Dave Garland, a valued and really well liked member of Dublin Wheelers, has sadly passed away after fighting illness.
It is with great sadness here at stickybottle that we bring you news of the passing of Dublin Wheelers member Dave Garland.
Having fought a brave battle with cancer, Dave’s fight ended on Saturday evening when he passed away in hospital. A father of two young girls, the Dubliner will be very sadly missed by all of his family and his friends in the cycling community, of which he had many.
Dave had decided in the last few months to forgo the traditional treatments on offer for his illness and had opted for alternative treatments.
A fundraising evening was held in Dublin back in April and in a sign of the high regard in which Dave was held by so many people and simply how well liked he was, the demand for tickets for the event was such that his friends and family organising the night were forced to switch to a bigger venue.
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Dave was a familiar face on the cycling scene, both in the bunch and traveling as a soigneur with national teams at different times from the 1980s.
He was a valued member of the Dublin Wheelers and was an integral part of the racing team during the 1980s and 1990s. He was a veteran of the Rás, both as a rider and as part of the support staff for many teams.
Marriage and family rearing had replaced the bike for him in recent years but Dave always kept in touch and was a regular face at the John Sweeney Memorial each year. Johnner was Dave’s closest friend in the cycling world and tragically was also taken from us young; in a car crash around 15 years ago.
Dave’s home in Wicklow was a halfway coffee stop on the DWCC racing squad’s long pre-season training spin.
Those particular spins are fondly remembered due to the hospitality shown by Dave and wife Louise. Even when he had been off the bike for some time, Dave would cycle from his house in Rathdangan and meet the group on the way to his place and cycle in with them.
It was a house that, as a talented tradesman and gardener, Dave had done most of the work on himself to turn it into a beautiful home for his family and where his free spirit was most content; in a remote part of the garden of Ireland with Louise and girls Maud and Ella.
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Once the pre-season spin had arrived at the house, the gang would pour in to be fed and watered for an hour or so. The craic and banter meant the turn-out for those rides was always a lot higher than for the traditional Sunday morning route at that time of year.
Dave was a father figure to so many in the club; a great mate who could never do enough for you and whose presence in any group or on any weekend away always guaranteed great craic, slagging and banter; and where no prisoners were taken!
Nobody in the Wheelers will ever forget him and everyone is simply stunned he has been taken from us so young.
Originally from Whitehall in north Dublin, Dave is survived by Louise, Maud and Ella, his dad Bill, mother-in-law Teresa, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and a very wide circle of friends.
Rest easy pal, we will never forget you.
Funeral arrangements
Dave’s remains will be reposing at his home on Monday. Removal will be to Killamoat Church, Rathdangan on Tuesday, arriving at 11.50am. His funeral will take place after 12pm mass to Newlands Cross Crematorium, Dublin 24.
No flowers please. Donations, if desired, to the Maguire Ward, Tallaght Hospital.
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