Hosted by Donomon Dynamoes CC
Roscommon Town, County Roscommon

After a winter of hard training and a summer of hard racing, youth cyclists from all over Ireland gathered together in Roscommon on the last weekend in August to compete in six different age categories for the hugely coveted prize, Champion of Ireland. Over 150 riders had entered and competition for the trophies, medals and jerseys was always going to make for an exciting weekend.

I, Zak Hanna, travelled down on Friday to Roscommon to represent Dromara CC in the Under 16 category.  Thi was going to be my last ever All Ireland Youth Championships as I will be moving into the Junior category next season, racing against many of the clubs’ open racers, especially my Dad! 

After the long journey down, Dad and I ventured out on the bikes for a spin after meeting up with event organiser Noel Feeley, who gave us circuit maps and directions. We headed onto the TT circuit and ended up travelling into Co. Galway for a short time and heading back home to the hotel with 20 miles covered. I was ready for the tough weekend ahead!

The first event of the weekend was the time trial, which covered 5 mile from Roscommon to Castlecoote. I was the 13th rider off and, after warming up on the rollers, I was ready for the start. The course was reasonably flat with a few drags and it was real twisty with a nasty headwind.  I managed to complete the course in around 14 mins, placing me 19th overall.  I guess it was an alright result, after all, the other competitors in the under 16s were like men compared to me!

That night, at 5:30pm, the road race was to take place on the testing 16km loop from Castlecoote-Creegs-Castlecoote, and this circuit was flat with one little kick in it, but not enough to split a strong bunch of riders. For me the road race was 64km/42 miles, and it was a race to forget, after riding near the front for the first 9 miles there was a long descent through Creegs which had caught me out.  I had got dropped after giving my all to stay with the bunch.  But with my size and weight it was not to be as I gradually lost contact with the peloton.

On Sunday morning there was a criterium around Roscommon Town Centre. The circuit was through the narrow streets of the town and through the main street, over speed bumps and round fast technical corners, approximately 1km in length. Originally the length of the Under 16s was to be 30 minutes + 5 laps, but after a delay in the Under 15s after a bad crash, it was decided by the Commissaires that the race would be shortened to 20 mins + 3 laps. The start was unbelievably fast with the first lap averaging 23 mph! The crowds on the main street were massive and the cheers and yells from the crowd was enough to make any race go faster. I lost contact with the peloton after a few laps and got lapped twice and was told by the chief Commissaire to pull out but I never listened and powered on to complete my remainding laps. I rode 11 mile in total, with the 1st 10 mile being timed in 27 minutes, a new personal best !

All in all I thought it was an up and down Irish Championships for me but I thoroughly enjoyed the craic and the experience.

Thanks to my dad Deek for driving me to Roscommon, race advice and for being mechanic for the weekend,.  I would have been lost without him!

Thanks to Donomon Dynamoes for organising an excellent weekend of racing with excellent circuits and organisation!


Report by Zak Hanna

Report on Cycling Ulster here