By Louise Hickey
Having played top-flight Gaelic Games in his younger days, Tom Regan was a late-comer to cycling. However, though he only took up the bike well into his 30s, he went from A4 to A1 in 18 months and has now just won a round of the Cycling Ireland National Road Series.
Regan (39), a father of four from Loughrea in Co Galway, beat many of the best riders in the country to claim victory at the Brian O’Loughlin Memorial in Cong, Co Mayo. And now he has his sights set on Rás Tailteann, saying he has become completely addicted to cycling and couldn’t get out now even if he wanted to.
His excitement at winning a round of the National Series was exceeded, he says, by his family and Seven Springs Cycling Club team mates.
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“The kids even had banners set up for me when I got home,” said Regan of his victory in Mayo, where he emerged best from an eight-man group that got away from the 17-rider move which dominated the race from start to finish.
But long before his career on two wheels began, he had enjoyed success on the playing fields of the west of Ireland and even on a stretch of the most hallowed turf in Dublin.
He joined Loughrea GAA Club as young child and played until he was aged 32 years, making the senior hurling team in a region known for its love of the small ball. He went on to win senior county and Connacht titles with the club and played in an All Ireland Club Final; beaten by Ballyhale Shamrocks of Kilkenny in Croke Park in 2006.
By the time he was wrapping up his hurling career six years ago he had already begun to do some cycling “to keep the weight down”. A passing interest in the sport turned into club rides and then sportives and racing – a rapid progression all in the space of a year or so.
There were some early signs that Regan’s sporting abilities on the pitch may transfer over to the bike. He got off the mark in 2017 with victory in the A4 race in Rás Luimní. And while he was a constant in the results and rapidly progressed to A1, reality then struck.
“I found at A1 I could do about 60km fine, but then after that it was harder,” he explained. “It probably took me two or three years to build up the stamina.”
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But it was clear from the start of this season the improvements were still coming, under the guidance of coach and top rider Daire Feeley. Regan took 2nd in the PJ O’Riordan Memorial, 3rd in the Lacey Cup, 3rd in the Mick Lally Memorial and 5th in the Galway GP. And then in Cong he hit the big time.
However, while delighted to land a major victory in a series where wins have eluded even some international riders, Regan seems to really love the bike, with the results an added bonus.
“You’re competing against your own goals more than the guys you’re with,” he said of racing, adding the comradery between rivals was perhaps not always something he experienced in GAA.
“The first guys that came to congratulate me were the ones I’ve been trying to beat every week,” he said of the response to those around him when he won the Brian O’Loughlin. “There’s also such a diverse range of people in cycling. In a club you’re talking to 16, 17-year-olds and a guy that’s 70 on the same spin”.
He explained the addictive nature of the sport meant “once you start into it there’s no getting out”.
“It’s not like other sports. You can go at whatever level you want and there’s a lot of respect between the guys involved. That’s not seen in other sports. I also have a very understanding wife and family to be able to do the training I need to.”
With work, as an engineer for Galway County Council, and family life – his youngest child is just 3-years-old - he usually only has the time to train in the evening. He’s no stranger to wrapping up his rides at 10pm or later.
“Whether you’re 39 or 19, it takes a lot of time training to get to the level for these races. Guys my age probably have more responsibilities, so I suppose you have to just structure time a bit better.”
Although he was late coming to the sport, his win in Mayo was only the beginning of his major goals, with Rás Tailteann the big beast now on the horizon.
He’s never competed in the race before; the event only held once since he’s been an A1. But he goes in with an open mind and ready to tackle, and suffer through, whatever comes his way. “I’m new to this, so I won’t really know how it goes until I’m in it”.
