Paul Kelly battled some of the hardest climbs in the country, not to mention mist and rain, as he rode the Wicklow 200 on a Dublin Bike (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Meet the man who rode the Wicklow 200 sportive on a Dublin Bike last Sunday; Paul Kelly from Moynalty.
After over 9 hours of being spun out on the flat, hopelessly over-geared on the climbs and a figure of fun, curiosity and admiration in equal measure, the A3 Masters rider made it to the finish.
The word on the grapevine is that he took it in his stride and was ready to chat to everyone he met along the way despite forgoing his racing bike for the much heavier and generally less suitable Dublin Bike.
It was all in the name of raising funds for the Irish Kidney Association and started as a bit of fun during office banter with a colleague and fellow bikie.
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Paul (42) works for Bank of Ireland at their head off in Dublin city centre.
And when colleague Leo Tinkler decided to take on the Wicklow 100km on the Brompton foldaway bike he uses for commuting, our man decided to up the stakes and go the whole hog on a Dublin Bike.
Partners in pain: Kelly on his Dublin Bikes machine and Tinkler on his Brompton last Sunday.
“I had done the Race Around Ireland on a two-man team with my club mate Enda Murray last year and I race as an A3,” he said, outlining his credentials for his madcap challenge.
While slightly nervous about how it would go, Paul said he reckoned before the event began he’d complete it within 10 hours, and he recorded a time just inside that in the end; 9hrs 49 minutes to be precise.
“You couldn’t go very fast at all on the flat,” he said. “Because the bike only has three gears you were just spun out immediately.
“And the on the climbs; they were torture. The bike weights 24kg and at one stage I had to get off on a climb and walk for a few hundred metres; my pulse was that high from trying to keep the bike moving because the gears were too high.”
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Kelly looked in good spirits throughout his near 10-hour marathon at the Wicklow 200 (Photo: Sean Rowe)
In general, he described the climbs as “hell” and “heavy and hard”.
“The Wicklow Gap wasn’t too bad but on Kilmanogue; that was the bit where I had to walk. And then the Shay Elliott climb was torture.
“But a lot of people stopped to say hello and have a chat. People were wishing me the best and getting photos, asking me why I was doing it and wishing me well, so it was great really.”
He said he stopped at the first feed stop in Baltinglass for about 10 minutes.
After that, aside from his one stint of walking when climbing, he only stopped briefly at the top of a couple of the long climbs.
And that was done as a precaution; to gather himself after the hardest efforts and ensure he wouldn’t blow up.
Done and dusted; 200km in the bank and all on a very heavy Dublin Bike with just three gears.
Dublin Bikes organised for him to collect the bike on Saturday, waving the fee – which he reckons would have been about €50 - because he was raising money for charity.
A Masters rider who has returned to cycling in recent years after doing a lot on the biking in his youth; Paul was hoping to make a slight modification to the bike by changing the saddle.
But after fiddling around with it he found that wasn’t possible and so was forced to go ‘full Dublin Bike’. More power to him!
If you want to give the lads a few quid – even a fiver – for the Irish Kidney Association, you can do that by following this link. We think they've earned it!
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