Midleton - Tallow - Lismore. Tour de Munster 2004 - Thursday Aug 26
I only started cycling in April.
I rode a bike for years, its part of being a child in Ireland... you want a bike. Eventually it happens and you learn to ride it. You might ride it to school every day, but usually at some point you stop and switch to the car, or the bus, or the trail (and thanks to the Luas you have the Tram as an option again).
However I sort of wanted to do this tour (see I really am insane) and I started training with the Airport crew in April. Two training trips in I realised that I was not going to do this on my mountain bike and live to tell the tale.
So I only started this year. Which means I'm not that strong in the endurance stakes. I'm also not build like a cyclist.
This became obvious when the team shirt arrived. Since the shirt is based on the now defunct Motorola Cycling Team, its specially made. (Job lot for a lot of cyclists...). It arrived with the standard label... XL is a 40 inch chest. I'm 48.
Why do I mention this? Cause in Midleton we hit our first hill.
Since I have a clear disadvantage in the climbing stakes, I was called up front to set the pace. (this happened a lot. Someone really needs to know that this isn't a race...). Not too bad, but then came the downhill.
"Gosh, you're a good descender" said one of the "near" pros who joined us on the first day. This was while al those around me were pedalling like sprinters while I was free wheeling. Sometimes being heavy is an advantage.
take care,
Will
I rode a bike for years, its part of being a child in Ireland... you want a bike. Eventually it happens and you learn to ride it. You might ride it to school every day, but usually at some point you stop and switch to the car, or the bus, or the trail (and thanks to the Luas you have the Tram as an option again).
However I sort of wanted to do this tour (see I really am insane) and I started training with the Airport crew in April. Two training trips in I realised that I was not going to do this on my mountain bike and live to tell the tale.
So I only started this year. Which means I'm not that strong in the endurance stakes. I'm also not build like a cyclist.
This became obvious when the team shirt arrived. Since the shirt is based on the now defunct Motorola Cycling Team, its specially made. (Job lot for a lot of cyclists...). It arrived with the standard label... XL is a 40 inch chest. I'm 48.
Why do I mention this? Cause in Midleton we hit our first hill.
Since I have a clear disadvantage in the climbing stakes, I was called up front to set the pace. (this happened a lot. Someone really needs to know that this isn't a race...). Not too bad, but then came the downhill.
"Gosh, you're a good descender" said one of the "near" pros who joined us on the first day. This was while al those around me were pedalling like sprinters while I was free wheeling. Sometimes being heavy is an advantage.
take care,
Will
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