Dubliner John Brady was a professional rider in the US for nine years between 1989 and 1995 and again in 2002, continuing to ride in the seasons between on the US circuit but with slightly smaller teams. He is based in Ireland now and is still competing and just last week he won Rás Carlow from a very strong field. We asked him for tips on how to avoid a mid-season slump.
The Irish racing season is a very short one and runs from mid-February until the start of September.
The Laragh Classic will ‘officially’ bring the racing season to a close on September 11th so that effectively means we are midway through 2016 already.
And with the An Post Rás out of the way, the focal point of the season for a number of riders has already come and gone.
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The traditional Easter and May Bank Holiday stage races are done and dusted while seven of the 12 races that make up the national series have also been settled.
The racing season is definitely top heavy in the first half of the year and what it leads to is something of a mid-season slump, or does it?
Ex-professional John Brady is a man who has been around the block and is still racing with distinction.
In his eyes the mid-season slump is a loaf of nonsense and is just a cop-out for those looking to lay on the beach.
By John Brady
Ireland is unique in that most of the better riders keep their ambitions local and aim for some kind of result in the Rás. This is understandable given it is our national stage race.
The Irish cycling calendar is somewhat irregular compared to other European countries and the number of races has slowly dwindled from what is already a bare bones calendar.
I’m not entirely sure of the reasons for this; one is insurance and liability while another is the difficulty in getting road closures.
Either way, the end result means less races. Even chasing races all over Ireland will not get you half the races you're likely to participate in if you lived in Belguim.
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So I'm perplexed as to why most of the races in Ireland happen early in the year, with the highest participation.
You can race here in February with a chance of there being snow and ice. You race in full winter kit and 150 riders also show up.
But by September, on a 20-degree Celsius day the field might be 50 riders, and that’s assuming you can find a race!
It's easy to see why the season starts to "soften" after the Ras. If you want to do well in bike racing, training will get you so far, but it's racing where you learn the nuances of winning.
So considering the limited racing, Irish riders punch above their weight when it comes to the Ras.
It's just turned June, the weather is perfect and some riders are already feeling a ‘mid-season slump’. Seriously?
I think before we talk about avoiding it I want to say that first, it's mostly psychological.
With all the training in bad weather, neglecting your domestic and social life to get those extra hours of training in to getting beaten up in the Rás it's no wonder some riders just want to ditch the bike and bury their heads in the sand or lie on the beach.
But you don't have to accept the cycling season is over or that it is falling into a slow decline.
The nationals are coming, thanks to Orwell Wheelers, but if you really want to race, jump on a (not so) cheerful Ryanair flight and you are an hour from five or six races a week in Spain or Belgium.
The Spanish calendar is packed full of races – and instead of lying on the beach getting a tan, go get one in a Grand Classic in Spain?
You don't have to be a member of the national team to race, just find an apartment in a place like Kortrijk, Oudenaarde or Girona in Spain.
Go out your front door, go left or right and you'll find a race within riding distance. You'll get more experience and racing in two weeks than you’d get in two months in Ireland. This mid-season slump is a self-made myth!
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