Sunday morning, 9am, a group of over forty cyclists depart Carrick on Suir headed for Clonmel, picking up more bodies along the way. Torrential rain begins to fall and already minds were beginning to question the wisdom of getting out of bed this morning. With talk of floods around Clonmel filtering through the group some…
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 ?'
They are your friends who like to watch you suffer but would cycle 20k out of their way to get you home. They will laugh when you fall off but will rush to pick you up. They will slag you off for the smallest infraction but will defend you to the hilt. To a man, and the odd woman, they are the best group that you could ever belong to.
Stephen Roche was in an Airport recently when he bumped into a cyclist from Dungarvan. As the conversation went on Roche remarked that Sean Kelly was flying on the bike, going better that he has been in years and Roche put it all down to Kellys' training with the Dole gang in Carrick. Whilst it…
The year I started cycling Joe Lonergan brought myself and his son Bernard down to Carrick on Suir for a cycling coaching weekend run by Tony Ryan and Carrick Wheelers. Young cyclists had come from all over the country to learn and many hoped to follow in the pedal tracks of his most successful protegé,…
St. Patrick's day in Ireland is all about Parades, Mass, Shamrocks and hang over creation, but in Carrick on Suir and within the cycling community for the past 59 years St. Patrick's day is all about 'The Paddy's day race'. Over the years many of the country's top riders have been first across the line…
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 shared knowledge and sound…
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…
There is a guy who regularly comes into the shop called Katz Malackie . Now Katz is not an Estonian sprinter but a van salesman from just outside Clonmel . He never raced , but always had an interest in cycling and often fixes up neighbours bikes , and bikes he 'pulls out of ditches'…
Club secretary is Dan ' the man ' Clancy . A fine sprinter in his day when conditions were right , ie ; all downhill with a tailwind and no-one to beat but himself . An excitable secretary who lets Willy handle the money , he was driving behind the training group during the winter when one rider punctured . He tried to pass a rear wheel out the window of a hillman hunter instead of opening the door . The wheel became lodged in the window and had to be deflated to get it out , which defeated the purpose of having it in the first place .
A customer was in the shop recently who is a professional photographer . Whilst chatting he mentioned that he had a teenage girl on work experience with him at present . One day whilst going through a batch of photographs they happened upon an image of Sean Kelly . The fourth greatest cyclist of all…
The main road between Carrick on Suir and Clonmel is probably the most heavily populated cyclists route on a Sunday morning in Ireland . For well over thirty years now any Belgian or French holiday maker would have felt right at home should they travel this stretch of road between nine and ten AM on…
