Damien Shaw rode with An Post-Chainreaction last year knowing he had a full-time job on hold for him, but it's change for him now.
Damien Shaw decided the pull of racing in the international peloton for An Post-Chainreaction was too much and has opted to relinquish his job as a fire fighter to ride full time again this year.
The Mullingar man, who took to cycling late but has made it to the Continental ranks, had been competing on the home scene while working as a fire fighter until the end of 2015.
However, when offered a place with Sean Kelly’s An Post-Chainreaction for the 2016 season he took a break from his day job to take up his spot.
But now having been offered the chance to return to the team for the coming season he was faced with a choice; go back to the day job or hand in his notice for good and continue with pro racing.
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And, always a man to seize the day, Shaw has chosen the latter option.
He has handed in his notice and will once again ride in the green of An Post-Chainreaction.
But unlike last year, it will be in the knowledge that the safety net of having a job to walk back into is gone.
"I had to make that decision in September of whether to go back to the day job or hand in the notice. And I did, I handed in the notice," he told the Irish Independent.
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"It's full time; there's no going back, the decision is made. And, like, the end of next year will be new territory again.
“It's another year riding a bike or maybe moving on into the real world one way or another.”
He said the jump from riding the home scene to the races that An Post-Chainreaction compete in was like going from “playschool to university”.
But he believed he had learnt a lot, adding it would be a shame not to step into the battlefield again while he still had the chance.
The always popular former elite national champion only took up racing aged 26 years and is now 31-years-old.
But he is the kind of rider who could, for example, win a stage in the Rás or indeed win the race overall.
And given his strength and the fact he will race this year with last season under his belt, he may also surprise a few people abroad.
"I think the last two or three races of (last season) I wasn't really firing as fit as I would have liked and I got a good kicking... and I kind of liked it,” he said.
"And it just gave me that bit of motivation to not let that happen again if I am in the same situation.
"I'll be a lot more adapted to it physically and mentally. So I'm really itching to get going."
We’ll catch up with Shaw and the rest of the Irish An Post-Chainreaction lads before the season starts and all through the campaign thereafter.
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