CLUB RACING

Bray Wheelers has an active racing setup with members racing in various approved events around the country. We also have an active club racing setup which takes place throughout the summer months.

You will require a UCI racing licence (minimum Limited Competition) to do these races and undertake a race briefing / marshalling session at the start of the season. Leagues are all handicapped and are open to senior riders, and to youth riders from U16 upwards. There is a Ladies League within each league, and separate prizes for best newcomers, and most improved riders, for men, women and youth categories. Racing is fun and with the handicap system in play, the races are open for anyone to win.

There are two leagues and the championship events, all races are held on Thursday evenings – generally starting at 7pm with sign-on 15 mins beforehand.

• Harry Dawson Spring League: in May and June.
• Dermot McGrath Summer League: in July and August.
• The Club Road Race Championship, Hill Climb Championship and Time Trial Championship also take place throughout the season.

As a new member we would love you to give the racing a go!

Our club also runs two prestigious races each year, as a new member you will have made a commitment to help marshal on one of these races. The Shay Elliott Memorial race for A1/A2 and the Ken Duff Memorial for A3 riders takes place in May and the Christy McManus Memorial for A2/A3 riders takes place in June.

OPEN RACING

Bray Wheelers have an amazing history in open racing and members have been national champions, raced internationally and competed at Olympic level for male and female and from youth to senior level.

Open racing is when a cycling club promotes a race and opens the entry to all Cycling Ireland members with a competition licence. Bray Wheelers hosts a number of open races, most notably the Shay Elliott memorial, one of Ireland’s most prestigious one-day races, which is run alongside the Ken Duff memorial, and these are run in the early Spring.

The Christy McManus, Ronnie Coates and Pauline Walsh memorial races are held together in Summer. For full details Click Here.

Open racing takes place throughout the country from April to September every weekend and also midweek in summer. Cycling Ireland has a race calendar listing all races for the year here >> cyclingireland.ie/events/find-an-event/

Club members who wish to take part in open racing need to get a competition licence. All new racing members of Cycling Ireland will receive an A4 category licence and will ride separate A4 races over approximately 60 kms for road racing. Success at A4 will earn a promotion to A3 with the A1 category catering for the elite Irish amateur cyclists.

• There are a number of different types of open racing to choose from. Road racing, time trials, criteriums and hill climbs.
• Road races are a massed start type of race usually held over a circuit with varying distances for the different categories.
• A time trial is a race against the clock over a measured distance with competitors starting individually at one minute intervals.
• A criterium is a massed start event held over a short course for a predetermined time or number of laps.
• Hill climbs are individual events similar to time trials with competitors starting at one minute intervals and racing to the finish at the top of a hill.

Bray Wheelers also have a number of riders competing in the Irish Veteran Cyclists Association (IVCA) theivca.com road racing and time trial leagues. The IVCA caters for female cyclists over 35 years, and male cyclists over 40 years old. To help Bray Wheelers members prepare for open racing, experienced club coaches run race-training sessions every Tuesday night from January to March. We also have a race training group who have regular training sessions at the weekend. As a club we have lots of coaches and experienced riders always willing to share their knowledge and experience of road racing with all our newer members.