Nicolas Roche has said while he loves training in the Wicklow uplands, many cyclists are fearful of riding there alone because of bike-jacking attacks.
Before the pandemic began there were several reports of attackers in vehicles knocking cyclists off and then stealing their bikes, leaving some riders stranded by the roadside having been robbed.
Roche says those incidents have created fear among cyclists of riding in the area alone. As a result, many Irish riders had warned him not to train their alone because the attackers knock “cyclists over, take your bike off you, and then throw the bike into the back of their van and drive off”.
"I train in the Wicklow Mountains and have been told ‘watch out for a truck’ which stops and takes your bike off you,” he told The Irish Sun, adding Kippure, Sally Gap and Laragh had been identified to him as the main areas of concern.
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"I love the Wicklow Mountains and being able to train up there but hearing those stories made me so cautious. You definitely have to have your wits about cycling up there."
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Despite the hazard of attack he had been warned about, Roche said he had always loved training in Co Wicklow, even as a kid. “I heard the stories about the bike thieves in Wicklow but the Sally Gap is where I head for because it’s my escape,” he said.
“Up there, there is something almost poetic to those roads. When I cycle there I feel like time has stopped. The beautiful scenery, the isolated roads. It’s magical. I ride an Irish made bike so nothing is going stop me cycling it in Ireland.”
Roche is currently competing as a contestant in Dancing with the Stars in RTE TV. After a difficult start, when the judges marked him and dance partner Karen Byrne very harshly, his training every day has been paying off and his scores have been higher.
Last weekend the dancers dedicated their performances to somebody in their lives, with Roche picking his brother Alexis as he had donated his bone marrow to help the youngest Roche brother, Florian, to beat leukaemia.
Alexis, a talented bike rider who raced for years in France, was in the audience on Sunday for the performance and Nicolas said he had save Florian’s life.
