How did it all kick start?

As these things often start, myself and a good friend, Mark Whelan were having a drink together one evening in the village of Avoca, back in 2006.

We have always had a love of motorcycling and always wanted to do something more than just that ride on a Sunday afternoon (Wives permission given, of course)

Marks brother, Tony,  passed away 19 years ago from that cruelest of diseases " Cancer".  St Luke's gave him the best of care, and made a very difficult time that bit more tolerable with their professional and caring attitude to patients and their families.

This is a thing that always stuck in Marks mind and has always meant he holds great respect for the work St Luke's do.

So from that point on it was decided we would run an event that St Luke's would benefit from.We knew of the Circuit of Ireland Rally run with Cars but thought it would be a great idea to carve out a different route each year for motorbikes. 2006 was a "suck it and see" year, and we made some mistakes, especially doing 1400 Kms in 2 days with 20 riders.2007 was a little easier on our rumps as we did it over three days. Hopefully our organizational skills are improving as each run is completed (but that is for the riders to say). More and more riders seem to be interested each year, so this speaks for it self.

2008 is the year of the Roosters MCC forming, to the memory of Tony  "Rooster" Whelan and out of respect of all the men and women who have suffered at the hands of Cancer.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the riders / members that support this event from all over Wicklow on an ongoing basis, without them,none of this would be possible.

A Sincere, heart felt thanks guys.