Month: January 2014

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Veil of tears

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So I’m up at 05:30 so that I can arrive in Galway early enough so that I can get a good spin in before Sunday lunch.

On the outskirts of Galway City I see two cyclists clipping in 200m ahead. ‘Come on you’re late! They’re 3 minutes up the road ahead of us’

I am about to shout that I’m not the guy they’re waiting for but their backs are turned and they are spinning out the road to Moycullen.

Twenty minutes later my vision is narrowing and I am wiping a mixture of sweat, spit, snot, blood and what I think is lung off my lips as I struggle to keep the wheel of a guy in front. The guy in front I now believe to be Eoghan Clifford (the wonders of Strava). I have he to thank for dragging me up to the main group of the Galwy Bay cycle club, whose club spin I was now on.

In the thirty kilometre chase up the road I learned one thing; The Dew Drop Inn is on Cross Street.. I know this because that information is displayed on the rear of the Galway Bay CC cycle shorts and my face was never more 3m away from it the whole way from Dangan to Oughtarard.

From then on the spin got easier but wetter. There were > 40 guys on the spin and they were all very friendly and helpful but fast.

So much for easy winter miles …

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Crache dans la soupe

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I must apologise to my loyal readers. I have been wallowing in a Kimmagian pit of misery.  As my chip and chocolate addiction spiral out of control so does my weight. Work and weather wreck my weekly training.

I reached my Nadir tonight however. I found myself reading ‘Rough Rides’ while eating a McDonald’s ‘Happy meal’. The meal did not make me happy.

But I have found inspiration within the pages of Mr Kimmages splendid book. Sean Kelly had saved me again. 

Paul  visits Sean in Brussels when he is facing a professional crisis …

‘I never liked saunas, and Kelly insisted on rising the temperature by throwing water on the stones. We lasted 15 minutes but had to get out. It had been incredibly hot and we were both so drained that we could hardly stand

“Jaysus, Kelly, you look like death warmed up. “
And he laughed, but then said,  “Did you never feel this tired after finishing a race?”
I thought about it. Yes I had but only once. It was in a prologue time trial of the Coors Classic in Boulder, Colorado a few weeks before the Olympic Road race in LA. The finish was at the top of a hard climb, and I remember losing consciousness about fifty metres before the line and waking up with a blanket around me five minutes later. It was the only time in my life I had ever pushed myself beyond my limits

“Yes”  I replied, “once. What about you? “

“Yes, regularly”

Tomorrow I’m going to wash my hair with Johnson & Johnsons ‘No more tears‘ Shampoo.  It begins here, regularly

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January blues

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The New Year is underway and the short dark days are taking a toll on my mood but not my appetite for Chocolates.

When I do get out on the bike I enjoy it but with such short windows of daylight to get out, trips are often shortened or cancelled.

Friday night I was working until 9pm and so was too tired to get up at 07:30 for a club spin and so headed out at 10am on my own to do 100km. Was going well until I went over the top of the main climb of the spin to find the road blocked with snow and ice. Had to walk a mile or so before getting back on the bike and free wheeling through the slush.

Today’s trip was cancelled because of a puncture. I was on my way to the mountain for a quick spin when the tyre on my car blew out.

Sorry for all the moaning but as you may have noticed when I am in a bad mood I post less blogs so this is a effort to blow away my writer’s apathy

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New Year Revolutions

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2014 gets underway. Managed to get out on the mountain bike for a short spin.

Christmas was busy and I didn’t manage much cycling. If I recall correctly I managed to cycle 100Km on Jan 1st last year. First weigh in of the year today.

My resolutions?

1) Get to target weight by April first
2) Match millage from last year
3) Beat times on spins from last year