Barry
  • Hair cuts !

    Back in the late eighties a bike race was a good indicator of what the latest trend in haircuts was . Former National champion and current surgeon in St James' hospital Dublin , Julian Dalby was the first to sport the dyed blond look complete with a diamond pattern shaved into the back of his head .…

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  • The phone zone !

    Back in the days of the telephone box the only time a cyclist wearing proper cycling gear was seen on the phone was if they 'bananafied' a rear wheel and had to call out the 24 hour breakdown service (ie : the wife ) to come and pick them up . Nowadays , however that's…

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  • A state of mind !

    Many Irish people have an unusual way of greeting each other . When passing someone that you know on the street the common greeting is how are you ? , how are things ? how’s life ? etc . And the most common answer is very often ‘ not too bad ‘ which may often…

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  • Beware of the Black Bora !

    In 1490 Leonardo DaVinci sketched a drawing of the modern day bicycle . Then in 1790 Frenchman Mede de Sivrac invented a wooden 'running machine ' which had no steering . However in 1861 another French man Ernest Michaux invented the modern style of bicycle with pedals and cranks . For almost 130 years the…

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  • Top Gear – on two wheels !

    Much of my relaxation time each day , which usually isn't a whole lot , is often spent in the company of 'Dave' . Now Dave is not my neighbour , or a good friend . It's not Dave Harmon or David Duffield . Dave doesn't even ride a bike . Dave is actually channel…

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  • Cippolini Candid Camera

    'Cipo' is back on the bike with Rock Racing team in the USA . Here's a clip from a few years ago when he was caught on Candid Camera . It's in Italian but is pretty easy to follow . [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/mJomoEk81o4]

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  • Paris -Nice – politics on wheels !

    The traditional first big pro race of the season , Paris-Nice got underway under blustery conditions yesterday . The blustery conditions were in evidence both on and off the bikes . Last week the stand off between cycling's governing body , the UCI and the ASO who organise some of the top french races including…

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  • Ice-bike 2008

    Early last Wednesday morning , very early actually , around 5.00 AM Ray collected me and we headed off in the direction of Cork airport , destination Milton Keynes for this years Madison Ice-bike . This is basically a trade show , but seeing that Madison are probably the biggest trade supplier in the U.K …

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  • Ramsay’s Workshop Nightmares

    Gordon Ramsay is famous for going into run down restaurants and turning them around in his own no holds barred way . If he were to go into a bike shop perhaps it may be something like this ; 'Tonight we are going to take a look at the  'Bicycles by Mossy ' shop in…

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  • Irish blog awards

      We're still coming to grips with blogging but are delighted to have been nominated in the best business blog catagory for the forthcoming awards . We will have some very stiff competition from the following list but fingers crossed anyway ! Ice Cream Ireland Interactions McGarr Solicitors O’Conall Street Ask Direct Pat Phelan The…

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  • The Lynx effect !

    Early last week a customer was in and spoke excitedly about 'lynx' in the Kilsheelan wood . At first I was visualising a pallet of Lynx deodorant sprawled about the wood . The smell of lynx is normally inhaled in either teenage discos or in the car park after a bike race .  The first location…

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  • The group heads down the coast !

    Today the sun was out so we took in part of the coast road but were still back in Carrick by 12.15 . This is what it looked like : [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfr7GepS26A]

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  • Cycling adverts on TV !

    Lance Armstrong brought cycling to the mainstream public and here are a few of the best tv adverts I've come accross ; [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Inx3878jU] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huEnJUzq8EU] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjcZNR6MiRE] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igEGZ2sQ2GY] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO8_N4YkEns] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcojlAmHMzk]

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  • The first spin back !

    When you haven't trained for a while the one thing that hangs over you is the first spin back with the group . It's a lot like the leaving cert , you know you have to do it but you just don't want to face it . Throughout the winter I've been busy with family…

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  • Medicine Man !

    No two days are ever the same standing behind the counter of a bike shop . Many different and interesting types of people often drop in and we are often asked many different types of questions . The easy ones are , what size of bike do you think I may need  ? , what…

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  • ‘Bet you wish you had a bike !’

    December 26th , St. Stephens Day and I was still feeling bloated after all of the Turkey , ham , pringles and a host of other non essential foodstuffs , so i decided that it was time for a spin on the bike . We spent Christmas this year in Limerick with Ciara's family so I headed…

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