Mountcharles teenager Jamie Meehan turning heads in cycling world

A very modest young Mountcharles man is to be honoured in his home town on Friday evening after recently winning a cycling national championship in Dungannon.

Jamie Meehan was the winner of the Irish U-23 Cycling Championships, just edging out the hometown favourite Darren Rafferty on the line. What is remarkable about the achievement is that Jamie is only 19 years of age and is only really beginning to learn about the sport.

The U-23 championship is run in conjunction with the national championships and it is also a showcase for young cyclists, and Jamie Meehan certainly put his name forward. He is also training with the Irish national squad and is headed to the World Cycling Championships which are being held in Scotland in August.

Jamie takes up the story about how the Dungannon race unfolded.

"It's unique from any other national championship throughout the world.  The race split apart early on. A group went up the road with all the big guys, including Sam Bennett and there were four or five U-23s went up the road.

"We were just rolling along in the bunch and then we could see the four or five U-23s and a few others being dropped from that group. We knew then the (U-23) race was back on. There were a few attacks then.

"Myself, Darren Rafferty and Conal Scully, we were the three U-23s and we were very motivated because we knew we were guaranteed a medal if we stayed away. We dropped Conal Scully, so it was between me and Darren.

"We rode together and on the last lap, on the second last climb Darren attacked me. I was able to go with him over the top and down the hill and leading into the last climb I decided to go and get a lead into the corner after the climb and hold it to the line.

"I was pretty sure that Darren could beat me in a sprint but when Darren got back to me after the climb, luckily I was able to hold him off," said Jamie.

"I had a really good race that day, but Darren is still our top rider, without a doubt,” says Jamie.

I just wondered if Jamie was underestimating his ability, but he is happy with the result and will work to keep competing with Darren Rafferty, who is also 19.

"I went well and I'm going well at the moment.

"I was really happy with the result and the race went very well for me, but I still think I have loads to do to try and keep moving forward,” he said.

START OF JOURNEY

The journey into cycling began at age 11 and Jamie isn’t sure why it happened.

"To be honest, I don't know. I think I took a notion just and that was it. I played a bit of rugby, Gaelic, swimming, I did a bit of everything. Then the cycling took over when I was about 11 or 12.

"It is not something you can mix with others, it's all or nothing, a tough sport.”

Jamie joined Donegal Bay Cycling Club for a few years and started racing with them. It was a competition in Letterkenny, the Errigal Easter race where something happened which changed things.

“I was in a race in Letterkenny when I was 14, some man said 'that boy's seat is too high' and it turned out he was standing beside my mum.

"Mum got chatting to him and said that we didn't know that much about cycling.  This man, Pat Cunningham, was from Glenties and he took me and a couple of others from Glenties under his wing. That's when I moved from Donegal Bay down to the club in Glenties, Tirconaill Gap.

"I didn't really know what I was doing before that really. I thought training was going out and going as hard as you coud for 10 minutes and that would cover you. It was then that I was taught that you have to put in hours.”

At that stage also he was in secondary school at the Abbey VS in Donegal Town where he did a wee bit of athletics and some cross-country.

“When I was 17 there was a new academy being set up, run by a club in Belfast. I applied to get into that and got in. That was during Covid and I had joined as we were leaving Covid and things started to open back up again.

"I was with that club for over a year and I learned a bit more as to what I should have been doing (in training). We had our own coach and we got our training online. We had our bike computers that we upload to and that will give us our instructions.

"I didn't really have to travel.

"I was kinda blessed where I grew up, it is perfect for training. If you want to go out and do some stuff on the flat, you have the main roads. Or if you want to do some hills, you are blessed with all the hills around us.

“My favourite run would be to leave my house in Mountcharles and go down around Glengesh, down into Carrick and back up by Killybegs and it's about two and a half or three hours. That would be my typical Sunday spin," said Jamie, who says this year he would be doing a lot of that on his own. He added that before that he would have been meeting up with others from Glenties for a Sunday spin.

Jamie says his cycling strength is probably for climbing as he is a bit light for the sprints.

"You have to put in the hours on the bike. The races in Ireland are mainly about three hours long, but out in Spain I was doing maybe four hour races. I was a bit more suited to longer races and the nationals were three hours and 45 minutes. 

After his Leaving Cert last year he had a decision to make.

"I had decided to take a year out and I had the opportunity to go to Spain for a year. I wanted to give cycling a go for a year. You really need to give cycling full time, you really have to fully commit.

"It went well and I'm still not too sure what to do this September. The plan was college and I have a place but I think at the moment I'm waiting to see what happens between now and September.”

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But with winning the U-23 championship and training with the Ireland team for the Worlds, any decision will be put on hold.

"I'm training for the Worlds now. That's the biggest race of the year and whoever wins this will be guaranteed a pro contract or they may already have one. I know for me we are going to be riding for Darren Rafferty, he would be our strongest rider.

"But it is definitely still an opportunity where you can get noticed.

"If I decide to go with the cycling it means putting college on hold for another year. But at the same time, if I decide to go to college this year, I'm definitely still keeping up the cycling because I still have two years at U-23 level.”

So there are decisions for the young Mountcharles man, who seems well grounded.

"I've been lucky enough. Dad runs his own company and I've been working with him. Whatever money I've saved up from working for the past, maybe eight years, most of it has gone back into cycling and bikes. Mum and dad have been pretty good as well in helping out.”

He has three younger brothers but none of them are interested in cycling but there are sporting links with uncles on the Meehan and Quinn sides quite sporty. And Jamie reveals that the bikes around the house are being used.

"Mum has taken up cycling this year and are using my bikes, which is good.”

With Jamie going to Scotland for the Worlds, it will mean a second Mountcharles connection as Katie-George Dunlevy will be there also representing Ireland for the ParaCycling World Championships, which are being run at the same time. Katie-George’s dad, John, is a proud Mountcharles man and Jamie has already met Katie-George on one of her regular trips to her father’s homeplace.