Road club enjoy some some pre-Christmas fun

Conditions were again very favourable and the tourists enjoyed their outing which took in Ballymena, Cullybackey, Kilrea, Culnady and Innisrush before the refueling stop at the Waterwall Inn.

The host was fellow cyclist Paddy Mooney, who is a member of Bann Valley, and who also completed all thirteen of this season’s fun tours.

Paddy’s wife Peggy and his daughter were in charge of the catering which included home-made vegetable soup and hot mince pies, all washed down with as much tea and coffee as one could drink! The money which the cyclists donated on Saturday will be forwarded by Paddy to Marie Curie cancer care.

The 2013 fun tours visited many places of local beauty and historic interest such as Portna Locks, near Kilrea, on the river Bann, The Holy well at Cranfield near Toomebridge, Killalane reservoir, Glenarm, Carnlough, Waterfoot and Glenariff and Saturday was no exception as the O’Kane’s Waterwall Inn has a story of its own.

The Waterwall was founded in the early 19th century in the pre Victorian era and is one of the few licensed premises left which retains the character of the Dickensian times.

The Waterwall was one of the original posting inns where weary travellers changed their horses on the long trek from Londonderry to Ballymena.

This stage coach inn still retains the walled coach yard, the stables, the coach house and many trappings of that bygone age.

The inn is steeped in history and one macabre story centres on one of the previous owners, one Paddy O’Kane, who was bludgeoned to death with a hatchet.

The marks left by the hatchet on the low raftered ceiling were still visible until recent years, the murder was never solved.

There were no such attacks on Saturday, save for a good “bun worry” and each rider in the group trying to get to the top of Tully first on the way home.

Town Hall date tonight for fun tour cyclists.

The Mayor of Ballymena Mrs. Audrey Wales plays host to the cyclists who took part in the autumn and winter series of Ballymena Road Club fun cycle tours at a special reception in the Town Hall this Thursday evening 12th December at 7pm.

This year’s series attracted a total participation of 725 over the 13 weeks (average 56 per week) during which 125 different cyclists completed at least one tour.

This year five riders achieved full attendance, they are Francis O’Kane, Paddy Mooney, Patsy McGurk, John Elliott 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 completed at least 11 tours: 27 silver medallists, who had at least 8 tours and 27 bronze for 5 tours.

Record collection for Chernobyl Children.

John and Eleanor Duffin of the Chernobyl Children’s appeal NI, the chosen charity of this year’s fun tour series, will be present on Thursday night to accept a cheque for £1050, which was the total donated by the fun tour entrants and by those who had taken part in the Nine Glens Challenge in July.

Several non-cyclists also donated to the fund. This was a record total this year, beating last year’s best collection which had been £1015.

Ballymena Road Club first became involved with the “CCA” through their touring committee member Martin McKernan who, along with his wife Jennie, acted as a host family for the children.

“After Martin died the club’s touring section decided that it would be a fitting memorial to him if the club carried on his fund raising efforts and here we are, thirteen years later, still keeping his name and memory alive.”

“The CCA is a totally voluntary organisation with no paid personnel.

All the money is used to bring children from Belarus to NI for a “holiday” in our healthy environment.

The host families are also volunteers and they too receive no remuneration.”

“These visits greatly extend the life expectancy of the children whose homeland is still contaminated following the destruction of the nuclear power plant in 1986.” explained one of the fun tour organisers, Richard Wilson