Lakeside Wheelers Cycling Club

Lakeside Wheelers Cycling Club was formed over 20 years ago, having previously been known as Mullingar Cycling Club. The club is affiliated to Cycling Ireland, the governing body covering cycling in Ireland. We cater for every level of cyclist including beginners, leisure cyclists as well as competitive racing cyclists. The club has grown significantly over the last number of years increasing its membership from 40 members in 2003 to the current high of over 200 members. There is also a growing mountain bike section of the club.

The club is predominantly a leisure club with the emphasis on enjoyment of the sport of cycling in a safe way with the obvious attaching health benefits. We organise club spins, leisure events, training days, club races and even foreign cycling holidays to cater for the needs of club members. As well as our own Tour of The Lakes and charity events organised by local groups associated with the club, club members have participated in a large number of Sportives around the country.

In recent years the racing side of Lakeside Wheelers Cycling Club has grown and the club has enjoyed a number of successful seasons with several racing members recording wins and high placings in open competition at home and internationally. We’ve also hosted a number of very successful racing events, including a number of National Championships in various disciplines in recent years.

Early Inspiration
In July 1975 Mullingar hosted a stage finish of the famous Tour of Ireland cycle race. The bunch swept down the Green Road and rounded the Green Bridge before the riders fanned out across the width of Dominick Street for the finish line outside the Post Office. A young  lad from Carrick on Suir punched the air as he crossed the line the winner, his name was Sean Kelly. This was one of Kelly’s last amateur races in Ireland before he turned professional.  A large crowd of spectators lined the streets for this spectacular event and it was to have a profound effect on a group of local teenagers. The young lads hung around the streets for the next few hours to capture autographs and study the latest state of the art racing bikes. They soaked up the race atmosphere as they mingled with the riders and little did they know that the winner on the day would go on to become one of the greatest racing cyclist of all time. That year’s Tour Of Ireland, incidentally, was won by former UCI president Pat McQuaid. Next morning the field of 140 riders left Mullingar on the final leg of their tour to finish at the GPO, Dublin. However they left behind a group of young lads with a dream – a dream that one day they would be able to cross that finish line and punch the air with a victory salute.

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