I forgot to mention that I’m going to be starting a new job in a couple of weeks, which thankfully will mean a shorter commute. I’ll still be driving 160 kilometres a day but that’s 100 kilometres less than I’m currently doing. As much as the phone call offering me the job delighted me I think the one I got today actually delighted me more.
Some time ago I’d got in touch with McLoughlin’s Cycles in Newbridge asking whether they’d be interested in sponsoring me. Since I bought my first bike in there last April I’ve always had really good dealings with Alison and the rest of the guys in the shop and have always found them to be really helpful. I’ve bought bikes before from a large chain and was never happy with the level of customer service, on a technical level or on a personal level, but right from the outset McLoughlins couldn’t have been more different. They spent time talking to me, figuring out what bike best suited me in terms of my ability and what I intended to use it for, rather than just trying to push whatever was needed to make a monthly target. Similarly if I needed to get the bike serviced or when I had a problem with it at Gaelforce last year they did whatever was needed to get it right. I actually bought another bike late last year and again went back to McLoughlins to buy it and got a fantastic deal on it.
When it was suggested to me that I should try to get some sponsorship for my endeavours this year I was a little reticent as I wasn’t really sure (a)if anyone would sponsor me (b)what that sponsorship would consist of and (c) what I could do for them in return, but after getting a feature in the local paper I decided to at least put the wheels in motion.
I got in touch with Alison in McLoughlins and after an amount of discussion back and forth we came to an agreement that would see McLoughlins looking after my bike for the year and me wearing their colours in the races. It’s a little bit surreal to think that I’ll be in some way doing what actual, real atheltes do, but I’m absolutely over the moon about it. I rang my wife, my brother, my friends, everyone I could think of on the way home to tell them about it, and then as soon as I got hom I hopped on my bike and went out for a cycle. If I’m going to get sponsored to do this, and especially by a bike shop, I really don’t want to be down the back of the field getting passed by old ladies with baskets on their bikes.
SlowSlowQuickQuickFast? 