Ronan O'Flynn may have only taken up cycling in his mid 30s but the Galway man has made a lot of progress since then. His three medals at national championship level are three more than most riders who put their youth into the sport.
However, he didn't try to hide his disappointment at seeing an Irish title slip out of his grasp on home turf in Ballinasloe on Sunday at the National Cyclocross Championships.
"I'm heartbroken to be honest," O'Flynn told stickybottle. "As a Galway man, this was a great opportunity to win the National Champs, on my home territory. It's not every day you get to race in Galway in cyclocross.
"So I've been building up to this and it's been the target all year, and probably for the last four years to be honest; working hard with my coach Thomas Fallon. I'm gutted but I suppose I'm proud of the performance as well."
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A former hurler with Co Galway club Castlegar GAA, O'Flynn was close to adding gold to the bronze and silver already in his collection, only to come up against the experienced and fast-finishing Glenn Kinning on Sunday.
Though it looked for a while like it might be a day for Orwell Wheeler O'Flynn, his Kinning Cycles rival hunted him down through the last lap and then pounced clinically out of the last corner and up the finishing straight.
In the end, just two seconds separated them on the line, Kinning winning gold in the Masters 40 race and O'Flynn collecting his second silver, with Marcus Flavin of Dungarvan CC claiming bronze in what was a very competitive race.
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"I was tiring a bit," O'Flynn said of battling with Kinning, especially on the final lap after they had exchanged the lead in the closing stages. "I was pushing it and there was a couple of sections up the back there where I went really hard and I couldn't really get my breath back after it.
"I was struggling but I thought I might get him going through the sand because I was putting a bit of time into him each lap there; that was on the last lap because he was just ahead of me.
"I made contact with him again coming around the final corner and even in the mud section just before that I tried to go for it. But we were on the same line. But, look, Glenn is a great champion; three-in-a-row. What can you say? The lad has raced all over Europe.
"I'm proud of where I've come to in cyclocross, I'm 10 years at it. I used to be playing hurling across the way here in Duggan Park. I'd lots of unsuccessful days but the Castlegar jersey is green and white and I thought I might be putting on a different green and white jersey today.
"My father was into cycling when I was young. He never raced, but he was big into it back in the 80s. He loved watching the big names like Kelly and Roche. And I always had this ambition to race in cycling. I did a year on the road and then did a season of 'cross and I really enjoyed it since then.
"I put a lot of effort in this year, I won't lie; a lot of early mornings and all sorts of things. And we've two young kids so it's been about trying to balance that. But it's a great sport, a great community. I got loads of support there today from people, so I was delighted. And I'll pick myself up and get going again.
"I had my eye on that jersey but I had the flu over Christmas and it threw me off. I wasn't sure where I was, and I didn't race well last Sunday. I think Glenn put over a minute into me. Every week I was improving and I knew I'd give him a battle.
"But I knew I had to be at 110 per cent to be beat that man. He's a class act and he has that experience. So hopefully I'm building that up myself."
