Under the name ‘The Free Wheelers’, Drogheda Triathlon Club members- Sinead Delany, Ken Shevlin, Niall Doyle, Joanne White, Roly Hudson, Amy Ball, Elisa Navarro and Shane Coyle embarked on the 24 hour cycling challenge on Kildare’s iconic Mondello track.
This, the fourth year of Mondello 24 event started at 12pm on Saturday 22nd June and over the subsequent 24 hours riders completed as many laps as possible of the 3.5km circuit.
The Free Wheelers were led out by Roly Hudson who stayed in the leading pack for his first stint. Each team member then took their turn for 30minutes each before returning to the pit and snapping the wrist band on to the next team member.
They then had approximately three hours to refuel, rest and recover before warming up for their next 30-minute stint. Night lights were compulsory from 9.30pm until 5am Sunday. The Mondello track has no floodlights so the only light was the headlights attached to the bike, thus adding an extra challenge.
While the day started off sunny, by midnight a mist and then rain descended making conditions somewhat trickier until 2.00am. It was at this stage the team realised they were placing third in the overall eight-person event and were leading the mixed eight-person event.
With each hour that passed the Free Wheelers were determined to maintain their lead with consistent and strong cycling from all team members. By 8am the sun was shining, bodies were tired, but spirits were high.
Team captain Sinéad Delany took the baton one last time from Shane Coyle and maintained a steady pace for the final 45 minutes. By the time the checkered flag was waved on Sunday 23rd at 12pm The Free Wheelers had completed 230 laps of the track covering 798km ensuring the Overall Mixed (8 -person) title was theirs and a phenomenal 3rd place overall (8-person). An incredible result for this group of cyclists who entered the event just ‘to experience’ the 24-hour challenge
Other local interest in the Mondello event was Paddy Carolan (Drogheda Wheelers) and Brian Taaffe both involved in the solo 24-hour cycle. Paddy finished 9th overall completing 174 laps covering over 600KMs while Brian completed 219 laps covering a staggering 760km and finished in second place overall.
There was very much a local club vibe in Garage no 8 where all the Drogheda Crews were housed, and all riders and crews supported and encouraged each other around this epic endurance event.
