On his bike! Inteview with Daire McCaughley
Author:
Daisy Downes
[Fulltext] Daire McCaughley' training contract is up this month. He passed his FAE and wasn't sorry to say good bye to evening and weekend lectures and a study routine that takes its toll on your training schedule. It's only in the last eighteen months that he's been able to get back to the serious business of cycling.
A native of Lurgan, and currently an Audit Senior at BDO Simpson Xavier, Daire trains hard and is lucky to get good support from his firm. He's been into cycling since his early teens and was a member of the University of Limerick team that won the inter-varsities event six years ago.
His degree is in Spanish and Business Studies and, while at college, he did an eight month placement in the USA working in the Accounts Department of a company called Frost & Sullivan while keeping his training schedule up to date by cycling in the California sunshine.
Back home, he joined Hargaden Moor straight from college and is grateful for the encouragement he received there.
"There's quite a bit of interest in cycling amongst accountants. Grant Thornton are the sponsors of Team Ireland, and FPM McCormack in Newry ran a great 3-day event last year", he says.
Last weekend he and his BDO colleague, Wil Byrne, cycled 150 miles of North County Dublin with their club, the Dublin Wheelers. That's par for the course for these guys who head out hail, rain, or shine in preparation for the FBD Milk Ras which Daire is attempting for the first time this year. Many young cyclists - amongst them Stephen Roche and Ciaran Power have used the Milk Ras as the springboard to a professional career on the continent.
Daire's current schedule in preparation for the Ras involves cycling 5 or 6 days a week. He's on the road by 9.00 am on Saturday and Sunday to meet with the training group. He starts work early so that he can leave on time and aims to get out on the road again for 6.00 pm. He sometimes brings a lap top home with him if he is working on something urgent so that he can get a couple of hours work in after dinner.
"Training means that you can''t go out until 3 or 4 in the morning and then expect to get up for the chain gang (training group) the next morning,"he says. "Training methods are now very scientific - everyone uses heart rate monitors and training programmes", he adds.
Still, it's not all grim news - he's shortly heading off for a week's training in Majorca - all part of the Ras preparation.
This year's Ras route involves seven stages of over 150 km each day, and two days of over 170 km with those two days including 14 mountain climbs. The race attracts not just the best Irish cyclists but also the best amateurs from the rest of the world and is poised to allow professionals to compete this year.
"To ride and finish the Ras is the goal of every young Irish cyclist. Just to say that you finished it is a badge of honour ", says Daire.
Is it hard to get the time off work for such an all-consuming interest? "No, BDO are great. In fact all my employers have always been very understanding when it comes to training and racing commitments and have been very supportive", says Daire.
Cycling has suffered from a bad press and confidence in the sport was undermined by the drugs scandals of recent years. That had an impact not just on attracting young people into the sport but was also very damaging to sponsorship. Adding to that the fact that Irish cycling has been through a trough since the peak years of Roche and Kelly in the eighties, I asked Daire if it is difficult to attract young people into the sport.
"It's true that there was a trough but the sport is now making a strong comeback in terms of popularity", he says adding that there are currently six Irish professionals, "the highest number we have ever had".
Daire is himself playing a part in developing interest in the sport through his continuing involvement with the small but successful Lurgan club he joined at 13. He's still a member there and is helping to get a youth development programme running which will encourage local children to start cycling. They can use bikes on closed roads at a local activity centre and will be looked after by the club's youth coach.
"We hope to get children who are interested to join the club and to come on training runs for short spins. We then hope to run a summer camp in Lurgan where we can coach the kids and get them ready to race", he says.
He recently drew up a proposal to seek funding from local businesses for both the youth development programme and for the cycling team. It's not too hard a sell.
"When the team are training the sponsor's name is out there on the road - cycling is a good sport in terms of generating visibility for the sponsors - it's like having 10 moving advertisinghoardings on the road all the time", he says.
What will he be telling children interested in getting involved?
"It's a tough sport that needs a big investment of both time and money, but I also find it hugely enjoyable and rewarding".
And would he recommend cycling as a sport for more sedentary CAs?
"I'dd encourage day-time desk jockeys to get on their bikes this summer and give it a try", he says.
Daire McCaughley was interviewed by Daisy Downes.