There are times when Stacey Kelly asks herself ‘what am I doing with my life’. But the An Post-Chainreaction and Ireland national team soigneur is one of the lucky few; her job is her passion. Pictured here by Josselin Riou at the UCI World Championships in Ponferrada last September.
The daughter of Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly, Stacey Kelly grew up with a deep love for the sport of cycling.
She’s the one behind the scenes. She’s the first up and the last to go to bed. Her friends aren’t entirely sure what she does.
“They think I’m mad, they think I’m a mammy, they don’t understand it,” she laughs.
“I love what I do though,” she told Brian Canty as the An Post Chainreaction team training camp drew to a close in Calpe last week.
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“I don’t think you could do it if you didn’t enjoy it.
“There are times when I’m thinking ‘what am I doing with my life’ but it’s good and every day is different.”
In this piece she talks us through a typical day when working on a race.
The job can be glamorous, with plenty of foreign travel and mixing with the stars of the sport. But keeping the show on the road is mostly made up of hard graft. Above, preparing the food track-side at an Ireland team training camp.
Morning
“You start off the day before the riders.
“On race day you’d be up before them, getting the food and bottles ready for them and the staff.
“Every bottle must be filled; the gels, bars, bananas and whatever the riders want at the feed-zone during a race must be put into separate bags called musettes. These must be right.”
Pre-race
“You get to the start of the race and to be honest, I leave the riders alone beforehand.
“I don’t want to be in their faces, that’s their time for getting in the zone.
"But at the same time we’re always there for them if they need anything.
“For example, if it’s a cold day we give them heat on their legs to warm them up.”
Feeding the An Post-Chainreaction riders during the National Road Race Championships three years ago.
Mid-race
“Before the race starts we’d be gone up the road ahead of the race, get to the feed zone as quickly as possible and wait for them there.
“We’d feed them there from the side of the road, handing them the musettes as they fly through.
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“They all know where the feed zone is so they’ll spread out in the bunch; the last thing you want is four of them coming at me together because it’d be impossible to hand out four musettes at the speed they’d be doing.
“It is absolutely VITAL they get fed.”
Post-race
“As soon as the riders are fed we’d head on to the finish and be there with more nutrition when they come over the line.
“Some ask for recovery shakes, some just bars, others will take both.
“I normally try to give them a bit of space after the race, especially if the race has gone badly.
“You just have to be there for them when it goes bad and good, but I just give them some space to think about it.
“The minute they get off the bike they’re going to be mad and cursing, so you just give them that few minutes for the adrenaline to leave but you’re just there for them, you’re an ear for them.
“After that then I’d gather up all the dirty gear and put it through the wash so it’s spotless for the next day again.”
Making sure junior international Mark Downey is good for everything he might need right up to the moment he is launched into action at the World Track Championships.
Evening
“From there we get to the hotel as soon as possible afterwards.
“You don’t want them hanging around in wet clothes for too long because you run the risk of getting sick.
“The next port of call is the massages. You’d be hearing all kinds of stories here from the lads.
“They’d be talking about the race, their girlfriends, I’d even be giving out date advice sometimes!!
“But when they’re on the massage table it’s a time for them to reflect on the race, so you hear a lot of what went on.
“You’re just there more to listen, not so much give them advice, although you do at times.
“You’re there for them when they say ‘it went so shit today’ and you just go along with it and they get it out and they feel better after it.”
Before bed
“You’ve your preparation for the next day; washing the bottles, drying them, getting the clothes, drying them.
"There’s never any shortage of work I can tell you!”
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