First up was a 3 hour group spin. The group headed off from Hotel Kilkenny towards Ballyhale, with Ciarán taking turns with everyone offering helpful comments as we cruised along. He seemed particularly keen to alter several people's saddle heights, and even there and then if someone had supplied him with a set of Allen keys! Positioning on a bike is often overlooked by cyclists but is a hugely important factor to ride comfort and efficiency on a bike. After Ballyhale it was time to practice strength training. So under Ciarán's watchful eye he took each individual through a series of low cadence high power intervals and then followed this with a series of short sprint exercises. All of these exercises can be done in a group or individually and are an interesting way of adding a bit of spice to a long spin. The group then headed on to Mullinavat and then turned for home via the backroads towards Hugginstown and Newmarket and then back into Stoneyford. Once the group were back on the Waterford road it was time to up the pace, and increase the rate of up-and-overs, and before we knew it we were back in Kilkenny.

On returning to Hotel Kilkenny the group got cleaned up and enjoyed a tasty lunch after which Ciarán held a 2 hour Questions & Answers session during which everyone had ample opportunity to quiz Ciarán on just about anything to do with cycling.  For someone who has enjoyed such an illustrious career, it was refreshing to hear how laid-back Ciarán's attitude is to many of the things other people take overly seriously.

On Sunday we had our usual club spin. 14 cyclists were out on what was a nice mild morning. The main group headed for Castlecomer, Ballinakill, Abbeyleix, Durrow, Urlingford and returning to Kilkenny. Total of 110k in 4 hours giving them an average speed of 28.5kms. Part of the group split off in Castecomer doing a slightly shorter route which took in Ballyragget, Durrow, Johnstown and then back to Kilkenny. This was a total of 70kms.

Tip of the Week: Wear Out Your Gears. You have lots of gears for a reason: to keep your cadence in the sweet spot. On undulating terrain you should always be adjusting your gears and aiming to maintain a quick cadence of over 80 rpm. Your cadence should not drop when you hit a drag, simply adjust your gears and try to maintain the same cadence. For silky-smooth gear changes, remember to shift before a punchy climb, sprint, or tight switchback. 

Marble City Cyclers meets for club spins every Saturday and Sunday @ 10am outside Kilkenny Castle Gates.

After Ballyhale it was time to practice strength training. So under Ciarán's watchful eye we powered uphill 'in the big ring' and pushing as hard a gear as we could manage. Not content with doing this once, puff, pant, back down we sped for another go. I'm not naming names, but I suspect there was a bit of down-shifting going on on that second ascent, and once out of Ciarán's gaze.....   A bit of sprinting-from-a-standing-start later, and we were on our way to Mullinavat to big-gear it up another incline!
 
A chance encounter with Denis Keogh, caught rotten out an a solo training spin, and our numbers were increased to 14. Next it was time to up the pace, and increase the rate of up-and-overs, and before we knew it (well, some of us knew all about it!!), we were through Knocktopher and back on the Waterford road towards home, Oh, and some sprints. Did I mention the sprints? Good.
 
After showering (not a group thing), we sat down to a tasty lunch. Mick Barron said 'Grace', well he mumbled something anyhow, actually maybe he said he was getting tri-bars, God was definitely invoked anyhow!!! We had the Dining-Room of Hotel Kilkenny to ourselves, and seated together at one table, the scene was set to squeeze every last ounce of cycling knowledge from Ciaran. For someone who has enjoyed such an illustrious career, it was refreshing to hear how laid-back Ciarán's attitude is to many of the things other people take overly seriously. He isn't a man for the turbo-trainer (on an un-related note, has anyone seen Pat Tobin lately? Anyone??), he reckons a cheese&ham sandwich is the perfect recovery food, and he wouldn't get caught up on the whole stretching lark. Perhaps the biggest nugget of advice he passed on though, was his emphatic encouragement of Jim Fitzpatrick to spend some quality time in a barrel! Oh and for the record, Ciarán weighs 73kg.
 
So, a Big MCC Thank You to Ciarán! And best wishes to him both in The Gorey 3-Day, and with his current career as a Neuromuscular / Sports Massage Therapist, check him out at 19 O'Connell Street, Waterford, details on www.ciaranpower.com
 
And Thank You also to Hotel Kilkenny for once again looking after us so well!

On Saturday the group took on one of the more scenic loops in the county heading down to Thomastown and Inistioge and then up through The Rower and Graignemanagh, back through Thomastown on the return leg to Kilkenny. The group of 10 cyclists took 3 hours to do this 82km route.

A group of 26 cyclists met up outside the Castle gate on Sunday.  After last Sunday’s cancellation due to the weather, it was great to see good numbers out again and it certainly makes it a more enjoyable cycle for all involved.   It was also great to see the club’s secretary, Michael Shields back on the bike after his recent shoulder injury – the rehab is obviously doing its job.

Pic: Mike Shields back in the saddle for the first time since his "little tumble" in Ballyhoura.The poor weather the previous week meant that a lot of cyclists were eager to get on the road again.  The group travelled together as far as Thomastown. After a brief stop in Thomastown, the group split into two, with 11 going with the steadier group to Ballyhale.

The stronger group had 15 and they proceeded to Inistiogue, the Rower, Graiguenamanagh, back to Thomastown, Knocktopher and home.  Total distance of 90km and average speed of 29kph.

Although the weather wasn’t ideal, its bark was worse than its bite!  The rain that threatened to come, never really materialised much to the relief of the cyclists who enjoyed a great spin.

Next weekend the club have a training day on Saturday which will be led by ex professional cyclist and past winner of The Rás, Ciarán Power. After such a great winter of cycling, club members have great fitness levels and are really looking forward to this training day. No doubt Ciarán will put everyone through their paces and also pass on some of the wealth of knowledge that he has gained from competing at the highest level.

The route for the 2012 An Post Rás was announced last week and the club is delighted to be able to reveal that Kilkenny will be hosting the finish of Stage 1 on Sunday 20^th May. Marble City Cyclers have been involved with both Kilkenny Tourism and An Post Rás in the planning of this Stage for many months now and are really looking forward to the arrival of this world renowned event to the city. Over the coming months we will be putting together further articles with lots more details about this exciting event which will really bring a buzz to the city when it arrives.

Tip of the Week: When riding in wet conditions, always remember to pulse-brake.  That is to pull both brake levers towards your handlebars for a few seconds and then release your group on the levers, before pulling on them again.  The first time pulling on the brake levers will not slow you down, but clears the water off the wheel rim so when you pull again, the brake pad will grab the newly dried rim!

Marble City Cyclers meets for club spins every Saturday and Sunday @ 10am outside Kilkenny Castle Gates.

Nevertheless, Marble City Cyclers had a few brave members including Patrick Tobin, Liam Egan and Neil Butler who didn’t let the bad weather get the better of them and headed to New Ross for one of the first Sportives of the year. Despite the damp conditions, The Barrow Wheelers Club had a very successful event and the 100kms route even included some very familiar territory taking the riders on many roads incorporated on our own club spins. This event is very popular amongst racers and would be considered a good training event before their racing season starts.  Also present at this event was past FBD Rás winner Ciarán Power. Ciarán will be in the Marble City on the 11^th February to run a coaching day for the club. Full details of this are up on our website.

On Saturday we had a good group of 11 out who headed down to Mullinavat and back covering 70kms in 2hrs 28 mins.

A reminder if you haven’t renewed your club membership you should do so now. We’d also like to encourage any new participants in our club cycles to become an official member of the club.

Tip of the Week: Stay Hydrated. Whatever the weather conditions, your fluid requirements will increase significantly when cycling. Losses from exhaled breath and from sweating will serve to reduce your blood volume, resulting in your heart having to work much harder. By the time you feel thirsty you will already be dehydrated, so try to drink small, frequent quantities of water or a sports energy drink throughout the ride.

Marble City Cyclers meets for club spins every Saturday and Sunday @ 10am outside Kilkenny Castle Gates.

Coaching Day on Saturday 11th February

Following the success of last year's Coaching Day , retired professional cyclist Ciaran Power has agreed to cross the county border again this February to share his hard-earned wisdom with us. Ciarán will no doubt make his mark when he returns to racing with Comeragh CC this season, though he will be better known for having represented Ireland internationally, including being a Double Olympian. While our personal goals may be a little more modest, they can only benefit from some advice on targetting our training regime / improving our cycling technique.
 
The format of Coaching Day will be similar to last year, though less formal.

This is to allow people more opportunity to have their particular questions answered.

Provisionally, the plan for Saturday 11th Feb., is:

9am - 9:15am       Sign-on at Hotel Kilkenny

9:15am - 9:45am  Route plan. Briefing from Ciarán Power

10am - 1pm          Spin (approx 3 hours) *

1pm - 1:30pm       Shower in First Active Gym of Hotel Kilkenny / at home (if preferred!)

1:45pm -               Reconvene for Lunch in Hotel Kilkenny, followed by.....

- 4:30pm           .....informal Q&A session with Ciarán Power.

* The spin will be 70-80km, & there will be hills. The plan is to complete the spin in under 3 hours, so, taking pauses (for Ciarán to lecture us) into account, the pace will be around 27-29kmph, think "fast" Sunday group in other words.

Given the "Q&A" format of the latter part of 'Coaching Day', if you have any queries relating to your cycling this is your chance to put them to a former professional. It might be worth bringing pen & paper to scribble down key notes.

For insurance purposes anyone wishing to attend the Coaching Day must have Cycling Ireland membership, and, since the Coaching Day will be part-subsidised by MCC it is open to current club members only. But it's never too late to join, check out the Link to Membership Form on the right! The cost to members (Coaching, showers, lunch, Q&A) is just €25, this will need to be paid in advance to ensure people who express an interest do actually attend, & as previously, numbers will be limited.

Since 11th February is less than 3 weeks away, please text Fiona (086 8146607) asap to reserve a place.

On Saturday we had a group of 10 out who did a route taking in Callan, Mullinahone, Killenaule, Ballingarry and Kilmanagh. This was a total distance of 103kms and took the group 3hrs30mins to complete.

The main spin on Sunday saw a large group of 22 riders gather at the Castle Gates at the usual 10am start time. This group headed north of the city on a circuit which took in Freshford, Urlingford, Johnstown, Durrow, Abbeyleix, Ballinakill, Castlecomer. The group was given the option of splitting in Durrow so those that wanted to get extra miles in headed on to Abbeyleix whilst others headed straight back to Kilkenny.

Reminder: If you haven’t renewed your club membership you should do so now. We’d also like to encourage any new participants in our club cycles to become an official member of the club.

Tip of the Week: Point out Hazards. When cycling in a group it is very important to point out any potential hazards on the road, e.g. potholes, parked cars etc. Communication is key, you should simply shout out where the hazard is (left, right, middle) and if possible also point to where it is. The onus is on the rider(s) leading the group to point out the hazards but everyone in the group should relay the message back through the group to ensure everyone’s safety.

Marble City Cyclers meets for club spins every Saturday and Sunday @ 10am outside Kilkenny Castle Gates.

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!!

On Saturday we had a group of 9 out made up of Eoin Hogan, Mick Burke, Denis Kehoe, Mick Barron, Niall Butler, Joe Ryan, Clive Dunne, Bill Usher and Les Sparling. This group headed out to Knocktopher, Kilmoganny, Callan across to Kilmanagh and then back to Kilkenny covering 85 kms in 3hrs 8mins.

On our main spin on Sunday we were delighted to see such a large turnout with a few new faces which is always a welcome sight. The group made its way down to Mullinavat and then headed along the backroads to Callan where the group split with some choosing to head across to Kilmanagh for some extra work while others made their way back to Kilkenny. Total distance was 88kms in 3hrs 6mins. Amongst the group we had Joe Ryan, Pat Tobin, Pat Murray, Paul Fitzgerald, Ger Kennedy, Denis Keogh, Gerry McGovern, Neil Butler, Mick Barron, Mick Burke, Billy Quinn, Ger McDonald, Paul Cullen, plus a few other faces who we didn’t get the names of.

The main club spin leaves from Kilkenny Castle Gates at 10am every Sunday.

Members are going to start upping the pace as the first events of the season aren’t too far away so we intend splitting the Sunday group into a “steady” group and a “fast” group from next weekend. This new arrangement should cater for the wide variety of abilities we have amongst our members and allow everyone to get the most out of the club spin. The “steady” group will be led by 2 experienced club riders who will offer tips and advice to those new to cycling with a group and will cover a route of between 50 – 70kms at a moderate pace, NO ONE will be left behind. The “fast” group as the name suggests is aimed at the more experienced cyclist looking for a harder workout and will be doing routes of up to 90kms at a brisk pace.

The club starts another 10 week spinning session at the Watershed this Tuesday. Currently, this class is fully subscribed however, please contact the Watershed directly should you wish to join another class.

Tip of the Week: Don't pedal in a high gear for long periods. This can increase the pressure on your knees and lead to overuse injuries such as biker's knee. Shift to lower gears and faster revolutions to get more exercise with less stress on your knees. The best cadence for most cyclists is 60 to 80 revolutions per minute (rpm), though racers pedal in the range of 80 to 100 rpm and Joe Ryan likes to go at 140+ rpm(!)

On Saturday morning a small, but brave/daft group nervously headed out on the frosty morning. Only 8 miles out the Carlow Road and the group hit a patch of black ice with one member taking a tumble as a result, luckily no serious injury but the group promptly decided to cut their losses and return to the city.

Christmas Day and New Years Day both fall on a Sunday this year so there will be no official club run for the next 2 weekends although there may be a few die-hards amongst our club members escaping the madness of the festivities and nipping out for a short spin themselves.

The club will be running another 10 week Spinning course at the Watershed starting on Tuesday 10th January. Anyone interested should let a committee member know asap as places are likely to fill very quickly.

The club would like to wish all Kilkenny cyclists a very happy and safe Christmas and hope any non members will include joining our club and cycling with us on a Sunday morning amongst your list of New Years Resolutions. The club welcomes cyclists of all abilities.

Tip of the Week: Avoid icy roads! Well probably all bar the 7 lads that headed out on Saturday morning (we’ve saved them the embarrassment by not naming them this week) realise this but if you’re unsure of the conditions then a website well worth checking out is the NRA website (www.nratraffic.ie) which has excellent up to date information on road conditions and temperatures including the chances of ice on various national roads. When there is a risk of ice on the roads we would advise everyone to play it safe and avoid heading out on your bike. Not even the pro’s need to train that badly where they can’t afford to give the odd weekend on the road a skip when the conditions are just too dodgy.

On Sunday we had a smaller than usual group out due to the damp conditions, nevertheless 8 hardy souls took to the roads. The group was made up of John Corcoran, Mick Burke, Denis Keogh, Gerry McGovern, Paul Cullen, Frank O’Dwyer, Fergal Kennedy and Barry Lynch. They headed to Thomastown, Kilmoganny and then across to Ballycallan before returning to the city. This was approx 75km’s at an avg speed of 26.8kph.

Saturday also saw a good turn out and the group headed up to Carlow and back, choosing to stick to the main Dublin Road which tends to be safer on frosty mornings as it thaws out quickly because its so open. The group covered the total distance of 77kms in 2hrs 48 mins and was made up of Mick Burke, Mick Barron, Fiona Cooke, Eoin Hogan, John Corcoran, Charlie Parsons, Eddie O’Keeffe, Brendan O’Reilly, Joe Ryan and Denis Keogh.

Keep and eye out for Seamus Nugent from SmarterTravel who has a stand at the Christmas Markets in Kilkenny. SmarterTravel is the official Government Transport Policy for Ireland that sets out how the vision of a sustainable travel and transport system can be achieved through an individual’s choices at home and at work. The National Cycling Policy Framework is a key part of SmarterTravel. Seamus has lots of interesting information at his stand that is well worth a look at, these Christmas Markets aren’t all about mulled wine and mince pies you know!

The 10 week Spinning and Core Strength training classes come to an end next week but the club plans on doing another 10 week Spinning Class straight after Christmas, anyone interested should contact one of the committee asap as places are limited to 12.

Tip of the Week: Keep your feet warm! If you are going to be doing long rides in the cold, or anticipate a lot of rainy cycling, buy some waterproof overshoes that will keep your feet warm and dry. They are generally made out of Neoprene (same stuff as wet suits) and just slip over your ordinary shoes.