TAO GEOGHEGAN HART
BISSELL DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Alegend of the sport told me something last week, “Race. It’s all about the racing.” It hits the nail on the head, revealing the peculiarity of a cyclist’s winter. For what am I? I am a son, a brother and a Londoner. I am an obsessive, from time to time a nuisance, and frequently an absent friend. But almost always above all else, I am a racing cyclist. It runs through me like a sci-fi serum, occupying almost every thought and dictating my day down to the very last detail.
Yet I haven’t raced my bike since last September, not since a day to forget in the beautiful city of Florence. And so, one night in early February as I had dinner in a Girona restaurant with fellow Procycling diarist Dan Martin, I took some time to think about these last few months.
It has been a period of change. Rewinding to the evening of 31 October, there was an unfamiliar sensation in my stomach. Clutching only an address, my dreams, and a stupidly heavily bike box, I’d left England for Girona and the next stage in my pursuit of a professional career.
The intervening months, living my dream as a full-time bike rider, have been a blast. I’ll remember incredible mountain rides, new friends and a good deal of work. I’ll remember
PROCYCLING
MARCH 2014 countless hours exploring deserted lanes, the farmers and school children by the side of the road and the old ladies waiting at bus stops. It has been a time of discovery and challenging myself, and ultimately I hope one of laying crucial foundations. Only time will tell if I achieve my goal but one thing is for certain; this sport, the amazing places it has taken and continues to take me, remains as mysterious and wild as ever.
So, in the nomadic lifestyle of the professional cyclist, I’ll soon be packing my bags and leaving Girona behind in search of my next adventure, my next race. I was eighteen months old when I last visited the United States and now, at eighteen years, I’m returning. My team camp with Bissell DT, my first ever team, will be the real beginning. Meeting my brothers in arms for the year and getting to know them all out on the road is a hugely exciting prospect.
I feel immensely privileged to have made some great friends this winter and I thank them for all they have taught me, intentionally or otherwise. That knowledge will travel with me in to the future, and most importantly, to that elusive next race.
“CLUTCHING ONLY AN ADDRESS, MY DREAMS, AND A STUPIDLY HEAVY BIKE BOX, I’D LEFT ENGLAND BEHIND FOR GIRONA AND THE NEXT STAGE IN MY PURSUIT OF A PROFESSIONAL CAREER”