HOW I STARTED
NAME: Paul Smith AGE: 53 BIRTHPLACE: Dublin Insurance official
I STARTED cycling on Sunday January 6, 2013. I remember the time, the date and the place because it was something of a personal epiphany. I had dabbled in the early ’90s and had a half-decent bike and then ‘life’ intervened: marriage, kids, and a bad back from playing other sports.
I was in Starbucks in Swords on the day it changed. My weight had ballooned to 17 stone and I was drinking a full-fat cappuccino and listening to the radio with a set of headphones on. This ad started playing for the Irish Hospice Foundation — a sponsored cycle from Biarritz to Narbonne
— and I decided to sign-up. Four years later, I’ve lost almost five stone.
I’ve met some phenomenal people through cycling and have made some true friends. What do I love about it? The camaraderie and the kindness of spirit.
There are times when you’re suffering and a long way from home and the group is your lifeline. No one gets left behind.
But I also treasure the solitude; days when you’re out in the Wicklow Hills battling the elements and you can just lose yourself. Something will catch your eye, like the beauty and splendor of Lough Tay, and you stop and marvel and breathe. What more could you want?
NAME: Philip Lavery AGE: 26 BIRTHPLACE: Dublin Professional cyclist
I CAN’T remember a time without bikes in our house. My father, Tosh, and brother, Thomas, both raced and as sure as night follows day I was destined to follow them. My first racing bike was a yellow Townsend that I got for my Confirmation, but it wasn’t easy being the only lad on the football team in secondary school who shaved his legs.
Cycling is a love affair, and like any love affair it has its ups and downs. In 2012, I won the National U-23 Championship and finished third in the Elite race.
I’m proud to have been a National Champion but it’s a touch bittersweet as I was second a year later [in the Elite] and felt I should have won. But I hope to right that in the future.
It’s said that you can’t buy time but a bike gives you time; it provides the space to think and solve life’s problems; it has shown me the secrets of the countryside and allowed me to travel the world and learn new languages. And if that sounds a bit ‘deep’ or romantic, it’s better than the other reason it became my passion . . . I was useless at football.