Brian Canty
Hello Ciarán, you’re back on the Irish domestic racing scene and heading for Gorey this weekend. Are you looking forward to it?
“Ya, I can’t wait to do it now. It should be a bit of fun.”
You rode Fermoy on Sunday, how was that?
“It was alright now. I was pleasantly surprised I was able to stay with the race. Normally when I start racing I cramp up in the end and I didn’t want that to happen the first day in Gorey so I said I’d go down and get the cramps out of my body so I finished in the bunch and in the bunch sprint. I was cramping so it wasn’t as bad as I thought ‘twas going to be.”
Have you much racing done this year?
“No this was the only race I’ve done all year and again, the only reason I did it was because I knew I wanted to get the cramps out of the way. It’s done and dusted now and that’s all the racing I’ve done.”
Gorey is a tough race?
“It is ya. I did it as a first year junior and that’s part of the reason I want to go down and I just want to go with the local lads as well. We’ve a group of 10 or 11 going down so it’s more about going down and having a bit of craic and supporting the lads more so than me getting up because I don’t think I’ll be able for anything special.”
How has your training been?
“I do about two days a week I suppose, some weeks I wouldn’t be on the bike as much but I’m getting back into it. I wouldn’t have a lot of high end stuff [done].”
What’s you plan for the year after this?
“Well I applied for an A3 licence and I had it for about two days and I think irish Cycling realised that I shouldn’t have it so I’ve an A2 licence now, so I’ll be just doing some local races. Just to have a bit of fun really, my days of doing a lot of training and a lot of racing are over.”
Talk to me about the last few years, what you’ve been up to?
“I retired at the end of 2008 and I’ve just had a few years of factory work to get my life back on track and I studied neuromuscular physical therapy too. I’ve tried to build up that business over the few years so that’s why I wouldn’t have been around. That’s going decent enough now so I have a bit more time. It’s [cycling] more for my head to get out and get some fresh air (better) than being stuck in a room all day.”
Was the transition to ‘normal life’ a culture shock?
“It was ya. It was. When I finished cycling I kind of had enough of it at the time. There was a lot going on with that last team [Pezula] I was with and the whole Olympic selection thing. I think it was a joke as well so I was fed up with cycling when I finished. I didn’t mind not cycling, it just meant adjusting to normal life was tough. But I’m working now, like everybody else. I’m home every day now and sleeping in my own bed and all that. There’s a lot to be said for it.”
What happened in 2008?
“I signed a two-year contract with an Irish team called Pezula, but they went belly up because business wasn’t going good for your man and the team folded. I suppose I targeted Olympic qualification as well and I wasn’t even brought in as a reserve. I got fed up and annoyed with people’s decisions that were out of my hands really. But sure, it’s done and dusted now, I’m enjoying cycling again so I don’t really look back too much.”
So you’ll be winning Gorey then?
“I’m going down here for a bit of fun, I don’t think I’m going to be doing anything special and I’ve been lucky enough in that I’ve got sponsorship of bikes. The lads in Kinetix products have been great in giving me the use of a specialized SL 3 for the year so they’ve given me a time-trial bike for Gorey as well so that makes it a little bit more enjoyable.”
Did you do everything you possibly could have done in your career, performance wise?
“I did, I couldn’t change anything. I wouldn’t look back and say I could have done something differently. I done as good as I could and I’m happy enough with what I did. I’m glad to have seen the world and enjoyed it and I got out at the right time as well. It seems like a million years ago now. I don’t really look into it too much.”
What was the highlight?
“It was definitely the Olympics in Athens. 13th place in the finish there is still the best result by any Olympic cyclist. Bettini won, he was one of two lads away and Axel Mercyk got away in the last kilometre so then we were sprinting for fourth place.”
Do you still watch cycling?
“I didn’t for a couple of years after I finished. Even the year after I finished, the Tour of Ireland was in Waterford and instead of hanging around I got out of Waterford. I was kind of well fed up with it but now I love it again and I’d watch the highlights of whatever on TV and it’s great, I enjoy it just the same as everyone else.”
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/hT3ZgazIWuw/post.aspx
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