Dan Morrissey Carrick Wheelers are delighted to announce that they have secured a new sponsor for their annual St. Patrick’s Day race, with Thompson Funeral Home of Waterford coming on board to back the famous race, now known as the Carrick Wheelers Cup.
This will be the fifty fourth staging of a cycle race in Carrick on Suir on St. Patrick’s Day by Carrick Wheelers, with the series of races going back to 1955. As a point of interest, you may have figured out that two years are missing from the series, and this is because the race was postponed on two occasions, once when there was a few inches of snow on the course and another over the famous “foot and mouth” outbreak. However the race was held on a different date on each of those years, so this will be the fifty six staging of the race, which must be national record.
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This year’s race will again be held on the Glenbower circuit, with the start and finish now at the top of Sir John’s road for safety reasons. The 21 mile lap will bring the cyclists from Carrick to Glenbower, then left on to Kilheffernan roundabout and left again through Kilsheelan back to Carrick. This is a great circuit for spectators, as the small back roads though Ballyneale enable them to view the race a couple of times each lap and still get back to see the finish.
After sign on at the Davin club on the Clonmel Road, racing will start at 12.00 noon sharp, and the cyclists will be divided into two separate races as per their new catagories, with the A1’s and A2’s starting first and doing three laps of the circuit. The A3’s and A4’s will then be neutralised to their start as they are restricted to 50 miles and will race for roughly two and a half laps of the same circuit, with both races finishing shortly after 2.30pm.
Picking a likely winner of the races is always difficult, but early season form indicates that the new Cork city based Team Edge are likely to be the main challengers to the local Dan Morrissey Carrick Wheelers team. Martin O’Loughlin and Rory Wyley are now graded A2’s after their dominance of the veteran category last year, but are still very capable of challenging for victory in the main event, while Pat Kenneally, Cian Power and the evergreen Leslie O’Donnell will figure prominently in the support race. Best of luck to all the local riders, and hopefully we will have a safe, accident free day’s racing, and that all cyclists and spectators visiting Carrick will enjoy another cycle race on St. Patrick’s Day in our town.
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