Just to be clear!

I felt the need to say something because I feel like the “hard done by” theme is being put out there when it comes to myself.

I am really happy! All the stuff you have been reading is true, not a word of a lie but people are jumping on the - lack of, shoulda, woulda coulda stuff. I loved racing bikes. When I got shit at racing bikes, I stopped! I still love the thought of racing but getting paid for it was becoming hard to do.

I do feel that things need to change to help young athletes become champions. It’s not cycling that is the problem, it’s not the sports council’s problem, it’s not the sponsors fault, it’s ours! All these organizations meet demand to a degree, there are exceptions though! The sports that get the help in Ireland are the highest supported sports when it comes to bums on seats.

There was a Class 1 UCI race held in Ireland last year. It was a track race, I was in it and it was held at Sundrive Velodrome. It was ran perfectly, everything was catered for and the participants were really world class. There were at least 5 world champions in my race!!!! How many spectators were there???  40? 50? I doubt it - It’s a sad fact. It’s nobody’s fault, the event was held to the highest standard but nobody outside the small track bubble gave a shit!

I could waffle on all day but the point is the ethos needs to change. An indoor Velodrome in Ireland will guarantee a place to nurture track cyclists in all weather. It will keep kids safe and will gradually change what people think of the sport, but it’s going to take a long time!

Like I started with, just to be clear - I appreciate every grant, every sponsor and every sports institute that helped me. From where I started I got a lot out of cycling and I am forever grateful. The Irish Institute of Sport in Abbotstown has helped me more than ever since I retired, I can’t say the same for some other Sports institutes but they are victims of there own system. Cycling Ireland have given me the platform to perform and I did. Even though they probably need some new blood in the system at some point.

I’m not preaching, I’m not trying to rattle cages, I’m just clarifying and giving my penny’s worth!

M


Comments

  1. Jim23 February 2016 at 13:19

    Well Said Martyn .I agree wholeheartedly ..

    same here in Ontario believe me. We have a new world class velodrome .. lots of interest from riders but very few spectators ( besides family & friends ) come out to support them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown24 October 2017 at 04:39

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown9 December 2017 at 04:34

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  4. obat kuat jakarta29 April 2018 at 22:51

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It just feels right…..

Image
Well, I never actually thought this day would come. All through my cycling career I’ve seen teammates old and new “retire.”   Something that I initially thought could be the worst thing ever to happen to me. As I sit here here now typing this it just feels right. Don’t get me wrong though, this decision I have not taken lightly. Something has just happened to me over the last 1-2 years and I can’t really pin point it. Okay, I’ve had a few crashes that have left metal inside me but I came back from them. I mean, I won a European medal 6 months after breaking my hip! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that its a mental thing. However, its not that simple. I really miss racing, even now when I’ve barely stopped. It just feels like a natural end though. For the last year I’ve been racing and under performing across the board. Frustration has been setting in all year and I’m sick of just turning up to bike races. I set my own bar by winning 7 medals in a row. Worl...
Read more

Up to date...finally!

Image
A smart man said he read my blog and thought, "What's this crap, its out of date" So, part 2 of "out of date, up to date" I left you after I had somehow pulled a medal out of my backside and that's exactly how I feel. World Champ medals are hard to come by. I had the minimum amount of track time and a below average build up.  The only thing got me that medal was the desire to have it!  Anyway, America! A word that I have used a lot. This year though the meaning of it has slightly changed, just slightly. I'll come back to that some other time. My road season started off in Taiwan with a stage race and after that I was a blow in, B string crit rider. UHC have an awesome team and it's pretty hard to even get a start with them in the first place.  Honestly I never really got going with the crit guys and I'm not really sure why. I know I have the engine to do the job but mentally I wasn't there. I was willing and able to do what the ...
Read more

Back at it.....

Image
I’m back on my travels and thought I’d check in with whoever is reading this. I warn ya though, what you are about to read could be slightly, maybe, possibly a little bit on the negative side! Hopefully I’m over what has been a pretty crap few weeks. I can’t tell you the frustration I’ve had but that’s life. I’ve gone through loads of phases ranging from chilled out/that’s life mentally to angry and flapping about in a panic. Now that I’m able to get going again I just hope things go my way. As I type this I’m 9 days post-op and I’m surprised how quick things have come on since the surgery.  The surgery itself left me in a heap for the first two days. Once the anesthetic and drugs involved with surgery cleared out of my systems I was back at it pretty quickly. There was major progress on Thursday when I was able to back squat in the Gym. Thanks to Chris and Lisa in SINI for the good direction on that one. My view from the squat rack at the Sports Institute of Nort...
Read more