The Apple Club Newsletter, Spring 2005, Page 4

Last time I wrote about St. Nicholas’s Day in Holland. That was just before Christmas. St.Nicholas is back in Spain now. I wonder what he does in summer?

This time I will write about sport. I could write about soccer, swimming, ice-skating or cycling. I will write about cycling, because that is the only one I do now.

You know by now that I was born in Holland. Most people there cycle. Even my mother-in-law who is 91 years old! There are special cycle paths along all the roads, so it is very safe.

When I was eight years old I got my first bicycle. I remember it well. My sister Corrie’s boyfriend got it for me. It cost 12 guilders (about the same as a pound in Ireland at that time, or just over one euro now). It had no saddle! My father strapped a jute bag on the bar, and it was a “doortrapper”. That means that you could not stop the pedals from going around. And it didn’t have rubber tyres either. Rubber was scarce in the wartime. So the Dutch made wooden tyres or put plastic piping on the rims. You never got a puncture, but the noise of the wheels on the ground and the shaking was terrible!

All the same, most young people had a bike and we had racing competitions almost every summer night. 10 times around the village (about 6 miles).

Laurence Foley from Carrick-On-Suir told me that they did the same here. And they went up Seskin’s Hill. That is very very steep. That is where Sean Kelly from Mothel village did his training. He became one of the best cyclists in the World.

Anyway, I cycle again now. Twenty years ago I cycled with Tom Ryan from Cahir. Up and down to the Half Way Bar. And we didn’t stop for a drink. Now I cycle with Clonmel Cycling Club. At first everyone there seemed to be named John. There are not many young people in the club. Only Jeff Heffernan and Tomas Neumann from the Czech Republic. But we cycle for enjoyment, and during the summer we have tours.

Last year I saw almost every part of Ireland, and I got a medal for it.

But I expect you as children to take your bikes out. You could even bring your bike to our camping ground when you call to us for fruit. It is safe there, and my grandchildren are learning to cycle too.

And now for the competition.

Send your entries, written on a postcard or in a letter, including your name and address (to reach us by April 8th 2005) to:

Entrants should be aged 12 years or younger. First prize is a €20.00 Easons voucher while the runners-up receive €10.00 vouchers for The Apple Farm.

Winter competition winners:

Congratulations to the winners of our winter competition. Your prizes are on the way to you.

Sport, By Willem Traas