Daire Feeley has been keeping himself busy in the Covid19 crisis by resetting his mind and his training plans back towards winter mode.
And that has involved doing an epic
solo ride, completing just over 300km in nine hours.
Feeley is no stranger to big miles;
the junior and U23 international rider having ridden on the pro scene in Europe
last year with EvoPro Racing.
He has now returned to Ireland and rode very well during the first weekend of racing of the 2020 campaign; taking 2nd in the Mick Lally Memorial before victory the next day in the Seamus Kennedy Memorial.
Now riding in the colours of Strata 3-VeloRevolution at home, on Monday he set out from his home in Co Roscommon for a planned 4½ hours on the bike.
However, with the weather good and as he was enjoying his training, he decided to keep going and put in a massive 302km shift; that’s 188 miles in old money.
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“Being brutally honest, it wasn't that hard,” Feeley told stickybottle. “A long ride like that depends on how well you fuel.
“I hadn't planned on doing it, I had 4½ hours set for that day and I just said to myself: 'While I have the chance and the weather is good I may as well just ride my bike for the day'.
“I rode to the base of Croagh Patrick plus a bit extra and then home. I was gone from home for over 11 hours.”
His moving time was nine hours and Feeley said he was gone so long that his mother “lost the head with me” when he finally arrived home.
Based just outside Roscommon town in
Mote Park, his furthest point from home was Croagh Patrick; making for a 240km
round trip.
He then completed a 60km loop close to home towards the end of the day to bring his total above 300km.
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He rode 302.35km with an elevation gain
of 2,108 metres and an average power of 221 watts; riding 33.3km per hour average
and burning 7,231 calories.
“The only way to go about a long
training ride like that is to keep the Garmin out of sight and just ride your
bike for the love of it,” he said.
“All too often we get caught up on
numbers and training data and often forget why we took up the sport in the
first place.”
On the basis of the first weekend racing of the year, and considering he had a very strong season against the pros in Europe last year, Feeley was fancied to be one of the men of the season at home this year.
That may still come to pass if we can get back racing again, though with Covid19 cases still rising in Ireland we are in uncertain times.
Amid the Covid19 crisis Feeley said he had decided to switch his mindset and his training back to winter and simply hopes for the best in relation to racing resuming this year.
“Having no idea when it will return is frustrating,” he said of racing being suspended at present in Ireland until at least April 19th.
“I have no work at the moment due to
the coronavirus and all I can do is ride my bike and do some jobs around the
house.
“It's very hard to keep motivated but I've been doing well so far. Myself and my coach have decided to do another winter-type build.
“I've cut the intensity and veered more towards base miles and longer steady efforts.
“Doing too much intensity without an end goal is not worth it; I don't want to be peaking now and have no racing for three months.
“The current situation is beyond our control and all we can do is remain positive. It’s affecting everyone when it comes to training so there's no point playing the victim.
“Our health is our number one priority at the moment. As frustrating as it is to say, racing can wait for now. It will return and when it does I'll be ready.”
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