Gabriel Howard's memorial event drew a very large crowd at the weekend in Stamullen, Co Meath, where he was posthumously honoured with a plaque, which was unveiled on Saturday.
A larger than life figure in Irish cycling, and an immensely popular man, Gaybo very sadly died in a farm accident in 2018. Along with his wife, Kay, he promoted and helped out at races for decades after his own racing career, as well as founding Stamullen Road Club.
Kay said while Saturday's event was tinged with sadness, she was also delighted Gaybo had been honoured with a memorial and was very pleased with the large turn out.
"To see the crowd that turned out, it just tells me what Gaybo meant to them," she said. "He loved the cycling, he loved the people, he loved the community. And now he's installed on that wall for ever and a day, right where he wants to be, he can mind everyone's business there."
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Kay added the erection of the plaque had been mooted since before the pandemic, though finding a suitable location for it had proven more challenging than envisaged. However, the Crowe family from Stamullen were delighted to have the plaque on their wall when they were approached.
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Rás Tailteann race director, Ger Campbell of Drogheda Wheelers, and broadcaster and cycling man Pat O'Shaughnessy (Cuchulainn CC), were also in attendance at the event. O'Shaughnessy - a well known figure with LMFM - also broadcast from Stamullen during the event, adding a great atmosphere.
President of Cycling Ireland, and another stalwart of the home scene, Tom Daly - also author of the seminal book on Rás Tailteann - was also present and addressed the crowd, representing the national governing body.
Ciaran McKenna, the former president of Cycling Ireland, was also on hand to pay tribute to Gaybo, describing him and Kay as "stalwarts" of Irish cycling. They had worked in the sport for "40 of 50 years" and "there's not enough words" to capture the value of the work they had done.
"When I took over the job at Cycling Ireland, I was told that honorary life membership is something the president might bestow on somebody when they leave office," he said. However, he immediately set about putting plans in place and the honour was bestowed on Gaybo and Kay at the Cycling Ireland champion's dinner two weeks later.
"There were a lot of champions at that dinner but the two champions of that night were Gabriel and Kay and it was a great honour for me to be able to give that to them," McKenna said. "And little did we know that Gay wouldn't be there at the end of my term.
"But I was so proud, on behalf of the cycling community, to give that to Kay and Gabriel to acknowledge the amount of work they did for Irish cycling."
