Lough Derg gearing up for two-day bike challenge

ALL manner of mountain bikers will flock to the shores of Lough Derg for the first two-day event for competitive cyclists in the country.

One of the race organisers, Conor Lyons of Dolmen Sports, said bikers from Denmark, the UK and the US will test their off-road skills against some of the best Irish competitors.
The Lough Derg Mountain Bike Challenge takes place on April 9 to 10 offering competitors a chance to explore and enjoy some of the finest off-road trails with support from Coillte, The East Clare Way and Lough Derg Ways.
Mountain bike enthusiasts can also participate in a non-competitive event on Sunday with half of the proceeds to be donated to MS Ireland.
Mr Lyons predicts the event will generate a timely tourism boost for the local economy. “This is a once-off event but we would hope to develop it year on year into a major international event. There should be about 80 riders in the competitive event and we expect up to 175 on Sunday when competitive and non-competitive bikers are taken into account,” he said.
Niall Davis, a prominent Irish rider, who is also competing in the main event, is assisting him in race preparations.
Competitive riders are encouraged to participate and the event will be won on the shortest cumulative time over the four stages for competitive riders but for more casual riders, the pace will be easier, the only mission being to finish the event.
Event headquarters will be in Killaloe village for Saturday and the action will start following registration.
The East Clare Way stage will start from Killaloe to the environs of Slieve Bearnagh. The second stage will follow the Lough Derg Way across the bridge into North Tipperary to the peak at Tountinna 460m high in the Arra Mountains to the beach and the stage finish point. Riders will then cruise in company back to event headquarters in Killaloe giving them the opportunity to chat and take in the spectacular lake scenery.
A race village on Sunday will be set up in Ballycuggarran Forest just north of Killaloe. The testing climb starts on forest roads, with some shorter track sections in places, before some fast decent times back to the finish point.
Stage four will be a paired time trial, where riders work against the clock and also against the other participants.
Based on the times of the morning stage, the fastest riders will set out first followed by the rest at intervals of 30 seconds. This 6km stage is much shorter than previous stages but will be more technical using sections of the National Points Series Round Five event hosted by MBUL.