Daire Feeley may have won his first race of the season but he says his training is not on the same level as recent years (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Daire Feeley (Burren CC) may have his first win of 2026 in the bag but the Roscommon man said his preparation for the season is not on par with previous years, when he took a large number of victories.
"I don't have the same volume of training done that I had previously, I just don't have it done," he told stickybottle. "I'm playing catch-up at the moment, but so far I'm riding myself into the season pretty well."
The 29-year-old got married last year and now has a son aged 14 months - "he's still not doing the full night's sleep just yet" - as well as working full time. Those realities must be accommodated into Feeley's weekly routine, though he said he was determined to make it all work.
Evidence of that came last Sunday when he won the Donal Crowley Memorial in Blarney, Co Cork. He came to the line in a three-man group with Pinergy Orwell's Liam Crowley and Evan Keane, and managed to beat them.
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"They're two stand-out riders, it was nice to beat them," he said. "And, in fairness to them, they came up and shook my hand. I'm sure I'll get some scalping from them in the races to come."
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Feeley described Crowley and Keane, who have both won races so far this season, as "very, very strong". He noted when he and Crowley got clear initially last Sunday, Keane was able to charge across to them solo, which he was very surprised at.
"I was looking at Evan's power and there was one climb where he did 600 Watts for something like two minutes... They are two hard lads to beat in a sprint at any time. And to get one up on them is a nice one."
That victory aside, Feeley believes he needs to really focus on balancing his time in the weeks and months ahead if he is to maintain the form of recent seasons.
"I'm hoping with a bit more consistency, and by trying to squeeze in the volume, it will pay off. If I can avoid going periods where you are racing and then you're not seeing the bike for two to three days after that, that will allow me to get the form back up fairly fast."
As well as having a young son, he is also working with the Roscommon Sports Partnership and admits juggling everything is demanding.
"It's a hard act to play. You can have every excuse in the world but if the training hasn't been done... The excuses aren't taken into consideration at the finish line.
"And everybody seems to be on a good level. Based on that alone, you just really need to keep on top of things. Consistency, and trying to keep that volume in the training week, is going to be really important."
