On your bike is the way to travel around East Galway

Date Published: {J}

SEVEN Springs East Galway Cycling Club may still only be getting off the ground, but in a mere matter of months the cogs have certainly begun to turn on the county’s newest sporting addition.

Chairman of Seven Springs is Brian Martin, who reveals that it has been 15 years since a cycling club operated in Loughrea and its surrounds. However, with the growth in the number of cyclists now out on the roads locally – some of whom are members of Predator Triathlon – a genuine need for a new cycling club was identified in the East Galway area.

“The cycling club has come out of the Predator Triathlon Club,” outlines Martin, a Fermanagh native now living in Loughrea. “I spoke to the lads here and they all were in agreement that there was an opportunity and a need for it. So, we formed a committee and registered the club with Cycling Ireland. That was about eight to 10 weeks ago.”

Indeed, all seven on the Seven Springs committee are also members of Predator Triathlon Club. These include Kevin Coughlan (Secretary), Martin Grealish (Treasurer), Niall Callanan (PRO), Damien Muldoon, Noel Murray and Colin Duane.

“We have 32 paid members but with the time trial league starting now on Thursday evenings, a lot of people have been waiting for that to meet us and join,” continues Martin. “This is the first evening (last Thursday) of the time trial and it will be running for six weeks in total. The first stage is from Coldwood NS to Oranmore and back, but the course changes every week. So, we will probably pick up another 10 or 15 members in the coming weeks.

“Currently, we are only taking aged 16 and upwards, but next year we are hoping to expand and take in the underage. There is a lot of work to be done to do that, such as legal and what have you. To be honest, we just needed to get the club off the ground this year first. As we get more members who are parents, hopefully the juvenile side of the club will then follow.”

In the two months or so that Seven Springs has been together, the club has already run – and continues to run – numerous cycles on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings, which leave from SuperValu, Loughrea at 7pm and 10am respectively. These cycles are broken down into various sections, with the leisure and beginners group cycling between 40 to 50km and the more experienced exponents doing between 65km and 70km.

“On any Tuesday or Saturday, we are turning out 10 to 15 cyclists in a group. It is a great facility for any cyclist, rather than cycling on your own. You have the safety of the group while the camaraderie always makes the miles pass that little bit easier, again rather than riding on your own.”

Indeed, Martin – who had been competing with Western Lakes CC in the Connacht League in recent years – has been impressed by the standard of many of the new cyclists, with Loughrea hurler Eddie McMahon among those to catch the eye. “He is a very promising cyclist,” praises Martin. “He is very strong and very good on the bike.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.