Aaron Buggle has no regrets about walking away from racing and is looking ahead after a year when life has opened up many new avenues for him. Seen here in last year's national time trial championships.
By Brian Canty
It’s been a roller-coaster 12 months for former Rapha Condor-JLT rider, Aaron Buggle. But having decided to walk away from the sport following a succession of crash-induced concussions, the Dunboyne man has no regrets and is looking forward to the next chapters in his life.
A two-time national time-trial champion, Buggle has recently joined former team mate and friend Anthony Walsh’s coaching staff at A1 Coaching, while he has also been studying to sit the chemistry and biology Leaving Cert higher level papers.
A C3 or above in both of those along with his background and current coaching endeavours will ensure he secures his place in DCU where he has been accepted into a four-year undergraduate degree in Sports and Exercise Science.
Advertisement
But one thing he won’t be doing any time soon is returning to racing competitively.
“When I went away from cycling I always knew I was going back to college, that was the goal,” he said.
“It was too late last year when I applied, so I said I’d go away and earn some money and tick the boxes to get in the following year.
“I left school early and headed for France so I had to go back to NUI Maynooth to prepare me for university. I have had to re-sit chemistry and biology, which has been a bit of a pain at times. I’ve one down and one to go next week.
But while Buggle was not in a position to go to college immediately he stopped racing, did not let the grass grow under his feet or sit around feeling sorry for himself.
He embarked on a modelling career that netted him some money and experience of living in the real world.
All the while he stayed in contact with Walsh, his former team mate when they raced in France, with a view to going into business together at A1.
Related News
While his racing days are over, Buggle scored some nice wins including national titles and often represented Ireland (Photo: Rik Masil)
“It’s been a mad few months; I’ve backed off from all the (media and modelling) work. I have just been concentrating on the exams and really looking forward to next year. I’m not going back to sail through university, I plan on giving it the same attention and dedication I gave my cycling.
“I needed to get away from the sport and do something different when I quit, and looking back on it, I learned a lot.
“As a cyclist you’re a little locked away at times and you forget how to deal with people and normal life situations. But I learnt a lot about myself in those months,” he said of the period just after walking away from racing this time last year.
Though he went through some very dark times after his decision to stop, the vertigo he suffered as a result of his crashes underlined for him that his health and recovery from several spills must come first.
‘’Although I enjoyed life, I did find it hard to adapt. But I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done,” he said.
“I’m a much happier guy now and feel that I’m on the correct path. I’ve no issues at all now with my health; the head injury subsided, the vertigo went and physically there’s no issues. I’m getting out on the bike a bit now; I’m just enjoying it as opposed to doing it as a chore.”
So no return to racing any time soon?
“I went away from it completely for a couple of months but the bug snuck back in,” he conceded. “Just because I walked away though doesn’t mean the love of cycling goes away. And to be honest I thought I’d struggle looking at the results and the competitive side of things.
“But I’m really enjoying what I’m doing now, study included, and it just feels right. You learn to apply yourself so much when cycling at a good level when you switch that focus to something else it’s amazing what you can do.
“Racing is out of the picture at the moment as it’s currently not a goal, and with everything going on I wouldn’t be able to apply myself."
Buggle took a really bad fall on stage 3 of the An Post Rás into Listowel last year. The injuries sustained in that and other spills in his season with Rapha Condor JLT saw him walk away and he has not looked back.
Topics
