AJ, King of Munster's M50 TT! Again!

AJ Murphy yet again has won the Munster TT Championships in in Patrickswell, Co Limerick today.

The event run by The Newcastlewest CC Was a tough route with a extremely high standard of talent on Show.

Aj sits comfortable on top of the podium for the M50 by 16 Seconds over the second placed Patrick Bergin from Nort Tipp, and a huge 2 mins and 1 second over third and Michael Corkery from De Ronde Van Cork, who came third.

Aj's time was interesting in that it would have been good enough to not only win his category but also win A4 and take second in A3.

Aj, the Raining National M5 Hill climbing champion has proved himself as a rider to be feared in all races against the clock in the M50 Division and we look forward to seeing can he win Gold at the TT Nationals in a few weeks time.

Aj was not the only Mctc Rider on show today as Marc Dalton Also produced a great effort to come in 5th in the A4 Division. Marc has been training hard this season and it seems it won't be long till we talk about Marc getting on podiums.

Well done to Marc and Aj.

Midleton San Remo A TALE FROM MIDLETON CTC

The inaugural Midleton CTC club road race drew more competition than expected. While Milan San Remo might be a hard fought monument, Midleton San Remo is won in a colosseum. The break that counted got away by a mistake on the so called Poggio, the last climb before returning into Midleton. Derry Cadogan, who had been placing in the front all day, shipped his chain just after the first corner as Ken Cummins applied the pressure up the hill. There was confusion as Derry's lost momentum halted the long line behind him. "Who's away?" implored Richie Watkin, but Derry couldn't answer. His race was run.

Each of the five gathered their thoughts: Ken: ‘will I attack again?’ Shane Fuller: ‘just keep the wheels’. Peter Moloney: ‘hydrate and breathe’. Jim Cronin: ‘ignore pain’. Brendan Hennessy: ‘I'm suffering’. For all the Poggio felt longer than before. There was the road ahead yes, but the chase behind too.

Heads still, eyes on the wheel in front and watchful of the derailleur of the next man. Keeping a rhythm that allows enough to respond to a new pace. Pull the pedals up, push them down. The chasers weren't catching.

Over the top, Peter took to the front 'this is my forté' he thought. His pace hurt, hurt too much, everyone hung on. Next up Shane, hands on the drops, neck arched acutely he wished for someone to follow through. Jim, classy and quick, but the corner was approaching fast. Bren swung in behind a wheel, happy to hang on. Ken cursed the extra work.

Kathleen Doyle’s Hill the club chairman had explained ‘is the only safe way to finish near Midleton’. 'Safe for who?' Peter inwardly grimaced, but his concerns about the gravel had literally been brushed away. They all new Jim was the danger man, each inviting him to take the lead. Ken burst through without warning, Shane kept apace, Jim worked hard to keep up, Bren dragging himself up to Peter’s wheel. A shout. The peleton had taken the corner.

Jim took to go, so did Shane. Eyeing each other across the road they inexplicably slowed. The road narrowed, up ahead the chequered flag tickled the chairman’s legs. Ken arched to attack again, the ferocity pulling his wheel and his chances. Bren peeled off Peter's blindside, taking Jim's wheel. Peter did enough to catch Shane. Their big gears couldn't sustain more falters in momentum, and they knew it. They swung out of the handlebars, knees knocking the crossbars, high breathing and mouths pleading for hydration. Just then the peleton pushed through. I think AJ Murphy won.

Kanturk 3 Day

The Bank Holiday weekend saw the annual running of the Kanturk 3 day.

Mctc had four riders representing the club at this high profile event, Claude Mahony was again taking part in the U/16 While brother Daniel Mahony and Loyd Weymouth rode the A4 and Aj Murphy Rode a2/a3. All our riders rode very well and im sure enjoyed the whole stage race experience.

All had great results, Special mention to Daniel who finished 6th ,4th and 4th in the A4 road stages, and Claude who finished 1st u/15 in the final stage of the u/16 race which was a distance of 70 km.

The two brothers have shown incredible early season form finishing in the top positions at every race they've been to this season, and a win in definitely on the cards for one of them in the near future.

Watch this space!!

Loyds heavy winter training program paid dividends with him finishing in the main bunch in all road stages in what was his first crack at a stage race.

AJ finished 4th in the TT and was unlucky not to get top 10 overall after he was 7th going into the last stage and finished just outside the top 10 overall after some very strong riding.

Well done to all our riders.