Pictures: A successful St Stephen's Day cycle in Ballymahon

St Stephen's Day 20km cycle

Longford Leader

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There is a strongly held view that there is nothing quite like shaking off the excess of the Christmas Season like a good brisk walk or cycle in the countryside.

And, for the 30 or so brave souls who lined up at the Longford Bridge in Ballymahon at 12 noon on St Stephen's Day, that is exactly what transpired as they set out to cycle the Royal Canal Cycle way to Abbeyshrule and back - a nice round trip of approximately 20 kilometres.

When the cyclists reached Abbeyshrule, one or two adjourned to the Rustic Inn for some light refreshment before tackling the return leg to Ballymahon where everyone adjourned to Skelly's Bar for some delicious soup and sandwiches.

This was the second year of the fun cycle since the completion of work on the Canal Greenway from Abbeyshrule to Ballymahon and given the very positive spin-off from a healthy life style point of view to be derived from cycling, the committee intend to make it an annual event that can only get bigger and better.

A very special word of thanks to Sean Walsh, Jenny White, Aidan Lovell, Evan Dennehy and Liam Natton of the organising committee for their work in advance of the cycle and on the day itself, Dennistons Longford for sponsoring some cycling spares.

And a very special word of thanks to Pat Byrne of Skelly's Bar for providing the soup and sandwiches, which were greatly appreciated on returning to Ballymahon.