English vs Hoy

A brilliant photo of Irish track racer Felix English beating Chris Hoy in their Matched Sprint at the Euros recently. G'wan de b'oul Felix, wha'?!?

Thanks to BenVC for the heads-up on the photo, which he saw here and which is taken from British Cycling's flickr here.

Chris Hoy Defeated by Irishman

Irish track racer Felix English celebrates after beating Chris Hoy (!?!?!) in the 1/16th round of the Men's Sprint at the European Championships today, knocking Hoy out of the competition! Hoy had pulled ahead of English, but then slowed down in order, he says, to conserve some energy and so as not to embarrass his opponent, when all of a sudden the Irish rider sprinted past him for the win. Oh dear!

C'mon Ireland!

Photo: Eurotrack2010.eu

This Is Where I'm From

Charge Bikes video featuring Juliet Elliott in Dublin, Ireland. Some lovely shots of the city centre, Windmill Lane (where I had a piece up back in the day), St. Stephen's Green, Moore Street, Temple Bar, the Phoenix Park, and the oul' Dublin and Wicklah Mountains. I miss home. Two comments, however: one, going as fast as possible so you sail over steps reminds me of when I was a kid and thought that that was how you ollied, and two, there's no way she tasted that Guinness at the end.

Seen over at Zlog.

Go on ya good thing!

Irishman Philip Deignan of the Cervélo Test Team won the 18th stage at the Vuelta a España today, a 165km ride from Talavera de la Reina to Avila. He becomes the first Irishman to win a stage at a major tour since Stephen Roche's stage win at the 1992 Tour de France. Along with Nicolas Roche's (Stephen's son) good overall ride at the Tour, it's been a good year for Irish pros.

Photo: JAIME REINA/AFP/Getty Images

Sean Kelly News!!

The man himself is up for the title of Greatest Irish Sportsperson Ever. Go here to vote for him, unless you want some feckin' golfer to win.

Speaking of Ireland...

I really like this An Post/Sean Kelly team cap, but unfortunately they're already sold out of them over at Prendas. Gah.

Russell Downing Wins Tour of Ireland

Congratulations to CandiTV rider and last year's runner up Russell Downing, who won the 2009 Tour of Ireland this weekend in atrocious conditions. Over half a million spectators were expected along the route of the three day tour, many hoping to catch fleeting glimpses of Lance Armstrong and Mark Cavendish, but it was Downing who put on the best show, putting in a brilliant ride on the tough final stage. Fair play, young fella!

Ireland Invented Bike Polo

There was an article on bike polo in The Irish Times yesterday, and it mentioned that an Irishman, Richard J McCready, invented bike polo in 1891. Sure didn't we invent everything good? Apparently bike polo is making a bit of a comeback at home, and there's even a bike polo association now. Check out the article here and the association here.

Irish Team Pursuit Squad Miss Out

The Irish Team Pursuit squad narrowly missed out on going to the 2009 Track Cycling World Championships.

David O'Loughlin, David McCann, Paul Healion and Martyn Irvine at the recent World Cup Classic at Copenhagen, where they set a new national record and just missed out on a ride-off for bronze.

Apparently, the team needed to have competed in at least one event in four of the last five World Cup meets to qualify, which they haven't done. So even though they came 7th and 5th in the last two World Cup meets, and are currently ranked 11th in the world, they won't be going to the World Championships. David O'Loughlin will be Ireland's sole representative, and will be hoping for a medal in the Mens Individual Pursuit.

Day 1 of Track Racing at the Olympics

Here's a "live" account of my experiences trying to watch the first day of Olympic track racing.

"Women’s feckin’ weightlifting?? Why, Venezuelan TV? For god’s sake, why??

It's 4am, and I just woke up to watch the first day's action at the Laoshan Velodrome, but I can't seem to find an online video link that will work, and the Venezuelan TV station that's covering the Olympics is showing women's weightlifting. Ok, they just changed over to the velodrome. China against Japan in the Men’s Team Sprint qualifying round, and there seems to be a problem with the Japanese team. Did one of them snap a chain?

No clue, because the only channel showing it live here have gone back to women’s weightlifting. I would understand if there was even one Venezuelan in the women’s weightlifting, but there isn’t.

Back to the velodrome! Britain against Germany in the Men's Team Sprint. Jaysus, the Brits are fast! They crush Germany, the current Olympic champions, hitting an average top speed of 62.8kmh, almost 40mph. It’s a new world record time, 42.95 seconds!

Aaaaaand back to the weightlifting… this is brutal… None of the online video links are working for me because of region restrictions, so I’m reduced to live text feeds from the BBC.

Okay, the weightlifting is over. Some giantess from China won, I think, and we’re back at Laoshan Velodrome for the Men’s 4000m Individual Pursuit qualifying round. Stephen Burke and Carlos Alzate just went, which means it was heat 2. Four more heats, and then it will be David O’Loughlin’s turn.

Oh good, now they’re showing an interview with a Venezuelan Judoka, some bloke who got knocked out of the competition days ago. C’mon! There’s actual racing happening right now! Jaysis, I’m knackered. Why am I awake?

Hey, they’re back to showing the track, and Popkov from the Ukraine was doing pretty well in the early laps, but he ends up 5th so far. Oh… they’ve changed to swimming. This is driving me mental.

Hockey?!? I quit.

Wait, wait, I don’t believe it, they’re showing David O’Loughlin’s qualifying heat! Amazing! He gets a good start, 4th fastest so far after the first lap. C’mon Davo! C’mon Ireland! Still 4th after 3 laps. The Venezuelan commentator is really struggling with David’s surname… “David…. O… Youngling?” Not bad, I suppose. David has slipped to 5th. C’mon son, dig dig dig! He doesn’t look that comfortable to me. Brad McGee started slower but is getting faster. Bell lap! Go go go!

David’s time was 4:26:102. We’ll have to wait and see where that puts him. I think he’s 6th at the moment, but I’m not sure. Maybe 8th? That’s not good. Fastest 8 qualify.

Roulston, from New Zealand, puts in an impressive ride to register the fastest time so far. Bradley Wiggins is next, though… Wow. Wiggins is amazing. He breaks his own Olympic record, and rides the 5th fastest 4000m individual pursuit of all time, 4:15.031. Can anyone touch the British on the track this year? No. They can’t. Simple as that.

David O’Loughlin doesn’t qualify. Feck that anyway. He came 10th with his time of 4:26.102. He started well, but couldn’t keep up that pace, looked less and less comfortable as the race went on, and ended up 2 places outside of qualification. His time was a full 6 seconds slower than the Irish national record he set a couple of months ago. If he’d ridden anywhere near his personal best, he would have been in the top 5, and easily through to the next round. Gutted.

Next up, Men’s Team Sprint first round, but Venezuelan TV are showing Judo instead. I’m going back to sleep."

3 Hours To Go

In about 3 hours, David O'Loughlin, Ireland's only Olympic track cyclist, will take to the boards in the qualifying round of the Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit.

David O'Loughlin of Ireland warming up on the Laoshan Velodrome. MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

Starting a practice lap. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen

The starting order of the qualifying road of the Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit. David goes 7th, with Brad McGee of Australia.

I can't feckin' wait! Seeing an Irishman out there on the track, giving it socks, well, it's going to be special. It's all happening in a scant few hours, so I best get the head down asap, but I'll be up at 4am (Caracas time) to watch David, and to watch the Men's Team Pursuit of course (can France take it from Britain?).

Ireland to Race at the Olympics!

Fantastic news! It has just been announced that Irish national road champion and Pezula Racing rider David O'Loughlin has qualified for the 4km Individual Pursuit at the Beijing Olympics! Feckin' brilliant!!

David O'Loughlin, of Ireland and Pezula Racing, at the Track World Championships in Manchester this year. Photo by Stephen McMahon for BikeRadar.

I've been following David's attempts to qualify for some time. He smashed the Irish national 4km Individual Pursuit record at the recent World Championships in Manchester, where he came 6th overall and moved up into 6th place in the UCI world rankings. But, even that great performance wasn't enough for the Irishman, who only took up track in 2006 and who has to train in England because Ireland doesn't have a velodrome, to qualify. David missed out by one place! There was a slight chance that he might qualify as first reserve if someone dropped out, but no one was really holding out much hope. Well someone has dropped out, and David is now going to the Olympics!

The news gets even better. Apparently, David has improved his 4km time to 4 minutes and 20 seconds, 9 seconds faster than the time that got him 6th place at the Worlds, and only 2 seconds off Bradley Wiggins' World Championship winning time. So, he has a real chance of a medal in Beijing. I'm delighted for him and his team, because they've really been working hard for this, and it will be great to have someone to cheer on while watching the track racing. I'll be giving it loads of olé olé, don't you worry!

Irish Team Wins Giro Stage!

Go on ya good thing ya! Matteo Priamo of CSF Group-Navigare winning the 6th stage at the Giro d'Italia. Photo by Damien Meyer.

That's right, Irish continental team CSF Group-Navigare won today's stage at the Giro! How great is that? It's feckin' deadly is what it is! Olé, olé, olé, olé! Okay, so the team is only registered in Ireland... and virtually all its riders are Italian... and the manager is Italian... and all the staff are Italian... and the team is based in Italy... but whatever. The jersey is green, isn't it? What more do you want?

[update] I just learned that LPR Brakes, the team of Danilo DiLuca, Paolo Savoldelli and stage 7 winner Gabriele Bosisio is also an Irish registered team. What gives??

[update 2] David Harmon, Sean Kelly's partner in crime at Eurosport, said this morning that CSF Group-Navigare are registered in Ireland "for bizarre tax reasons." Ireland: Tax Haven to the Professional Cycling World Since Whenever.

David O'Loughlin up to 9th.

David O'Loughlin, Irish national road champion, who came 6th in the Individual Pursuit at the recent Track Cycling World Championship, is 9th in the world according to the UCI. But will that be enough to get him to the Olympics? Stay tuned...

David O'Loughlin 6th at the Worlds!

David O'Loughlin competing at the 2008 Track World Championships yesterday. Photo by Guy Swarbrick.

David O'Loughlin of Ireland and Pezula Racing came 6th in the 4000m Individual Men's Pursuit at the World Track Championships in Manchester yesterday, beating some incredible riders like Luke Roberts, Taylor Phinney, and Volodymyr Dyudya. He came in with a time of 4.20.91, 4.4 seconds faster than the national record he set in Beijing in December. G'wan Davo! It's a great result for David, for Ireland, and for Pezula. I really hope we get to see David compete at the Olympics, and I'm sure his 6th place finish will help get him there. Big thanks to Guy Swarbrick for the great photo of David. Check out swarbrick.com to see more of his great cycling photos. Also, check out trackcyclingworld.com for up to the minute updates and results from the Worlds.

Christmas in Dublin.

Just back in Chicago after spending Christmas at home with my family in Dublin. I had a great time, but I realized that there is no way I could afford to live there. Two pints cost me nearly $15, and I saw a Felt TK2 for almost $3,500! Madness! Over here in the US, you can get a complete TK2 for about $1,500. Well, at least the pints are worth it...

Introduction.

I have the feeling that writing a blog is a little bit like recording your voice and then playing it back to yourself later: it's mortifying, and you always sound like an idiot.

This is my first attempt at a blog, I've no idea what to write, and frankly I have no idea why anyone would want to read it, but here it is nonetheless. Soon, I'll be leaving Chicago to move to Caracas, Venezuela for a year, while my wife conducts her fieldwork. The blog will give me both something to do, because I don't yet speak Spanish, and an easy way to record the experience of moving to a different country. In the meantime, I'm going to post up a couple of race reports that I wrote but never got around to adding to my team's blog, and the usual bullshit like photos, videos, and wildly misguided opinion.



Since I doubt that anyone who doesn't know me will be reading this, I should probably dispense with the formalities in short order. I grew up in Raheny on the northside of Dublin, Ireland. I'm 32. I'm married to Amy, who is the best. Obviously. I'm studying for a Ph.D in anthropology at the University of Chicago. How I got into the U of C remains a mystery, and apparently a source of some consternation to my department. Feck them! My dissertation is about the recruitment of Fijians into the British Army. After Caracas, Amy and I go to Fiji for a year so that I can conduct my fieldwork. It's a tough life!

I ride for Team Pegasus, the preeminent hipster cycling team in the Midwest. We're the shit. For real. We compete on the track, the road, in cyclocross and in mountain biking. We go out there to have a good time, first and foremost, but we also like to win and even though we've only been around a year we have a growing reputation. Check out the team blog here. I ride track, and just finished my first season. I did pretty well, competing at Northbook, Kenosha and Hellyer velodromes, progressing from Cat5 to Cat4, and managing to finish in the top three at least once every race night, except for my last night of racing, which sucked.

That's all you need to know. Next, I'll post up a couple of race reports from the summer. Don't worry if this is all a boring load of oul' shite now, I'm sure it'll get funny and interesting once I'm strolling around Caracas like a lunatic, desperately trying to blend in even though I'll be the only person slathered with factor 45 sunblock...