The average age of cyclists who wear Lycra in Ireland is currently 42. Take the under 18’s out of that equation and it becomes 46. Let’s call the average 46 year old Irish cyclist Pat. Pat is married to Ailish. They have two kids Michael and Sorcha. There are two cars in their driveway, a…
Last Sunday the 2017 Tour de France finished on the Champs Elysee in Paris. It was a short stage and a short commentary day for the TV pundits. Like many cycling fans I spend many an afternoon on the couch watching and listening to the commentators on Eurosport, and had a vision of them doing…
Sprinters are a rare breed. Off the bike some can be brash and overconfident, but the majority tend to be softly spoken and gentle creatures. However, when you put either kind on a bicycle within sight of a finish line they become ferocious raging animals, gladiators fighting as if their lives depended upon crossing that…
Imagine for a second what happens when a person in an ordinary job gets sick for a few weeks. They take a week or two off work and upon their return, they mind themselves, drink plenty of Lucozade and go to bed early after vegging out in front of the TV for the evening. They…
A Carrick man standing in the door and calling out before entering 'Are any of ye in handcuffs ?'. The reply came 'not all of us'. As the Carrick entourage entered a Scottish voice called out 'Did ye ever see Con Air ?'
Grown up scepticism, telling yourself that it's just being realistic and facing up to the truth, places a dark cloud over the pure enjoyment of how a sensible adult watches modern sports, especially cycling and especially the Tour de France.
Yesterday Carlos Sastre , the 33 year old Spaniard who stands at 1.70 m and weighs just 61 kg won his first Tour de France . He beat the ever present podium bridesmaid , Australian Cadel Evans by a slender margin of just 58 seconds after three weeks of racing . So what made the…
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Yet another tour and yet another doping scandal is in the pipeline . The words 'cycling' and 'drugs' have of recent years become almost one to the general public . However there is a much bigger picture which most are slow to acknowledge or even give the time to think about . An example of…
Each year during the third week in May several towns in Ireland reverberate to the sound of Paddy Fitzsimons voice encouraging the people of the town to ' Give a big Templemore ( or eight other town names each year ) welcome to the Men of The Ras '. ' The Ras ' holds a mythical…
Each year throughout the cycling world and beyond millions of fans tune in their televisions each afternoon to view live events at the Tour de France . On the continent sidewalk cafes fill with enthusiastic supporters every day . Some people even plan their annual holidays in order to watch it live on T.V .…
