Cycling clubs in UCD and Trinity College have come together to launch a new league with a view to growing the emerging cycling scene in third level colleges.
The new league, which is to be sponsored by Cycleways, begins next week and will run for six weeks.
The league promises a great variety with road races, a hill climb, two 10 mile TTs and an introductory track session all included.
One of the organisers behind the ‘Cycleways Dublin Inter-Varsity League’, Ian Richardson of UCD CC said while the scene had already been growing in some colleges in recent years, he is hopeful the new series will bring more students into competitive cycling.
“At the moment the student cycling scene is very small, although it is on the rise,” he told stickybottle.
“UCD had a record number of members last year and with Trinity now restarting their road club, the future of student cycling looks bright.”
Richardson said while clubs had been started in other third level institutions in recent years, some of them had since disbanded and the annual Inter-Varsity Championships have only been held last year after an absence of a number of years.
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He was hopeful the general increased popularity of cycling in Ireland could now be transferred into the college scene.
“I stumbled across a few lads in Trinity who were restarting the road club there when I moved to Trinity to start my PhD after spending five years studying in UCD. I felt it was a good opportunity to keep the Inter-Varsity championships going, after UCD hosted it last year. My hope is to increase the presence of third level cycling as a whole, and I’m confident that this league is the way to go in achieving that.”
The dates and venue of the race are as follows:
Jan 21st: 10 mile Time Trial: Boot Inn
Jan 28th: Road Race: Corkagh Park
Feb 4th: Hill Climb TT: Howth
Feb 11th: Track introduction: Sundrive Track
Feb 18th: Road Race: Corkagh Park
Feb 25th: 10 mile Time Trial: Boot Inn
All races will be €2 each to enter. However, a full competition licence or one day licence will be needed for the road races and track day. A valid student ID will be needed to be eligible for the league. All events begin at 10am.
For more information or to pre-register for the league, please contact Ian Richardson at [email protected]
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