined. We do this as we like to have the wind on our back on the way home! Most of our spins will be between 90mins and 2 hours long and are done at a gentle pace.
Here is a sample of some of our spins:
- Castle gate – Freshford – Ballyragget – Castle gate: Distance 47km [Google map]
- Castle gate – Gowran – Thomastown – Castle gate: Distance 44km [Google map]
- Castle gate –Thomastown – Knocktopher – Castle gate: Distance 46.5km [Google map]
- Castle gate – Callan – Kells – Castle gate: Distance 40.5km [Google map]
- Castle gate – Paulstown – Gowran – Castle gate [Google map]
What do I bring?
I know it’s stating the obvious but please bring a bike!! A helmet and enthusiasm are also compulsory and essential – there are no exceptions. We also strongly suggest that you bring liquid with you (water and sports drink are the most popular choices) and some food, perhaps bananas and nutri-grain bars. It’s also important that in the unfortunate event of a puncture that you have a spare tube with you. And don’t worry if this happens (it happens to the best of us), we will help get you back up on your bike in no time. We don’t leave anyone behind!
I have done a couple of these spins and I want to take it to the next level
Excellent, that is what we love to hear. We do have Club spins on Saturday and Sundays, where we meet at the Castle gate at 9am. The pace of these cycles are faster than the Monday evening spins and tend to be longer (80 to 100km) so it would be very much worth your while to do a bit more than the Monday evening spin before joining this group, perhaps on Wednesday and Thursday evening.
It would also be worth your while to have a goal for the year. Once you have a goal, you have an objective to work towards. We suggest that you make your goal known to other cyclists, family, friends, work-colleagues or as some of our members have done, to an entire pub! This will increase your determination of reaching that goal!!
For beginners, doing a cycling sportive before the summer is a great objective. Cycling sportives are non-competitive cycles that are taking place most weekends during the summer and distances tend to range from 50km to 200km. The most popular ones are the Wicklow 200 in June, the Sean Kelly cycle at the end of August and of course our own prize winning cycle*, Tour de Kilkenny, at the August Bank Holiday.
* Okay, we never actually won a prize for it, bit we did win many fans for this being a fantastic day out.
So does the Club do anything else?
Our list of events for 2010 are listed here. However to do some of these, you do need to be a member. Want to join? Click here!
Disclaimer
In participating on our spins, cyclists must understand and accept that, because of the risk of accidents and mishaps at speed, there exists a possibility of serious physical injury and damage to property. Each participating cyclist must undertake to indemnify Marble City Cyclers, its committee, members, servants and agents from liability for personal injury, loss and damage which they may cause or sustain, howsoever occurring. Joining the Club or participating in its events will be deemed to be automatic acceptance of these conditions.
