Weekly Report

Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Road Club’s fun tour cyclists raise £1050 for the Chernobyl Children appeal.
The mayor of Ballymena Audrey Wells M.B.E. hosted a reception for the Ballymena Road Club – Chain Reaction Cycles - fun tour cyclists in the town hall last Thursday evening.
She presented medals and certificates of merit to the successful participants, including five riders who had achieved full attendance of all thirteen tours.
John and Eleanor Duffin, representatives from the Chernobyl children appeal NI, were also in attendance. The charity fund reached a record total this year with £1050 being donated to the Chernobyl Children’s appeal NI.
2013 was the eighth successive year during which the club supported the CCA. During that time the cyclists have donated £5586.50 to this very worthwhile cause.
This year’s fun tour series has been one the most successful ever held with a total turnout of 725 cyclists over the 13 weeks, an average of 56 per week.
124 different individual cyclists completed at least one tour with five riders achieving full attendance. They were;  John Elliott for a second successive season, Francis O’Kane, Patsy McGurk, Paddy Mooney and of course Rex Bonar who was in attendance every week to open up the car park and clubrooms.
There were 17 gold medallists who successfully completed at least 11 tours: 27 silver who had at least 8 tours and 27 bronze for 5 tours.
The mayor said she was pleased to hear that the tours had once again been very successful and that they had been completed safely and without any difficulties. She praised the efforts of all the participants and congratulated them on their fund raising efforts.
Ballymena Road Club’s chairman John Maxwell thanked the mayor for her hospitality and also for the council’s continued support of the fun tours.
John Duffin accepted a cheque from the club and explained that all the money raised goes to the work of the CCA without deduction of any expenses.
He said he was "blown away” by the continued fund raising by the cyclists and was delighted to accept the money for the CCA. He also said it was a fitting and lasting memorial to Martin McKernan who, along with his wife Jennie, had been a host family.
Martin McKernan was a member of Ballymena Road Club’s touring committee until his untimely death in August 2000.
Chernobyl Children Appeal (NI) Ltd. was formed in 1994 to help alleviate the suffering of children from the contaminated regions of Belarus and Ukraine in the aftermath of the Chernobyl Disaster in 1986. The charity operates on a cross community and voluntary basis with support branches spread widely across Northern Ireland.
Each year the charity brings children away from the radioactive contamination of their homeland for a 3 week respite holiday with local families. This short stay in Northern can make a significant difference to the children's well-being.
The CCA mission statement reads - "To slow down the rate of ill health of children still suffering the effects of the Chernobyl Disaster.”
At the height of the charities work the CCA brought 250 children from Belarus and Ukraine to Northern Ireland each summer, unfortunately this has dropped now 80 in 2013. John Duffin explained that the cost of flights and entry visas combined with a reduced number of host families and limited fund raising opportunities had served to reduce the charities work. The average cost to bring each child to NI is £400.
Nevertheless it is testament to the C.C.A.’s formidable efforts that the charity is still effective almost 28 years after the disastrous accident in 1986
To date the CCA have brought in excess of 3,000 children to Northern Ireland on these respite holidays.
 
 
Calendar
Ballymena Road Club cyclists will continue with their weekend touring and training rides this Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd December.
The groups will assemble as usual at Rex Bonar house Railway Street with departure times of 9.15am and 9.30am on both days.
It is also planned to have some touring rides during the festive season with small groups hoping to go out on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th December, if the weather conditions are favourable.
There will also be rides on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th December and on New Year’s Day Wednesday 1st January.
 
 
Dates for the new season.
Ballymena Road Club’s two big open race promotions will both take place before Easter next season.
First up is the Red Hand Trophy which is scheduled for Saturday 15th March 2014. The Tour of Ards is on 22nd March, with the Tour of the Mournes on Sunday 6th April.
Next it’s the Road Club’s Wallace Caldwell memorial on 12th April, which comes just one week before the Tour of the North, which is held over the Easter weekend from Friday 18th April until Monday 21st April.
The road club will be hoping for better luck with these events than they had in 2013 when snow caused the postponement of the Caldwell race and then a late season date meant a poor entry and subsequent cancellation of the Red Hand Trophy.
Before all that however the club will hold their annual reliability trial from Rex Bonar House on Sunday 19th January 2014.
 
 
Registration
Existing Ballymena Road Club members should note that their Cycling Ireland memberships, insurance and race licences expire on 31st December.
Existing members may renew their licences etc. on line at the CI web site. They should note, however, that their applications will only be approved once they have paid their £15 Ballymena Road Club membership fee. This club fee should be paid to club Treasurer Richard Wilson or club Secretary Hazel Hughes before making their on-line application to Cycling Ireland, as this will speed up the whole process.