Sunday's Mater Racing Hearts Cycle is the last fixture on the ICF list for the season and, weather permitting, there should be a good turnout out for a worthy cause - to help raise funds for a new cardiac unit in the Mater Hospital.

There are three categories of outings all moving off from Eccles Street at 10 a.m. and going through Finglas and out along the Ashbourne Road. There will be a 15-mile family rally, a leisure spin of 50 miles and the main event is over 75 miles, with the racing men going on and fighting it out over the last 35 miles for a prize fund of £2,000. Some of those going to the world championships at Verona in Italy next week and other members of the international squad heading for Australia are expected to take part.

Stephen Roche will be joining with FBD Milk Ras winner Philip Cassidy to lead the leisure section. Cassidy has been one of the main organisers of the event with Alice Sherratt and he said the racing will start at Kilmoon Cross. The route will then take in Duleek, Drogheda, Collon and Slane with the finish outside Ashbourne. It was originally intended to finish back in Eccles Street but the gardai would not permit this.

The teams for the world championships leave next Wednesday. The juniors - the Lynch twins Daniel and Denis, with their Kanturk club-mates Willie Curtin and Michael Dennehy, along with Brian Ahern of Orwell - are in action at Verona tomorrow week in the race Mark Scanlon won at Valkenburg in Holland last year and they have been preparing together at a training camp at Carlingford.

National team director Richie Beatty and junior manager Barry Monaghan are to decide tomorrow if it is considered worthwhile for the juniors and some members of the under-23 team to take part in Sunday's Mater outing. David McQuaid, who is based near Verona, David O'Loughlin, Derek Finnegan, Keith Gallagher and Paul Roland contest the under-23 world title race next Friday.

On Tuesday Ciaran Power, Eugene Moriarty, Michael McNena, Morgan Fox and Dermot Finnegan leave for the Herald Sun Tour in Australia. It starts from Melbourne on October 14th to 24th and as final preparation they take in the Warrnamboul Classic on October 9th.

Next Friday is the closing date for nominations for the positions on the ICF Board to be filled at the annual general meeting at Malahide on November 20th.