O’Reilly Seals the Deal
Night 5 – Kilmanagh Hill – 10/06/10
O’Reilly put any contention to his lead beyond doubt when he came within 12 seconds of his predicted time to take maximum points from the night. Well done to Brendan for taking first prize in the inaugural Kilkenny Cycles TT league, where he was also rewarded for his consistent strong performances. Although it was generally agreed that this was probably the most difficult TT of the league, it was obvious from the numerous strong performances that the participants had a number of weeks under their belt.
Once again Joe Ryan put in the strongest performance of the night but either modesty or not knowing his own strength meant that he came well within his predicted time, meaning that he earned only the single point. Patrick Tobin’s solid performance couple with a good estimated time allowed him to move from fourth place to second place overall, no doubt to the disappointment of Sean Kelly and Mick Burke who came into the final night at second and third place respectively. Liam Lysaght’s last minute change in his time prediction was a wise call and earned him third place with 6 points, while Deirdre Prendiville’s debut put her on the leader board with “deux” points.
O’Reilly storms ahead on the Penultimate Night
Night 4 - Kells/Newtown/Kells – 03/06/10
Joe Ryan once again proves why the title ‘Mr Consistent’ applies to him with the strongest performance of the night from him. However the title is also equally apt to Brendan O’Reilly who once again earns maximum points for his effort in predicting his time, as well as turning in the second strongest performance of the night.
Barron turned in his most impressive form of the Kilkenny Cycles’ TT league, yet it wasn’t enough to stop Seán Kelly edging him to second place. Another impressive and strong performance by newcomer Fearghal O’Neill shows that he’s another force to be reckoned with, while David Hession earned 8 points for his first appearance.
At the weeks goes on, it appears that participants are less concerned about appearing modest and more concerned about gaining points by predicting more aggressive times. This tactic is working for a lot of the riders, particularly for the likes of Liam Lysaght and Mick Burke.
With one more night to go, O’Reilly looks like a good bet but if there is one thing certain about this league is its lack of certainty!
O’Reilly Still On Top
Night 3 – Cillin Hill – 27/05/10
Another good turn out tonight of 14 riders. After a very wet afternoon in Kilkenny we were lucky to have a dry evening and better still a nice tail wind for tonights Time Trial. First man out of the blocks was Pat Murray who had a bit of a nightmare start but recovered well and posted a good time of 21:08. This was soon improved on by our guest for the night from Carrick on Suir, John Kinsella who posted a very good time of 20:47 which really set the benchmark. Brendan O’Reilly was the next man to record the fastest time so far with 20:43 however it was Mister Consistent, Joe Ryan who stormed in to beat O’Reilly’s time by 3 seconds and set the fastest time of the evening with a time of 20:40. This was Joe’s second night being the quickest man – well done Joe.
Interestingly, our 3 quickest riders of the night only managed 1 point each after failing to accurately predict their times which is how the big points are scored.
No change at the top of the table this evening as our top three (O’Reilly, Barron and Tobin) hang on to their positions. However, all credit to Bill Carroll who took top marks for the night, predicting his time to within 1 second and moved up the table from 9th position to 4th, well done Bill. Other movers and shakers included Mick Burke and Sean Kelly who both jumped up 3 places on our leaderboard. Mike Shields put in his first performance of the series and the Galway native bagged 4 points tonight for his efforts showing that he’s not just out to make up the numbers. Watch out for a late surge from him over the remaining 2 nights of the series.
We’ll be out in Kells for next weeks Time Trial and with many riders still within striking distance of the top of the table its still all to play for.
O’Reilly Takes Over Lead
Night 2 – Castlecomer – 20/05/10
13 riders turned out for this evenings hill time trial on a balmy evening in Costa del Comer. Club Chairman, Pat Tobin, was the first man off and set the early pace with a very good time of 14:25. Pat was obviously spurred on knowing that his minute man, none other than Sean Kelly, was hot on his heels.
Impressively all bar 1 rider came in well under their predicted times, its amazing how a competitive environment can really push people out of their comfort zones.
Full marks on the night went to Brendan O’Reilly who predicted his time to within 11 seconds, well done Brendan. Fastest rider of the night was Pat Murray who shot up the hill in an amazing time of 14:16, the Deise Dynamo is in a rich vein of form at the moment but can’t predict his time to save his life so he remains rooted to the lower half of the league table.
Well done to all who turned up on the night. Just 5 points now separate the top 5 in the league so its still all to play for with 3 more time trials to go.
Roche Takes Early Lead
Night 1 – Kells Road – 13/05/10
A great turn out of 15 cyclists for the first night of the Kilkenny Cycles Time Trial League. On a gusty evening the route took us straight into a strong headwind out the Kells Road, across to Danesfort and then back in the Waterford Road, assisted by a tail wind to the finish at Laharts VW dealership.
Joe Ryan put in the strongest performance of the night but it was Paul Roche who collected maximum points for predicting his time within a freaking difference of just 1 second.
Although only 13kms long the course was a bit much for a couple of our “Senior” members who decided to take a short cut en route…..you know who you are – Halfords have good deals on Tom Tom’s at the moment.
Nicky Doyle’s late appearance at the finishing line in his work clothes and car didn’t fool anyone and didn’t earn him any points, no points I’m afraid Nicky but we are open to bribes.
