Tag Archives: Inishowen 100

Review 2010


It has been an honour to be the Chairman of the Foyle Cycling Club this year. The talent, energy, commitment and friendship in the Club throughout the year is evident from this first ever, Annual Report compiled by Secretary, Peter McLaughlin.

I would like to thank all of the Committee members who worked so hard during the year to develop the Club, and who gave freely of their own time. With regret, I note that Patrick McCarry and Martin Watts are stepping down from their positions of Treasurer and PRO respectively, and we thank them for their four years service to the Club.

As this comprehensive report shows, it has been a full year. The lifeblood of the Club is the weekly Club run, which are very well supported. The Committee are keen to ensure that the Club grows and develops, so we must make the Club attractive to newcomers. Therefore we have designated that the first 15-20 miles of the Saturday run will be taken at an easy pace to allow new cyclists to get started. We all had to start somewhere!

In addition, we now have the regular October and Spring beginners sessions, which allow newcomers to join us in cycling in controlled conditions, with routes well flagged up in advance. We thank all Club members who have made the newcomers welcome.

This year the Ladies Cycling Group took off under Evelyn’s inspiration and leadership. The numbers coming out have been fantastic. This is a very welcome development for cycling in the North West, and we are committed to its growth and success. Congratulations to Evelyn on this venture.

The Foyle Cycling Club Racing Team has enjoyed good success throughout the year. While the numbers were small, under Simon Gill’s leadership, the team quality was high, and FCC did well in the league. We have a sound foundation on which to build for next season.

Our Youth Programme was a great success this year, with many youngsters enjoying proper coaching and learning bike skills at Gransha Grounds and Forest.

The Inishowen 100 was a great success this year. Organised with skill as ever by Terry Donnelly, the Foyle Cycling Club’s annual flagship event was blessed with magnificent weather and supported with up to 190 riders. In addition, the Club received excellent coverage in Cycling Weekly’s write up on the event.

For the next year, we are revamping our website. The goal here is to improve on the existing template, to freshen it up and to make it much easier to keep it current and vibrant. We are indebted to Brendan McMenamin who has kept the site going for so many years, and with his help and the support of others we will have an ever better website in the future. This will the window to our club, and will promote the club and our activities to others and make it a welcoming and attractive place to take up cycling.

So the Foyle Cycling Club can look forward to the next year with confidence and with strength. As ever, we are fortunate to have Mark Moroney and his weekly email reports coaxing us to go out on Club activities, to go racing and to participate in this sport that we all love so much.

Gavin Campbell

“Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust” Jesse Owens

Inishowen 100 Cycle Challenge 15 August – A Resounding Success!


The Club held its blue riband event, the Inishowen 100, on Sunday 15th August, when a record 190 cyclists, no doubt encouraged by the unseasonal beautiful summer weather, lined up to take part in this toughest of road cycles. The main route followed the coastline of the Inishowen Peninsula, past beautiful beaches and seaside towns and taking the challenging climbs (7,329 feet in all) including Mamore, Malin Head and Kinnego Bay before returning via Greencastle and a welcome “flatish” run to Moville and Derry. The shorter 50 mile option, being offered for its second year, was well received and is, we believe, poised to grow and rival the ‘100‘ in popularity.

The ‘100’ and ‘50’ groups departed together from Templemore Sports Complex, Derry at 8.30 in the direction of Buncrana with the peloton splitting before Dunree. The 50 mile route took the road to Dumfries and over the mountain to Carndonagh and from there to Moville for a well earned break before the final push back to the Sports Complex.

Meanwhile the ‘100’ riders headed towards the steep climbs at Mamore and Malin Head and the planned lunch stop. This year, winds were light and with the temperatures reaching 23 degrees, staying hydrated was the main thought on their minds. After lunch there was a further 50 miles, including the always daunting climbs at Tremone and Kinnego bays, before arriving at Greencastle and a welcome short food stop and respite. Fed and watered, the riders took on the final 20 miles at a brisk pace aided by a slight tail wind, giving some ease to their weary legs.

Back at Templemore, high spirits and the sense of achievement was evident as the cyclists enjoyed hot soup and a roll and watched the Photo slideshow, while stories were exchanged of broken chains, a few punctures, the odd bee sting and a bit of sunburn. Mark Kane from Belfast led the 165 ‘100 milers’ home in 4hrs:50, closely followed by local man Joe Barr. The fastest
time for the ‘50’ was 2 hrs: 50.

Many riders commented on the superb organisation of registration, support vehicles, marshals, signage, food stops, photo show, certificates and the must-have T-shirts! These were the result of the hard work by the Club’s Committee and event marshals, but especially by Terry Donnelly, our Inishowen 100 Director, which ensured that everyone enjoyed their day and completed the course safely.

This year’s event was featured in Cycling Weekly and received very prominent coverage in an article written by BBC reporter, Graham Moss who cycled and enjoyed the event.

Northlands Centre is the charity selected by the Club to receive the proceeds of this year’s cycle.