Club News Week Ending 15/01/12
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 2:00PM 
While there was a bite in today’s weather, the crisp dry morning of 15th January made it a lovely morning for a spin. Today was the first Sunday that we tried our new format, to split the spin into two groups, the “steadier group” and the “faster group”. The increase in participation of the Sunday morning spins allows us to do this, so many thanks to those who are consistently turning up (and also many thanks to the mild weather we are experiencing of late!), we hope this new format will allow us to address the needs of most people attending on the morning.
The fast group went to Thomastown, Inistiogue, over the Ferry bridge, then on to the Borris road but turned off for Graiguenamanagh then to Gowran and back to Kilkenny. The group covered 90km in 28.8kph. Present on this spin were Ronan Meally, Gerry McGovern, Joe Ryan, Mick Burke, Eugene Mullally, Patrick Tobin, Ashley, Packy Fitzgerald, Neil Butler, Colin Feely, Denis Keogh, Martin Coughlan, Frank O’Dwyer, Ger McLoughlin, James O’Leary and Mick Barron.
The steady group, lead by John Britton, covered 50km and covered the route of the Festive 50 i.e. Kilkenny - Bagnelstown - Gowran - Thomastown and back to Kilkenny.
It was great to see the numbers back up to where they were before Christmas. As when trying out new ideas and formats, a few things need to be tweaked as they are being put into practice, and perhaps explained better!! The “steadier group” is just that – a group going at a steady pace – it’s not a slow pace, or even one for those starting out in cycling – the beginners’ Monday evening spin in April will cater for that group. It’s more a continuation of the Sunday spins as they were, particularly before Christmas. It will be the “faster group” that will be changing the pace and will be upping it! The new format is to help more people get the most out of the weekly club spin and not to have a ride that is too slow for some and too fast for others so hopefully you will bear with us as we try to introduce this new structure.
To make it easier on those who are unsure which group they belong to on future spins, we decided that the two groups will stay together until a point decided before the spin. After that point, the faster group will be upping the pace while the steadier group will continue with that pace and may also divert to a different route - hopefully each cyclist will know by that point which group is more suitable for them. The “steadier” group will also be covering a distance longer than 50km, perhaps 60km to 75km.
On Saturday we had a group of 9 out made up of Denis Keogh, Eoin Hogan, Fiona Cooke, Mick Burke, Clive Dunne, Mick Barron, Dave Williams, Niall Butler and Joe Ryan. This group did Kilkenny - Waterford - New Ross - Thomastown – Kilkenny. This was a total of 112kms in 4 hours.
Club Spins leave the Castle Gates at 10am on weekends. Non Members are always welcome to come and try it out.
Tip of the Week: Set Your Goals for the Year: We’re already in the third Sunday of 2012, so at this stage you should have an idea of what you would like to achieve in 2012. If not you should pick one ASAP! You might want to tackle the Tour de Kilkenny for the first time, lose a stone or two or even improve your times in the Club Time Trial series, whatever it is it really helps if you have a focus and something to aim for. Without a goal, there could be a lack of objectivity and focus to your training, which is a very inefficient approach to your training!!