A great day for Ollie's Little Heart Appeal

"I had no sleep for two nights before the event," says a now happy Noel O'Connell, looking back with relief about how Saturday's Crumlin Cycle went.

And when he and a group of 20 cyclists arrived at Car Park 3 at 9.15am on the Saturday, having travelled up from the Kilcullen Canoe Club staging point, he was still worried. "The car park was empty."

But, after a visit to St Theresa's Ward to visit his and Katrina's little Ollie, back in the hospital to recover from an infection, spirits were lifted enormously. "There was a hive of activity. Garda vans, cars and motorbikes. Ambulances, paramedics. About 10 motorbike outriders, lead cars, broom wagons, repair vans and—most importantly—about 100 cyclists."

He describes the 'great feeling' leaving Crumlin with sirens, roar of the motorbikes, horns sounding and cheers from a mix of real cyclists and 'mamils' (middle aged men in lycra).



"Traffic was stopped, lights were broken and off we went down the Long Mile Road, onto the Naas Road, and on down to Naas, Newbridge and Kilcullen. At times we were reaching speeds of 50km/h while being protected by An Garda Siochana and St John's Ambulance South Kildare—big thanks to Tony O'Halloran and Ray Bryan."

The first group arrived into Kilcullen in under two hours at 12.15pm. For those choosing to do the 50K challenge from Crumlin, their day in the saddle was complete, while the 100K group refuelled in the Canoe Club with complimentary drinks, bananas and chocolate, all kindly donated.

"We were joined by another large group, and an estimated 150 cyclists set off for the next 40K route around Kildare. A few hills along the way, but all survived, then back into Kilcullen. Another pit-stop at the Canoe Club before joining up with the fun cyclists. There was a great array of bikes on display, from ones with stablisers to High Nellies, with many kids hooking up with their parents and completing the last section."

Noel recalls the overall 'fantastic atmosphere' throughout the day and a great buzz around The Square in Kilcullen. "It was back then to O'Connells Bar for some well-deserved food kindly prepared by Paul Carey of the Good Food Gallery, while Alan O'Connell was spotted with a chef's hat and lycra, cooking cocktail sausages and nuggets for the kids."

Some managed to stay on for the night to the sound of Feedback in O'Connells, while many other departed to their homes far and wide. "I met people from Louth, Monaghan, Wicklow, Waterford, Dublin and Donegal."

There were also staff from Crumlin ICU, the hospital's Pharmacy, and, of course, staff of St Theresa's Ward (all in the top picture with Noel). Ollie's two brothers (below) also did their bit, with Daniel (13) completing the 40K route and Jack (10) doing 25K. "While all this was happening, I was not aware that Katrina had got a call from Crumlin that they were taking Ollie down for a small procedure. It all went well and she managed to get back down for a well earned glass of wine."



A wonderful day, with wonderful people, showing that simple human kindness and generosity of spirit is alive and well in recession-ridden Ireland.

(As previously mentioned, your editor was working out of the country on the day and missed it all. Thanks to Noel for taking the time to provide the information for the above. Also, I don't know who took the various photographs, but Noel said I could use them from the Facebook page, so to all the snappers involved, thank you.)