A humble hero !
In 1989 Sean Kelly won one of the biggest races on the World cycling calendar , the Liege Bastogne Liege classic . Whilst the whole cycling world were congratulating him he made a call home and heard the news that a friend of his had also won a race that day .
Whilst others would have passed this off and continued basking in the glory of such a momentous victory , Kelly picked up the phone and made a call to his friend .
Within minutes of winning a huge professional race he was congratulating Vinnie Cronin on his first victory ever in a Vets race in Youghal Co. Cork and wanted to know all of the details about the race .
It’s hard to picture many of the current generation of top riders being that humble on a day that the entire global cycling community is admiring their triumph .
Barry
www.worldwidecycles.com
Did ya get the guns ?
With sporting success comes a certain amount of public recognition . In Ireland a cyclist who competes on National teams representing their country will be recognised locally or sometimes further afield by those with an interest in cycling . A GAA star however , is recognised by every man , woman and child in their county . When they walk down the street they are greeted by a constant stream of acknowledgement . Men will nod their heads and say ‘Howaya’ , women will smile and say hello whilst children point and shout out at their hero .
When Sean Kelly walks down the street people say hello as if they know him well , and he replies and always has a relaxed word for everyone . It’s a great way to handle the situation .
When Tipp Hurler John Leahy was at his peak , walking down the street in Clonmel it was not unusual for mature grown men to shout out across the street ‘ Go on Leahy !
A recently retired Hurling star has a different way to manage the situation . Whenever he gets a wave or a hello from a stranger he gives a demure wave or polite hello . However when he meets someone he does know he makes both hands into the shape of two handguns and fires .
Hence , whenever anyone in county Waterford says that they met Dan the Man , the reply given is ‘ Did ya get the guns ? ‘
Barry
www.worldwidecycles.com
Is the World Champion really the Champion of the World ?
Seventy five-year old Tom ‘Chops’ Kiely was in the shop recently and as a lifelong cycling fan made a point to Ray that the World Champion cyclist isn’t really the World Champion . He said that a one day race isn’t any sort of way to decide who should wear the World Champions’ rainbow stripes for the following year .
Chops makes a very valid point . The Formula one World Champion is decided over a season long series of races as is the World Rally Championship and a number of other sporting titles .
A puncture , a crash , a bout of illness or any myriad of other misfortunes can happen to deny the best rider of any particular season the chance to wear the Rainbow Jersey when a one day race decides who gets crowned World Champion .
Sean Kelly never got to wear the rainbow jersey , but was the World Number 1 cyclist for 5 years in a row .
The following is a list of the riders who were crowned World Champion during that 5 year period ;
1984 – Claude Criquielion
1985 – Joop Zoetemelk
1986 – Moreno Argentin
1987 – Stephen Roche
1988 – Maurizio Fondriest
Whilst these were contemporaries of Kelly’s , none apart from Roche in ’87 could possibly have come within an asses roar of Kelly for consistency of victories in the Worlds top races throughout each season .
Is the current format a real World Championship or is it another Classic race at the end of the season ?
Barry
www.worldwidecycles.com
Nama Wheelers – why everyone is now a cyclist !
Today is budget day and the Joe Duffy/Eastenders/Prime time brigade are all depressed . I avoided all tv and radio coverage , went and bought a Christmas tree with my two small daughters and had a great afternoon decorating it whilst listening to Now that’s what I call Christmas volume 2 million and something . A while ago after the girls were well tucked up in bed I popped on to twitter and got a brief overview before going to the budget.gov.ie site and taking a look . We’re all going to be down some more money but we will all still get by .
The past few years has seen a huge growth in the number of cyclists on the road , many are cycling to work whilst many are also cycling because they have no work . Funny thing is , what I have noticed from behind the counter of a bike shop is that both groups are actually as happy as each other . The general population is now discovering what cyclists actually have known all along ;
Cycling is a great leveler . It doesn’t matter if you are a doctor or a ‘dolee’ on the bike , everyone is just a bike rider . Joe public have now just realised that they no longer have to look up to the bank manager , the solicitor or the priest . They are all just human and some are good guys or clean riders whilst others are cheaters juiced up to their eyeballs on epo .
Cyclists know how to suffer . Every cyclist knows that you have to train in the wind and rain , that way you really enjoy and appreciate the sunny day with the wind on your back . That’s what life is like too , some days , weeks or months are tough going but they make you appreciate the good times all the more .
Money doesn’t buy happiness , just ask anyone who spent 3 grand on a pair of Lightweights and still can’t finish in the top six of a race .
Any day you can go out and do 100k is a good day , no matter what’s going on around you . Cycling keeps you fit and healthy and out of those overcrowded hospitals .
There is no climb that doesn’t have a descent . The current economic crisis is like climbing Mont Ventoux . We have suffered on the lower slopes through the forest . Unlike Alpe D’Huez there are no hairpins to recover on and the heat is savage . However we are now approaching Challet Renard . There is still a long way to go in totally unfamiliar lunar like surroundings but the top is there and just over the other side is a fabulous descent where the view is spectacular and things do get better again .
Barry
www.worldwidecycles.com
Things I’ve learned on the N24
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
www.worldwidecycles.com
The Challenge
No matter how much you like your job , your family life or your dog or cat , life can sometimes become mundane . There is only so much of anything that can be done regularly before we loose our enthusiasm . And we all need a bit of enthusiasm in our lives .
We all need a challenge to stoke that enthusiasm and to make us feel alive .
The late Bobby Power understood what a challenge was , both on and off the bike . The relentless determination that enabled him to achieve so much on the bike also gave him the strength of character to spend much of his final days on this earth ensuring that the Carrick Wheelers Challenge , which was his brainchild would be the ultimate challenge for any cyclist willing to put in the time and effort to train for it .
Like a few other cyclists I was unsure about entering the event . I understood a little too well just what level of fitness and suffering would be required to complete the route and kept on putting off entering whilst a part of me hoped that I would ‘accidentally’ forget to enter before the closing date .
Cian Power put paid to that plan whilst we were sitting on the wall outside his Parents home 3 weeks ago when he informed me that he would be taking his fathers place in the organising of the event and that it would be run in memory of Bobby . I logged on that night and entered .
Like a teenager trying to cram for the Leaving Cert I trained as much as I could for the past 3 weeks and managed to hit the start line in reasonable shape .
The event itself delivered upon all of it’s promises . The climbs were brutal , coming one after another . We were still within sight of Carrick when Tullaghought reared up in front . The O’Gorman brothers and the bould Butler set a nice steady tempo and it felt like it was only just finished with when the gap of Rathlarish erupted before us . How something so steep exists in relative anonymity is puzzling but it will be anonymous no more . Kilcash brought a touch of the exotic with Alpaca ( llamas ) on each side of the road at the summit . More than one person was overheard asking if they were seeing things . Supporters like Joe Hahessy and Sean seemed to be everywhere at once , usually on the steepest part of each climb with words of encouragement for all . After the never-ending brutality of Tickincor the rain on top of the Nire added to the misery of pain , but it was still enjoyable pain ( there actually is such a thing )
On the descent my glasses fogged up and I could not see a thing . I slipped them down and thanks to my shortsightedness could see even less . Something hi-vz yellow up ahead turned out to be John Dempsey and the clan . I pulled in and dried off the glasses and was soon on the way again with words of encouragement pushing me along .
The welcome sight of such a variety of tasty foods and hot drinks in Rathgormack were as nice as any 3 star Michelin meal to weary riders . With the Brunnocks , the O’Donnells and the Powers on hand Gordan Ramsey wouldn’t get a look in .
The sun came out as I hit the summit of Seskin trying to hang onto the Comeragh CC train , and with it came the wind . Turning right in Mahon bridge as we passed Michael and Martin O’Loughlin who had also been manning the junction at Seskin , the road was hard but coming out into the open on Mahon Falls the breeze became a hurricane . This is where cars seemingly roll uphill , but the only illusion taking place for me seemed to be legs that could pedal no more which still kept turning .
The descent was fast and dry as was my water bottle just as I approached the Happy Hugh water stop in Kilmac .
Nicky Butt was out at Carrolls cross with words of encouragement and the mention of a ham sandwich and this drove me on to Portlaw .
Big Joe pointed the way to Curraghmore and soon I was bouncing along , slipping and sliding , hurting but smiling inside . I rode the cobbles of Roubaix in April and the latter part of Curraghmore is as close as you can get without a plane ticket to Northern France .
The smooth Tarmac on the road outside felt like smooth velvet and my speed picked up as I could almost see Carrick once more .
The banquet that awaited at the finish made it all worthwhile and the little treats like the Tunnocks tea cakes and cadburys roses were just what the doctor ordered after the fresh sandwiches and scones washed down by a nice hot cup of tea.
The work put in by Cian , Larry , Martin , Paul , Rory , Leslie , John , The Power family and all of the Carrick Wheelers and their team of Volunteers would have made Bobby a very proud man .
Bobby Power was a tenacious competitor and someone who would never shy back from a challenge . Second place was not an option . A man who used his head as much as his legs to win on the bike and a gentleman off the bike . He was also someone who gave a huge amount back to the sport he loved , and to the young riders starting out . For an event to bear his name it would have to be something very special .
‘The Bobby Power Challenge’ is worthy of it’s name .
Like this:
Bobby Power – A legend
Rest in peace Bobby .
Barry & Ray
A powerful lesson
Nowadays almost everyone is obsessed with stats and figures . For many there is no such thing anymore as going out training on the bike . There has to be a programme and corresponding figures .
Heart rate used to be the main determination of training intensity and performance but now it has been overtaken by power and watts as power measurement devices have become more affordable and accessible .
Figures have become all important , Vo2 max , threshold , 10 second wattage now mean much more than the old ‘ my legs feel good today’ and performances have improved as training time has become more efficient .
This is a good thing but must always be kept in perspective . When responding to , or attacking in a race , the worst thing a rider can do is to look down at their screen to glance at their figures . Riders seeing a number which is close to their ‘max’ take these figures on board and gaps open up , in the wrong direction . Your max on the day of a test may not be your absolute max in race conditions two months later .
2 riders not obsessed with figures are Mark Cavendish and Sean Kelly .
When Cav was working under the BCF system the head coach Simon Jones was unimpressed with the young rider who was not achieving the desired figures . In tests Cav was not putting out good enough wattage numbers so on paper he was not going to achieve much . He has proven those tests wrong in the biggest possible way .
These tests are not a new phenomenon . Back in the late eighties teams had begun testing their riders and analysing the figures . Sean Kelly was at the height of his career and winning more of the biggest races than any of his contemporaries . He was the greatest cyclist in the World at the time and during one test session the coaches were perplexed . They asked how he could be winning so much when his figures did not correspond to such results . Kelly sat back and said ‘ that machine measures power , heart rate , Vo2 max and all that , but what it doesn’t measure is how much pain you can suffer ‘ . Their question was answered !!!
Barry
www.worldwidecycles.com
Things you hear on a bike
When you head out on a bike with another cyclist or a group of cyclists there are many different topics of conversation. You hear about their training and racing , their families and jobs and quite a bit else besides .
Last weekend I was out on the bike with a friend who I had not seen in a while. We were jumping from one topic to another when he came out with a gem of a story ;
His girlfriend has an aunt who is a Nun in her seventies . Recently she was on a trip to Boston and was staying in a nice downtown hotel.
After she checked in she proceeded to the elevator where she was preceded by a coloured gentleman . Just as she stepped into the elevator he spoke to her and said ‘ Hit the floor ma’am !’
Having heard about the dangers of the city from her colleagues in the convent she knew better than to argue and immediately made her way down onto the floor of the elevator and placed her hands over her head . She then calmly spoke and asked ‘please don’t rob me. I have very little of material value ‘
The man in the lift then burst out laughing and explained that he just meant for her to hit the Button for whatever floor she required .
The little nun apologised profusely for the misunderstanding and the guy was still laughing when she stepped out of the elevator on her required floor .
The Nun soon forgot about the incident until she was checking out of the hotel 2 days later when the receptionist informed her that her hotel bill had already been paid and handed her an envelope containing a brief note . The note said ;
‘ Thanks for the best laugh I have had in ages , regards , Will Smith ‘ !!!
I also recently heard a story recounted about a training group in Limerick a few years back who had a dramatic end to a winter training spin .
As the racing season approached a group of Limericks finest cyclists , some of whom were amongst the best in the country at the time , were towards the end of a good training spin when they noticed a guy in a yellow jacket up ahead .
Like all cyclists the ‘carrot in front of the donkey syndrome’ kicked in and the pace began to gradually increase as they started to reel him in. He was still hanging out there as the speed got faster and faster.
Before long the whole group were doing up and over which soon turned into a full on team time trial. The lone rider up ahead still managed to hold them off. A training spin now became a race and all caution was thrown to the wind . Riders were now being shelled left right and centre .
The group was thinned down to just 4 then 3 and when there were just 2 riders left the super strong Davy Hourigan really put the hammer down to close up the final few hundred meters alone to the rider up ahead .
Just as they approached Limerick city the gap was eventually closed only to discover that the potential All Ireland TT champion up ahead was in fact a local council worker on a Honda 50 !!!
Barry
www.worldwidecycles.com
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