Cootehill cyclist knocked out by Argos catalogue

A Cootehilll cyclists was knocked out cold last week when an Argos catalogue thrown from a passing car hit him on the head.
Noel Halton was momentarily left unconscious, sprawled on the Cootehill to Cavan Road on Sunday, March 24 by the surprise attack.
“I was knocked out for split seconds,” Noel told The Anglo-Celt. “I thought this was it. I was stunned. I could see stars in front of my eyes – it was an unusual feeling to have.”
To Noel's mind it was “a serious assault”; gardaí share his concern and are actively investigating. It is understood that they are checking any CCTV footage in the area.
Noel had just exited from his home at Cabragh, Cootehill onto the far side of the road when the incident occurred. As he put his feet in the pedal cleats to commence his cycle, he sustained the tremendous bang on the side of his helmet.
A motorist coming behind, who stopped to come to his assistance was able to tell him that he was hit with the flying Argos book lying strewn nearby. The car was driving in the Cavan direction.
In addition to the cuts and bruises sustained to his elbow and shoulder, the incident has dented Noel's confidence on the road. The affable Noel was just after completing a 35-mile cycle around by Ballybay, Swan’s Cross, the hills of Drum and home via Ashfield, when we sat down for a chat in his home on last Thursday lunchtime.
“I am apprehensive when I get up on the bike now and when there is a car travelling behind, I am nearly inclined to take my eyes of the road and look behind me. You are half afraid that something is going to happen again,” he said.
The impact is keenly felt by a man who so loves cycling, both as a hobby and competitively when he was in his prime. Fifty years ago Noel undertook a mammoth cycle around the entire coast of Ireland. The Cootehill man had great potential as a young man on two wheels and he enthused that he was All-Ireland grass track cylist.
“I was actually unbeatable from 1972 to 1976,” he recalls. He was also the 50-mile Road Champion in the early 1970s.
More recently, he also cycled the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2012, covering 1,000km in just eight days.
“We averaged 120 kilometres per day, with heavy rough sacks on the back of mountain bikes,” he recalls.
With all this experience on the bike, Noel insists he is a conscientious cyclist and didn't do anything to provoke those who attacked him.
“I have impeccable road manners on the bike. I too get annoyed with cyclists holding up traffic. They have every right to be on the road but a little consideration and manners goes a long way,” observes Noel.