19/06/2013 - "The Smell of Freedom!"

I have decided to keep a blog, a sort of minor vague account of my life in all its glory. As I write this I have high hopes of updating this at least fortnightly, and basically give my thought on whatever random thought pops into my mind at any given time, the same kind of thing I do on Twitter except in more than 140 characters. 

Having just finished 'mon baccalaureate', I have plenty of chamois time. The Junior Tour of Ireland starts Tuesday 2nd of July with a short, evening 10.8km prologue followed by 5 more hard stages. For Irish Junior riders, The Junior Tour is the big aim of the year, as the Rás is for most Senior Racers. Last year's race was located in Castlebar, Co. Mayo and the rough, leg-sapping roads made for hard racing. This year I am not fortunate enough to be a part of the four-man Irish Team that is entered in yearly to carry their country's name on their shoulders, which is sort of a blessing in disguise. I am riding for a strong and numerically advantaged Munster Team. Now I have a free role to ride my own race, so in a way the pressure is off. This year's race has been moved further south but still remaining in the West. County Clare are the hosts this time around and with the backing of a new sponsor this years race is set to be extremely competitive. 

So far, my season has been uneventful and frustrating. The biggest problem was of course the Leaving Certificate that I joined every seventeen and eighteen year old in the country in and begrudgingly put pen to paper. Now that I've shown my back to the Leaving Cert, I am already seeing signs of improvement in form, recovery and energy. Whereas during the run-up to my exams I almost felt glad I had so much work to do, as it meant I couldn't train even if I did want to. But now, the smell of Schwalbe rubber calls my name every morning, even the weather has picked up! The grass is much greener this side of the exams. The second half of the season is mine for the taking, it's all about tapping into the workload I have done and letting my body do the rest. As I sit and write, there is fourteen days left until I roll down the start ramp (if indeed they've got one) and get my race underway. If my form comes around like I expect it to, and I'm not too hungover from the workload accompanying the exams I should perform well, and if I perform well there is a good chance I could bag some results, for the first time since last May! It would be nice to end the dry spell.

The later half of this week marks the commencement of the 2013 National Cycling Championships. The Time-Trial is always a hotly contested affair, with the first competitor off at 4:30pm. The Vet's Championships will be held on the Saturday, along with the Women's Championships. Sundays see's all the big gun's in action as the Elite's and u23's all battle for the spoils, with none of them looking to settle for the second tier of the podium. Carrick man Sam Bennett is my pick to finally grasp the Elite National Champions jersey in his clutches having come close on a number of occasions in the past, but everyone is a contender in a National Championship, the white paint of the line at a National Championship smells sweeter than any other finish line paint at any other race in the whole season. Adopted Carrick Wheelers man Conor Dunne will be competing even after his Rás crash where he was on flying form. I myself will be journeying up the country to spectate, these races are always spectacular to watch and make you want to go and train your socks off for a couple of hours afterwards. Characteristically in the Championships, a break forms in the first twenty kilometres of racing involving all the big names and guns and stays away due to the combined power of being transferred through the pro's pedals, this year's course is a flat course so the first ten kilometres will be extremely fast. This week's welcoming weather is meant to continue, so shorts will be the order of the day. The pro's' continental-tanned legs will be on full show and will intimidate a lot of the domestic-based riders, but maybe they won't see them with the overpowering smell of heat-rub making their eyes water. 

As I said I plan to continue to add to this new-born blog, but in the plausible fact that I don't, happy trails!

Seán.