wexford
Maximum Pace
- Jul 3, 2012
- 1,318
- 1,126
Hi all,
I started cycling when I was 10 - raced 12 through 17 and then discovered women and booze. After college I moved to Japan and discovered skiing and then motor racing. I was home in Ireland just last week and took to the roads again on a 23 year Eddy Merckx after quite a break.
The Merckx is my dads winter bike, rusted and heavy but it didn't matter. Out on the country lanes in the open air with my 76 year old dad and almost zero cars was a true blast. I got a little fitter in those 2 weeks I was home and I got to love the bike again. My arse of course would tell a different tale on that old rolls saddle but we won't ask it nor let it type this mail.
So I'm back in Japan and hungry for open roads and I've no gear. I have a jersey from my old team a pair of old compaqnolo shorts and some gloves but no ride. I hit the gym and got on the exercise bike for an hour but its missing everything that makes cycling great so that is not going to last.
I've owned 2 bikes over the years. I started on a DAWES an English brand probably long gone and I remember it being about 27lbs. It had remolds tubing so it didn't matter as that was cool. I do believe I won my first race on it. I then owned and raced a Peugeot made from some spiffy Columbus tubing and went all out on a MAVIC group set (I see they no longer make them). I think it weighed it at a stunning 23lbs. In those days we'd laugh at the thought of something less than 20lbs as you would blow away. Maybe its less windy now??? My mother gave that one away when I moved to Japan... It would be about 30 years old or so now though.
I dropped into Y's in Shibuya recently and ran into Eric who is also on this forum and he was kind enough to update me on the ins and outs of new bikes.
Currently my heart is telling me to get some awesome kit, get out training and go back racing again. Racing is hard work though and takes long hours of training, intervals, climbing etc... I found I'd lost quite a lot of my balance skills over my idle period, can't see me sitting in a bunch just yet either so the brain is asking hard questions. I'll stick with a goal of training and getting fit again just now and see where that takes me perhaps.
One of the main issues I have is facing Tokyo traffic and the continuous traffic lights all timed to make you stop at each one (at least in a car). I'm a country man you see. Think - rolling country lanes barely wide enough for two cars and bounded by green ditches. You might meet about 20 cars on a 60km ride and you rarely put a foot down at a crossing if ever. That is cycling beauty to me - the odd bee hopping off your face as you greet it along the way. I'm a little worried I won't find cycling zen here and my passion will disappear until my Merckx is 24 and I'm in Ireland again. Hey perhaps this is my mid-life crises finally
Location wise - I'm living just south-west of Shibuya in a place called Gakugeidaigaku - ~50 minutes by Shank's mare or 15 by locomotion
So - I'm Tom and I'm happy to be here. Hope to see you all around at some stage... If you see anyone in a purple and yellow jersey with a big "Wexford Wheelers" on it - you'll more than likely have found me. Hopefully, I'll be on a :bike: by then!
I started cycling when I was 10 - raced 12 through 17 and then discovered women and booze. After college I moved to Japan and discovered skiing and then motor racing. I was home in Ireland just last week and took to the roads again on a 23 year Eddy Merckx after quite a break.
The Merckx is my dads winter bike, rusted and heavy but it didn't matter. Out on the country lanes in the open air with my 76 year old dad and almost zero cars was a true blast. I got a little fitter in those 2 weeks I was home and I got to love the bike again. My arse of course would tell a different tale on that old rolls saddle but we won't ask it nor let it type this mail.
So I'm back in Japan and hungry for open roads and I've no gear. I have a jersey from my old team a pair of old compaqnolo shorts and some gloves but no ride. I hit the gym and got on the exercise bike for an hour but its missing everything that makes cycling great so that is not going to last.
I've owned 2 bikes over the years. I started on a DAWES an English brand probably long gone and I remember it being about 27lbs. It had remolds tubing so it didn't matter as that was cool. I do believe I won my first race on it. I then owned and raced a Peugeot made from some spiffy Columbus tubing and went all out on a MAVIC group set (I see they no longer make them). I think it weighed it at a stunning 23lbs. In those days we'd laugh at the thought of something less than 20lbs as you would blow away. Maybe its less windy now??? My mother gave that one away when I moved to Japan... It would be about 30 years old or so now though.
I dropped into Y's in Shibuya recently and ran into Eric who is also on this forum and he was kind enough to update me on the ins and outs of new bikes.
Currently my heart is telling me to get some awesome kit, get out training and go back racing again. Racing is hard work though and takes long hours of training, intervals, climbing etc... I found I'd lost quite a lot of my balance skills over my idle period, can't see me sitting in a bunch just yet either so the brain is asking hard questions. I'll stick with a goal of training and getting fit again just now and see where that takes me perhaps.
One of the main issues I have is facing Tokyo traffic and the continuous traffic lights all timed to make you stop at each one (at least in a car). I'm a country man you see. Think - rolling country lanes barely wide enough for two cars and bounded by green ditches. You might meet about 20 cars on a 60km ride and you rarely put a foot down at a crossing if ever. That is cycling beauty to me - the odd bee hopping off your face as you greet it along the way. I'm a little worried I won't find cycling zen here and my passion will disappear until my Merckx is 24 and I'm in Ireland again. Hey perhaps this is my mid-life crises finally
Location wise - I'm living just south-west of Shibuya in a place called Gakugeidaigaku - ~50 minutes by Shank's mare or 15 by locomotion
So - I'm Tom and I'm happy to be here. Hope to see you all around at some stage... If you see anyone in a purple and yellow jersey with a big "Wexford Wheelers" on it - you'll more than likely have found me. Hopefully, I'll be on a :bike: by then!