HOW I STARTED
NAME: Siobhan Horgan AGE: 38 BIRTHPLACE: Ballinasloe Former professional and seven-times National Champion
I FIRST started cycling at the age of 24 when a friend offered me the loan of a bike while I was recovering from a running injury. A year later, in August 2004, I won the National Time Trial Championships. My progression through the ranks was rapid and I raced professionally in Europe for eight years. I have retired from racing about four times now but keep going back — most recently for the 2015 World Championships. Why? Fair question. It’s certainly not the perceived glamour, the sporadic glory or the frequent pain.
What I love about cycling, I guess, is the freedom and the escapism — no other sport offers the same opportunity to reflect and explore and get away from it all. There’s the satisfaction of completing a hard ride in all kinds of weather; the camaraderie of riding in a group and the shared goal of getting to the coffee shop.
But to me, most importantly, the bike offers love. It was through the bike, on a cold, wet Sunday morning in 2004, that I met my husband, John. Since then, we have shared many adventures all over Europe on the bike and we plan to share many more . . . albeit at a much slower place these days.
NAME: Liam Egan AGE: 64 BIRTHPLACE: Dublin Architect
My earliest memory of cycling is not of my most successful ride but of steering my mother’s Elswick Hopper into the back of parked car on my way home from primary school. Two bikes, and a few years later, I was totally hooked on the sport and a junior member of the Emerald Cycling Club.
While my competitive efforts were decidedly unsuccessful, I enjoyed being out on the byroads of north county Dublin even when chasing after a vanishing pack. Touring was much more to my taste and I have fond memories of trips around the country to An Oige hostels and an epic six-day ride to London and back with my late brother, John.
I never really stopped cycling even though much of it involved commuting to and from work. In 2010, I signed-up to ride from Dublin to Paris for the Irish Hospice Foundation and have completed six other rides for the charity since. I also discovered the wonderful world of ‘sportives’ and last year joined Swords Cycling Club. Now retired, I can devote even more time to what is a fantastic sport, hobby and addiction. I have also come to realise why I enjoy it so much — it’s the perfect mix of great company, healthy exercise and dash of friendly competitiveness.