‘Cycling is a sport where the best guy doesn’t always win’

Q: Cycling is a sport where you ride at breakneck speed on a one-inch wide piece of rubber, shoulder to shoulder with 200 guys. Do you get scared?

A: I don’t get nervous before races but sometimes during them. Before the race you think of a strategy to win, make the break, to defend a jersey or some sort of a focus. It gets scary during the race when you’re jostling for position (literally) when everyone else wants to do what you are trying to do. You always want to be at the front but not ON the front, because it means you spend more energy if you are. So 200 guys wanting to be in or around the top 20 can be stressful.

Q: From when the race starts to when it finishes, what do you think about?

A: I’m always just trying to focus on the job assigned to me by team management, be it making the break, protecting our team’s sprinters from the wind, getting the bottles from the team car or whatever. It’s difficult not to get distracted and that’s where the race radios are brilliant. With these earpieces we have our manager relaying vital information to us during the race. He’ll tell us the break is two minutes up the road and we need to start chasing before it’s too late. He’ll tell us the weather is due to change in an hour and we should come back to the team car for more clothes. He’ll tell us one of our riders has been involved in a crash and we must wait to pace him back up.

I’m not dreaming of exotic holidays while out pedalling!

Q: How difficult is it to explain what professional cycling is to your friends and people who have no idea about the sport?

A: You tend to have to explain things in terms that people are familiar with.

For example, comparing the An Post Ras with the Tour de France seems strange for me but that’s what the average person associates with cycling. But I think it’s changing and people are becoming more and more aware of the world that is professional cycling. Through social media and the fact some Irish riders are among the best in the world, it is hard to ignore the sport now. That makes it easier for people to understand that it can actually be a profession to ride a bicycle full-time!

Q: What’s been the best moment for you cycling so far and why?

A: Two things stand out; winning a Paralympic medal with the national squad (as a sighted pilot) in 2012 and the National championship road race 2015.

Both for the same reason; being able to progress from just competing to winning.

It’s great when hard work is rewarded and goals achieved.

Cycling is a sport where the best guy doesn’t always win. When you are the strongest ‘on paper’ you tend to get followed a lot by the other guys so to win the biggest one-day race in Ireland, on my own, was sheer bliss. The para medal was the same — I was just new to the sport and here I was competing for Ireland. That medal really meant a lot to me and it raised my profile as well.

Q: How did you get into the sport?

A: By chance really, I was carrying a bit of weight and decided to try to lose it.

I used to run as a teenager and tried that but it didn’t work. I was too proud to walk so cycling was the next option! Competitions weren’t a goal to begin with but, being naturally competitive, I got drawn in.

Q: What are the hardest things about being a cyclist?

A: The fickle and unreliable nature of the sport; you can be at your best having worked really hard for months and have your work undone in an instant by crashing or falling.

You can also get sick at a crucial time of the year and have your goals taken from you. It’s a sport where you spend a lot of time alone and you make all the sacrifices so when you don’t get a chance to express yourself it can be hard.

Q: You are a physically big rider, does this handicap you in the pro scene?

A: It’s a by-product of a working life; in the gym and landscaping as a younger man and in recent years as a firefighter. It’s natural strength built up that has obviously helped me get to where I am today.

But unfortunately, it goes against me at the level I’m riding at the moment where most guys have a naturally slight build.

But it’s nothing that hampers me greatly and if it does, I can shed it.

Q: You had some big crashes last year, explain the worst of them and the subsequent rehab?

A: I fractured my right shoulder, broke my left collarbone in separate crashes three months apart and had some very nasty road rash from those crashes.

The shoulders were annoying as you don’t realise how much you need the strength in your upper body for explosive action on the bike. I’m still trying to make up for nearly a year without that element of training.

Q: What are your immediate and longer-term aims?

A: My immediate aim is to keep enjoying cycling and making the most of the opportunities afforded to me this year by racing at a higher level. Longer term the goal is to pass on some of the knowledge I’ve gained so that others can benefit.

Q: Who has been the biggest influence on your career?

A: A friend called Brendan Grimes who I met through cycling a few years ago. He has helped me a lot to develop as an athlete physically, mentally and just as being a great friend. He was the next happiest man after me when I won the nationals last year and is a great presence to have around. When I was close to winning stages of the Rás last year he was the man picking me up off the floor and I owe a lot to him.