This is the one number I won’t have on my bike next year. When I arrived at Nigels Bikes in Galway to register the guys were delighted to meet the guy who had registered first back in March.
Weather looks good for tomorrow and I am really looking forward to another spin around Joyce Country
Okay, okay, I know it won’t last and I know there were loads of people faster but it’s still good to be King for a day and 1/118 is good.
To be honest I don’t think I ever would have expected to be posting times like this.
Felt that I was going Okay until the first climb but found it tough then I was pushed up ‘Powers the Pot’ by Mike and Terry.I wasn’t able to match them on the climb but I clung on and crested The Hill wth them. Quick stop for water and got caught on my own until Mahon Falls. I struggled up it.
It was after Mahon Falls that I came into form. I made good time and no one could stay with me. At the foot of Maam Road I was passed by two Dungarvan CC riders. Tried to stay with them but couldn’t. Made it to the top then soloed the whole way back without seeing another rider until I joined up with finishers on the 100 km route.
Great fun. The Comeragh Challenge is a great spin every year
Disinhibited after an exhausting Comeragh Challenge I approached Sean Kelly and asked him to sign my copy of his great autobiography ‘Hunger’
‘I cycled up Mount Ventoux 4 times in a day Sean! ‘ I explained excitedly.
‘Why? ‘ he asked
‘I don’t think I’ll ever add the Tour of Flanders to my Palmares either, Sean’ I added. Well he started it.
Sean was patiently signing books and posing for photos when I passed one hour later. He had time for a chat and a laugh with everyone and shows no sign of having heard it all before. Wonderful!
Settled in Dungarvan ready for my seventh Sean Kelly Tour. A great buzz around Dungarvan as always. Groups of friends and couples arriving with bikes and bags. Meet a group of cyclists from the Kilmallock cycling club staying in the Hotel.
Gear all laid out and ready, heading down town for a bite to eat and a pint
Preparing for the Sean Kelly Tour by learning to cook Italian at the Tannery Cookery school.
Risotto, Macaroni, Ravioli, Ribbolita and Pork followed by Sicilian syrup Cake. A great way to spend a day. Now to burn it off …
Looking forward to the Sean Kelly tour of Waterford on Sunday. Have never managed it in under 6 hours but my goal for Sunday is 5hr 45
I have done the SKT every year since it started. Looking forward to comparing myself to last year.
If your going on a cycle with a Giro D’Italia winner don’t wear a Maglia Rosa. You’ll feel like a tool standing next to him!
4 piece spanner set complete
Be honest now, who amongst us hasn’t been on a spin thinking, ‘My ass hurts, my breathe stinks, am I paying too much for my waste collection? and all I need to fix this bike is a 3 piece spanner set. The Leinster loop musette had it all!
Joking aside the welcome here is great and sign on went smoothly with breakfast snacks and great coffee provided. The sky is even clearing. Getting ready to start in the next few minutes.
Base layer needed this weekend, first sign that Autumn is on the way. I still have two big spins to look forward to though. The Sean Kelly tour and the Etape De Connemara. After that? Well the last big challange of 2013 of course. 15, 000 km in 9 days …
Decided this weekend that I need to reduce my milage and increase intensity for the last time this year. Will try to do Hill repeats a couple of times before Sean Kelly tour. Then I heard Stephen Roche on an Newstalk ad and decided to do the Leinster loop next weekend
One won’t do me any harm. I can handle one. I’m not like those other guys who have to have a ice cream first thing in the morning just to face the day …
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Confessions of a Velophile 