The joy of cycling

Cycling is meant to be enjoyable. Remember that !

Riding a bike can bring you to places in your locality that you would never normally visit. It can take you back in time to places where you grew up and because you are on a bike and not in a car you can stop and have a chat with friends you meet along the way.

At this time of year 80% of your training should have no regard for average speed or functional threshold power. All that should matter is being on your bike taking in all that surrounds you. If you are out with friends, enjoy the chat and the banter.

One cyclist that I spend a lot of time with as a friend and business partner is Sean Kelly. As the second most successful professional cyclist in the history of the sport he knows a thing or two about riding a bike. Outdoors, the only technology he has with him is a wristwatch (that only tells the time) and a mobile phone. He still rides his bike 3 or 4 times each week. When asked why, he offers a very simple answer. ‘I just enjoy riding my bike and keeping in shape’

Indoors Sean does use a smart trainer and will happily do an hour at a time on Zwift. During the last lockdown this led to a collaboration with Stephen Farrell and Anthony Fleming from Tramore and between us we have tried to solve the problem of how best to mount your devices when training indoors. You can find out more about it here : https://www.indoorvelo.com/?utm_source=a5

There is a freedom to be gained in discovering the pure and simple pleasure of riding your bike within your comfort zone. There are times when it is good to push hard but unless you are racing cyclocross October is not. October is autumn, the changeover season. I have used Strava a lot less this year and discovered a newfound sense of freedom by doing so. Uploading a spin with an average spin of 22kph in the past led to being questioned about my loss of form. My answer was that sometimes you need to go slow to go fast, but it did make me question the benefit of uploading all of my spins. I noticed that without strata when I am on a climb and feel tired I just drop down a gear and roll along easily. With strava there is always a tendency to push on to keep the averages respectable.

Today I went out on my bike without a chosen destination in mind. I had a notion to go left towards Carrick but ended up going right towards Ardfinnan instead. In Clogheen I called in to a friend who is building his new home and then went up Shanrahan. Half way up I turned into the wood and followed the Blackwater way to Ballyporeen. Then taking backroads, some with a little road at the side of the grass rather than grass in the middle of the road I made my way back towards home. I met another friend on the road who I had not seen in months and stopped for a chat. I looked in over the ditches at cows, sheep and horses. I saw a young deer in the wood. I saw a buzzard fly overhead. I tasted the freshest pure air as a mist fell within a wood and listened to absolute silence deep within the trees. I enjoyed my cycle and spent 3 1/2 hours covering 85km whilst interacting with about 10 cars in total once I was outside the town boundaries.

Cycling should be fun, friendly and should make you feel good. There are many times when it should be fast, but October is not that time.

Barry

These are a few images taken on a few of my spins this week :