Archive for the ‘clonmel’ Category

Things I’ve learned on the N24

Posted: June 27, 2011 in carrick on suir, carrick wheelers, clonmel, cycling tips
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Part of the N24 stretches the 20 kilometres from Carrick on Suir to Clonmel . Since I started cycling in 1986 I have travelled this road thousands of times in both directions in the company of many of Ireland’s greatest ever cyclists and also one of the worlds greatest ever .
The knowledge shared and advice given along with just keeping your eyes open to what is going on around you on this road must be the equivalent of a university degree in cycling .

Here are just a couple of the lessons learned on that road ;

Bend your elbows :
As a teenager when Ryaner rode up alongside you in the group, if you had your elbows locked you would get a light karate chop and a warning to bend your elbows . It’s not easy to do at first but over time has saved me from countless bouts of sore neck and shoulder muscles that seem to afflict other cyclists .

Stop bobbing up and down :
A great way to waste energy and to look ungainly on a bike is to be bobbing up and down like one of those nodding dogs apprentice hairdressers have on the back window of their Honda civics . Anthony O’G showed me how to eliminate this by placing my thumbs behind the tops of the bars beside the stem . Then by concentrating on not bobbing up and down it was all but eliminated in no time .

Ride over the top of the hill :
If you are at the front of the Carrick group heading over the top of Ballinaraha in early January and decide to ease up a bit and coast down the other side , the chorus of ‘ Ride on ‘ and ‘Ride down the hill ‘ in not so dulcet tones will get you pedalling again pretty quickly . This is a great habit for racing too . Many a race has been won by local riders who launched themselves from the front of a bunch going over the top of a climb when everyone else was taking a breather never to be seen again .

Drift of the back and kick hard within the last k :
Many a Carrick league race was won by lesser sprinters who knew where they stood drifting 10 bike lengths off the back of a 10 or 12 man break and sprinting passed the group at full speed with 500 meters to go . A moments hesitation by a few riders is all it takes to get enough of a jump to carry you to the line first .

Whatever you do , don’t throw the bike back :
When rising from the saddle to stand on the pedals do so gradually and don’t throw the bike back on top of the rider behind . If you do it once you are given the reflex title of ‘ fuckin eejit’ . Do it a second time and you become a ‘dangerous fuckin eejit’ a third offence will lead to a lonely spin home on your own .

To be a great cyclist you don’t have to be a bollix :
For a teenager, to cycle beside that years Paris-Roubaix winner , the green Jersey in the Tour de France among a multitude of other monumental victories and to have him ask with genuine interest how your training and racing is going is quite an experience . To overhear someone else tell Sean Kelly that he looks a lot like Sean Kelly and for him to go along with it by saying that ‘ it’s not the first time I’ve heard that ‘ is also very entertaining .

Everyone has a bad day :
There is not one rider in the group who has never had a bad day . We have all seen one another suffering at some stage . The important thing to do is to keep going and very soon a good day will come again and you will be at the front heading over the Pike once more .

Wash your bike :
If you don’t it is noticed and will be commented upon .

The group will never drop Vinnie Cronin :
No matter how shattered he looks at the beginning , middle or end of a spin and no matter what speed the group is doing he will always manage to hang on . But , If you are getting dropped be prepared for a comment like ‘ you might aswell put head between your legs and kiss your arse goodbye ‘ as he passes to put the final nail in your own coffin .

Call the holes :
If you see a pot hole or any obstruction on the road call it to warn the riders behind . It is a serious black mark if you don’t call a hole that someone behind rides into and gets a puncture in . If it’s on your left shout left , in the centre shout centre and if in doubt just shout ‘hole’ !

Do your turn at the front :
If there is a group of 30 plus out with only six or eight going through Iggy will get annoyed . You do not want to annoy Iggy !

Make friends :
There will be people that you would not recognise in normal clothing who will become some of your best friends on the bike . The ones you meet on and off the bike will be your friends for life . Value it !

Barry
http://www.worldwidecycles.com

Cider Cans

Posted: February 7, 2011 in clonmel
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There are a number of reasons why Clonmel is recognised at home and abroad . It used to be the biggest inland town in Ireland . The Tenor Frank Patterson came from Clonmel . Years ago when I was on holidays in Butlins a few lads from Finglas that I met in the video arcade knew Clonmel because one of their brothers was spending six months in Ferryhouse . But the main thing that Clonmel is famous for is Bulmers Cider .

Bulmers is a high quality product which commands a slightly premium price in its market . Whilst many Munster rugby supporters enjoy consuming copious amounts of  it whilst watching their team in action , those on a more limited budget  such as the social welfare allowance seem to favour other brands such as Scrumpy Jack and Linden Village . I never knew this before working in a bike shop , but here is how I became an authority on such things .

We have a pair of brothers who are regular customers of ours . Whilst they are both in their thirties , they both still live at home with their parents and older brother . Work is a four letter word which is rarely used and other forms of activities are implemented to pass the time . For the sake of the story we will call them Alfie and Andy . The most popular way to pass each day for the brothers is to drink cans of cider .

As cider cans take up much of their time , many other things become related to the cans . A set of lights for €29 is referred to as 14 cans , a new gear cable is 4 cans and a rear tyre and tube is 16 cans .

The first can of the day can sometimes be cracked open at breakfast time and occasionally can be followed quickly by many more if stocks are good .

One day at 11 am Alfie wobbled into the shop and immediately began recounting the events of that morning . The eldest brother had turned on a stereo around 8 am and Alfie had shouted down the stairs for him to turn it off at that hour of the morning . The brother lowered the volume slightly but did not turn it off . Alfie then informed the ‘ignorant bollix’ that if he didn’t turn it off straight away he would come down and do it for him . The stereo remained on so Alfie got up , went down the stairs and sorted it out once and for all . He grabbed the stereo dragged it outside and ‘ bet it with a coal shovel’ . He then started up the lawn mower and tried to roll over it but it got jammed and he ‘made shit of the lawnmower’  . Then his mother came out and ‘ate him but said nothing to the other bollix who started it all’ . There was nothing for it but to skip the corn flakes and go straight for the cans . He grabbed a bag with 12 cans that were for ‘later on’ and headed off down to the quay . I could make out 2 cans in the plastic bag and gauged that it was quite possible that Alfie could have consumed the other 10 given his condition .

The shop was starting to get busy and I was trying to move him on without agitating him further but just as I had manoeuvred him towards the door he turned and asked ‘ Will you give me a cuddle ?’ . That was the straw that broke the camels back and cans or no cans I had to leave him in no doubt as to where I thought he should go with his request . We didn’t see him for a few weeks after that .

Barry

http://www.worldwidecycles.com

The Big Move !

Posted: November 15, 2010 in clonmel, cycling, Cycling diary, ireland, sean kelly, worldwidecycles
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Eleven years ago Ray and I set up our new business venture , a bicycle shop that we called Worldwidecycles . Our first location was  up a laneway just off market street in Clonmel . We stayed there for five years before relocating to Hughes mill on Suir Island to a new shop with more parking facilities . We spent six years in that unit which served us well . For the past year we have been considering a move again,  but it was the upcoming flood alleviation works which would make that location pretty much inaccessible for at least six months which spurred us into action . We had a look at a number of different units both within the town and in retail parks on the outskirts of Clonmel . A 2350 square foot unit on the corner Anglesea street and Dr. Croke place was the one that really captured our imaginations and we were lucky to be able to negotiate a good enough deal to make it a very feasible option for our business .

Once the ball was rolling it took less than four weeks to fit out the new shop and completely relocate our business . We had a huge amount of help from friends and family and there were some pretty long days put in . A 5am start to a 10pm finish was not unusual . Now that we are getting settled in , it’s great to see the reaction of customers who have all been very positive about our new store . We have substantially increased our stock and range of clothing , accessories , equipment and bike brands . We also fitted out a state of the art workshop with a huge range of Park tools and equipment  .

Here are a few pictures of the operation as it progressed ;

First the old shop :

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Every inch full !

 

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The clear-out has begun !

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2 friendly ghosts Peter and Jack enjoy a bit of space

 

And the new shop :

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A lot of empty space

 

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A lonely ladder in the workshop

 

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Stock starts to arrive

 

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Workshop is ready for action

 

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Workshop spares and accessories

 

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Bikes hit the shop floor

 

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The counter takes shape

 

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A lot of science in the move

 

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Feeling ‘tyred’

 

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A few bars to lean on

 

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Even Fran McNulty from RTE paid a visit

 

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One of the first bikes on the stand was for a very special customer , a King in fact !

 

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There are some very fast postmen in these parts

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The side at night

 

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A welcoming front door !

 

Looking forward to seeing you all in store soon !

 

Barry

http://www.worldwidecycles.com

 

League Race Lineout !

Posted: April 30, 2009 in clonmel, league race
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‘Floody’ from Clonmel

Posted: February 2, 2009 in clonmel, floods, worldwidecycles
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A number of years ago , on an unusually warm summers day , a young 5 year old boy was playing outside his home on the outskirts of Clonmel . Noticing that his neighbours door was open he decided to call in to see if anyone would like to come out to play . Not seeing anybody downstairs , as they happened to be in the back garden at the time , he decided to take a look upstairs to see if he could find anyone . Not finding anybody about,  he decided to amuse himself by going in to the bathroom and turning on the taps on the sink . He also turned on the bath taps and was further entertained by plugging the drains on both . He soon became distracted and made his way back down stairs , out the door and headed off to play elsewhere .

The occupants of the house were unaware of their unannounced visitor until almost an hour later when they discovered water dripping through the kitchen ceiling . A rapid inspection ensued and it was quickly discovered that the water , which was now flowing down the walls , was coming from the upstairs bathroom . Large chunks of plaster fell from the ceiling as the mopping up operation began both upstairs and down .

Meanwhile , the 5 year old boy , had found his friends and had been telling them about his little adventure in the neighbours house . The friends passed on the information to their parents and later that evening , as most of the neighbourhood were out surveying the damage , the culprit was easily identified .

His parents provided the punishment as a voice in the wilderness of a crowd of neighbours asked ‘ where’s floody now ? ‘ and a new name was bestowed .

That was over 20 years ago and to this day the young man is known locally as ‘Floody’ .

Over the past weekend , ‘Floody’ may well have been having flashbacks to his childhood as the town of Clonmel once more became engulfed in a deluge of murky brown river water .

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Our shop is right on the river , and the door from our workshop opens out onto a boardwalk right over the water . On Friday morning the river had turned a murky brown and had bugun to rise . By lunchtime the quay was being closed to traffic and the Gardai were attempting to get people to remove their cars . By 6 pm the water had begun to fill the road and was still rising .

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Saturday morning as I headed into the shop I was stopped on the bridge by 2 young civil defence ladies informing me that the Old bridge was flooded . Our car park on suir Island was still OK so I parked up and we opened for business .

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By lunchtime we were lucky to be able to get back over the bridge and through a flood on the upper part of the quay .

After lunch we were checking the level outside the back door regularly and saw it rise to within 4 feet of our shop .

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All afternoon , whenever we looked out the windows of the workshop , there was a constant stream of sightseers down to have a look at the floods . Cameras of every kind were in abundance , from RTE television to every amateur photographer and their nikons , along with mini camcorders and of course everyone was snapping away merrily with their camera phones too .

One very common sight was people standing on the edge of the flood smiling at their friends camera as they had their picture taken with the floods . Perhaps the local tourist office should market the flooding as a visitor attraction .

Then , yesterday morning , the skies had cleared and I met the group as usual for a spin . The  chosen route was ‘Ballymac’ , ie: Carrick – Clonmel – Dungarvan ( via Ballymac-arbery) and back to Carrick . This would be a challenge , not due to the terrain but rather the negotiation of floods around Clonmel . Suggestions were made and all were assured that once we hopped up onto the footpaths we’d be grand . The reality was quite a bit different .

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We managed to circumnavigate the floods on the davis road and the mall but we met our Waterloo at The old bridge . One rider suggested that we could make our way around the back of the grotto . We mounted the footpath and committed ourselves to making it through . The water became progressively deeper . We soon found ourselves with no option of turning around as water rose above our Bottom brackets . We were saturated as we exited the water behind the grotto .

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Now we discovered that due to work on the flood alleviation scheme the lane-way behind the grotto was completely closed off . Other options were searched out and if anyone in the area happened to look out their bedroom window they may have seen some multicoloured , sun-glass wearing apparitions which had nothing to do with the grotto,  staring back at them over their garden fence .

Left with no option we re-entered the water and returned to where we started from .  An earlier suggestion of a spin up the mountain road was then undertaken and normal service resumed as we proceeded on towards Clonea and back to Carrick before making the most of the tailwind home .

Today the quay is still closed but the water has gone down a lot so ‘Floody’ can rest assured that he won’t have to stand in for any photos with tourists in the near future .

Barry

www.worldwidecycles.com

Why life is like the Tour de France

Posted: January 6, 2009 in clonmel, worldwidecycles
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I was eating my breakfast this morning when Rurai Quinn came on morning Ireland and gave me indigestion . In his eyes the whole country is finished and we may as well all bail out now . Well I for one am going to stay and fight . Life is like a bike race and here’s my tuppence worth on why I think it’s like the TDF . ;

The past few years have been like the first week of the tour . We’ve all been carried along by the sprinters ( builders ) and their teams ( banks ). We’ve been sunning ourselves and enjoying the ride , but now we’ve come to the mountains and the likes of Rurai are all set to jump into the team cars and head home , shaking their heads at those continuing on to fight it out in the mountains .

However , whilst the final 2 k of the flat stages are exciting it is the full distance of the epic mountain stages that create the legends. These are the stages that make us all appreciate the wonder and beauty of it all . Every rider who gets through the mountain stages is changed for ever . They are fitter , stronger and experience a part of life that those who don’t even try will never experience .

Every cyclist knows that when you enter a hairpin bend coming down a mountain at 90 kph you hit the brakes before the corner then release and all the time you look where you want to go , not at the ditch or the low wall or anywhere that will cause you to crash . Mother Theresa was once asked to attend an anti-war protest . She refused but she said that she would be the first one there if a pro-peace rally was organised . She , like many a cyclist understood that you go where you’re looking and get what you focus on, good or bad .

Lance Armstrong , Carlos Sastre , Alberto Contador or Cadel Evans are thinking of next July in terms of the top step of the podium and not just waiting to see what-ever happens . This single mindedness keeps them focused and ensures that they train , eat and recover properly each and every day from now until they reach Paris . That’s what we all need to do now . Focus on making our lives even better than they are at present and set a few goals to aim at . You may be presently surprised at the results .

So far the government ( ASO ) have been listening to the likes of George Lee ( David Walshe – ie . never a good word to say ) too much and have made a few bad decisions in a panic . Increasing the Vat rate for example , when any small business could tell you that in order to stimulate more custom when sales are down you decrease prices , not increase them . That would be like decreasing the amount of random tests to cut down on doping .

Today’s stage is the only one that we can do anything about , yestersdays is gone and tomorrows is something we should look forward to .

I understand that some people are losing their jobs at present , but with the right attitude they may find something even better . When digital closed in Clonmel during the last rescession many of the former workers had to start their own businesses in order to survive . Speak to any of them today and they will tell you that it was the best thing that ever happened to them . Now they are doing what they always wanted to do but would never have left the ‘ secure ‘ job .

So keep the head down and pedal hard , get over the next climb and it’s all freewheeling from there on .

Barry
http://www.worldwidecycles.com

Dennis , the box and the blow up doll !

Posted: December 1, 2008 in clonmel, Cycling diary, worldwidecycles
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One of the greatest advantages to owning and running a bike shop is the opportunity to work at something that you truly love doing . Both Ray and I are very lucky to be able to get up each morning and look forward to going to work . To have your consuming passion interwoven with how you make your day to day living is something that improves your quality of life immeasurably , and we have every customer who comes into our shop or who goes onto our website to thank for that . No two days are ever the same so here are a few examples of what went on this week .

Whilst many of our ‘regulars’ ride road bikes or mountain bikes we also have a good deal of ordinary people who we see a lot of . One of these is a guy called Dennis .

Dennis is in his early sixties and retired . He first came into us about eight years ago and was thinking of buying a bike ‘for a bit of exercise’ . He chose a Falcon Explorer hybrid and after inquiring about the price said that he would be back in a few days to buy the bike . As Bill Cullen says , ’bebacks’ are never confirmed sales until the money is in the till so we usually take this with a grain of salt . However Dennis was back two days later , with the money and he bought the bike . The interesting thing was how he said he came about the money . He has a system for betting on the horses which he says although it will never make him a millionaire , seems to be able to provide him with small amounts of cash whenever he needs a bit extra . It usually involves betting on favourites , but this is as far as my understanding goes as I know very little about betting on the horses .

Over the years he began to come in pretty often for brake blocks , tyres , tubes , blocks and chains and one look at the bike would tell you that it was being used a lot . Then a few years ago he traded up to a Specialized Sirrus which increased his cycling activity again . This year he bought a Sirrus Elite and is doing even more .

One day last week Dennis was in the shop and I asked him how much he does on the bike each week . Remember that he is on a hybrid with normal everyday clothing and footwear . His reply was that he does at least two hundred miles per week . There are many racing cyclists who don’t get near that amount of training and Dennis does this hail , rain or snow . Very often each Sunday morning ‘the group’ will pass Dennis coming the other way as they head towards Clonmel and Dennis heads for Carrick . He is a great example of the other side of cycling , the side that keeps you fit and healthy and keeps your mind young as the years go by faster .

On Friday we got a call form a delivery driver who said that he had a box for us and was looking for directions to the shop . Whilst Ray was speaking to him on the phone he mentioned that he was driving a sixty footer with a trailer . To get a Sixteen foot van with a trailer on it down through the middle of Clonmel on  Friday evening four weeks before Christmas would be very difficult , let alone a sixty foot truck with a thirty foot trailer on behind . Ray suggested that they wait up on the by-pass and we could go up in the van and meet them , which is what we did .

I hopped into the van and headed up for the by-pass where it was very easy to spot our delivery men . The sixty footer was a removals lorry so even if they had tried to make it down the town it may easily have become lodged in the ‘West Gate ‘ archway . Our ‘Box ‘ was already out of the van so I pulled up alongside and we said hello .( or I said howa-ye  lads and a small wirey guy replied aw-roite maite ) The small wirey guy was accompanied by a much larger , bulkier guy in a black bomber jacket with a very tight haircut . He said very little until the three of us had lifted the Box into the van and I turned to him and slowly said ‘ the box is pretty heavy , whilst nodding my head in agreement with myself . When he replied ‘ yea it is aw-roite maite’ I was momentarily taken aback . I had just assumed that he was Polish , as are many guys of that build , in physical jobs in Ireland at present . I then remembered a saying that I had heard once – to assume makes an ass out of u and me . Sometimes it’s good to be reminded never to assume anything and never to label anyone .

The box was a large timber crate which contained a Viner measuring jig . We had looking forward to its arrival and once Brian from Viner Uk comes over later this week to train us on how to use it corrrectly we will be all set to offer a complete custom build service on what Marcel Wust called ‘the best bike he has ever ridden ‘  see here

We removed the jig on Saturday morning and every child who came into the shop for the rest of the day seemed to find their way into the box at some stage . From twelve year olds to two year olds they all made a bee line for the box . I wonder how many kids this Christmas will receive hundreds of euros of presents when they would have been just as happy with a large timber box .

Speaking of Christmas , I do like to support local business and must say that World of wonder up in the   poppyfield are great value for toys .  This is our first real year of Santa and we got the Smiths catalogue for Laura to pick out what she wanted form Santa . It was a nice surprise to go up to World of Wonder last Friday night and find that everything on the list was a good deal cheaper than Smyths . One item was €35 in Smyths with a big price reduction tag proclaiming it to be great value whilst the same item with no red tag was €25 in World of wonder .

Another strange event to take place last week was the appearance of my friends mother in the shop with what could only be described as a blow up doll . She had bought it in a novelty shop in order to play a joke on her brother who was returning for his sixtieth birthday . However it had developed a puncture so she brought it in to have it repaired . This was most definitely up there in the most unusual repair undertaken category but we always aim to please so I re-inflated the item and proceeded to try to locate the puncture . Whilst doing this I remembered something that I had to tell Ray about and walked out into the shop whilst still trying to locate the puncture . There I was , miles away concentrating on listening for a puncture with the midriff of the doll next to my face when the buzzer went and two ladies walked into the shop . I immediately dropped the doll and walked over to serve them . We were all a little flustered but I managed to show them a couple of bikes which may suit their kids for Christmas . Even though , as my friends mother said there were no ‘bits’ on the doll , it was still a rather embarrassing situation to find myself in .

So there it is , your average week in a bike shop , and not an energy bar in sight !

Barry

www.worldwidecycles.com

Variety – The spice of life !

Posted: May 19, 2008 in clonmel, Cycling diary, irish cycling, racing cyclist, Uncategorized, worldwidecycles
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When you work in a bike shop no two days are ever the same . Different people and different bikes are in and out every day . Also because it’s our own business there’s everything else that goes along with being self employed , accounts , orders , marketing etc. Whilst I’m not one for posting entries in diary form ala Bridget Jones the past week probably should be broken down that way so here it goes ;

Monday – Worked from home all day , did blog post and Vat return . Spent the evening congratulating three year old daughter on doing her poo in the potty . A very momentous event if you’ve ever gone through the toilet training process .

Tuesday – Very busy day in shop . Built two Kuota Kebels with Ultegra SL . Lovely bikes . Hybrids were going like hot cakes as the summer sun takes effect and encourages people to get out and enjoy the long evenings .

Wednesday – Spent half the morning trying to get the back wheel off of a museum piece with a pre sturmey archer 3 speed . The faded Bill Purcell sticker on the down tube said it all . There once was a bike shop in Clonmel , down where the veterinary surgery across from the army barracks currently resides which was owned and operated by Bill Purcell . This was back in the days shortly after Oliver Cromwell laid siege upon the town and this particular bike may well have been used by Cromwell himself .

Thursday – Gave a presentation at the Irish Internet Association’s annual congress . Pretty nerve racking beforehand especially when I sat down on the stage and looked down at around 400 people . I was third up and luckily the preparation beforehand paid off and all went well . Got some very positive feedback afterwards and really , looking back now it couldn’t have gone better . Darragh Doyle even gave it a mention on his blog . Learned a lot from the other speakers also and have plenty of ideas to keep me occupied for the next twelve months .

Friday – National Mountain Bike Day , or so it seemed . Today everyone wanted to head off road . Ballyhoura really seems to be capturing the imagination and getting people to try their hand at a bit of mountain biking .

Saturday – It was like being in the West county hotel ( sign on hotel for the Ras ) all day as  The Men of the Ras were in getting a few final requirements . When your not riding this year and everyone is coming in talking about it there is always that pang of ‘ shoulda trained for it ‘ especially this year with Fridays stage finishing about 300 meters from the shop . If the weather stays good for the week it will be even more difficult to reconcile but if it lashes rain for a day or two the regret of not riding will be significantly diminished .

At home on Saturday evening requests for a pink trampoline were being voiced with increasing regularity as all poos are now finding their way to the potty and a reward was promised , so if anyone knows where to get a pink trampoline please let me know as three year olds are like elephants , they never forget .

Barry

http://www.worldwidecycles.com

 

 

League 12-7-07

Posted: July 13, 2007 in clonmel, cycling, cycling ireland, irish cycling, league race, videos, worldwidecycles
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Brian Alton the youngest rider in the race takes victory on the mountain top finish of Powers the Pot

League 5-7-07

Posted: July 5, 2007 in clonmel, cycling, cycling ireland, irish cycling, league race
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Joe Hahessy shows a clean pair of heels to the rest of the bunch !

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