Sean Kelly - Interesting article

ROK ON

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/05/news/a-conversation-with-sean-kelly-irish-cycling-and-the-an-post-team_173563

ROK ON

Interesting point re the growth of the sport and the demographocs of that growth.

I hve done 4 sportives this year and a few races.
Average age was in mid thirties I would think. With a fair few older riders,

Very few youngsters in evidence at events that I partook in.

studiorat

One would wonder is the perception that the roads are too dangerous part of this issue.

Perhaps younger riders are filtering into other disciplines, MTB, BMX etc.

Has marketing and the cost of bikes made entering road racing prohibitive for anyone under 35?

BryanL

Amazing the level of interest he takes in Irish cycling.

I think most Irish kids are now too soft for cycling.

CianRyan

studiorat wrote: »

One would wonder is the perception that the roads are too dangerous part of this issue.

Perhaps younger riders are filtering into other disciplines, MTB, BMX etc.

Has marketing and the cost of bikes made entering road racing prohibitive for anyone under 35?

I'm 20 and saving for my first road bike, at this stage I'll probably be 22/23 before I enter my first race and hopefully I'll have a few sportives under my belt by next year.

Right now I'm training on a big heavy hardtail MTB with road tyres.
Average speed is only about 20kph but for a 15.5k bike with a horrible riding position I reckon that's not TOO bad.:rolleyes:

Edit: But yeah, the price of bikes is an absolute pain.
I'm choosing a new bike over learning to drive. Go figure.

cantalach

The perceived danger of cycling on the public road has a lot to do with it. Parents don't like their kids cycling even 1-2km to school, not to mind training and racing. And the thing is, if I'm completely honest about it, when I see the way my safety is treated by so many motorists and bus drivers, I can fully understand this parental reluctance.

CianRyan

I see quite a lot of kids and teen agers cycling to school and around my area(Tallaght) at least, there's plenty of young lads on fairly expensive bikes, thing is, most of them are mountain bikes and BMXs.

There's not much appeal to a 13-18 year old lad in dressing up in Lycra and taking it to the streets.

In my old schools(primary and secondary) we are encouraged to cycle in, albeit with our parents with us in primary but there was definitely a push to get us on bikes.
I guess it's a long time since I left primary school at this stage so I don't know how it is now but I still see plenty on bikes going to the secondary.

Beasty

There are plenty of other sports out there for kids. Cycling tends to attract people when they are getting to the end of their careers elsewhere.

I think Kelly makes a good point about an indoor velodrome - I've seen how the one in Manchester attracts kids to the sport, and has delivered fantastic results to Team GB. If we can get one up and running in Dublin, it will be a safe environment for kids to get into cycling as a sport, rather than as a recreation.

Lumen

cantalach wrote: »

The perceived danger of cycling on the public road has a lot to do with it. Parents don't like their kids cycling even 1-2km to school, not to mind training and racing. And the thing is, if I'm completely honest about it, when I see the way my safety is treated by so many motorists and bus drivers, I can fully understand this parental reluctance.

Riding out on quiet country roads is really very safe. Everyone I know who has played ball sports has suffered temporarily crippling injuries.

I think the main problems with professional cycling in this country are that it is very hard, poorly paid, and generates little respect outside the sport. The Brits have those problems too; I suspect they only do better because they have a vastly larger population, a well resourced track programme (financed by a proportionately larger lottery, I think), and a decade or so of car-hating socialists in government developing the cycling infrastructure.

CianRyan

Beasty wrote: »

There are plenty of other sports out there for kids. Cycling tends to attract people when they are getting to the end of their careers elsewhere.

I think Kelly makes a good point about an indoor velodrome - I've seen how the one in Manchester attracts kids to the sport, and has delivered fantastic results to Team GB. If we can get one up and running in Dublin, it will be a safe environment for kids to get into cycling as a sport, rather than as a recreation.

Coming from Skateboarding I'd agree with both of these points.

The obvious one of falling into cycling when I've been toning down the skating but also the one about the velodrome.

I saw a huge increase in the amount of people getting into skateboarding and BMXing when the skateparks started popping up around Dublin and the rest of the country.
People with no prior interest in the sport just started hanging out around them and eventually started getting into it.

A velodrome could be a great help but another thing I take from skating is knowing that even if you're actively seeking the development of something like this, it can take years to happen.

Beasty

CianRyan wrote: »

A velodrome could be a great h elpbut another thing I take from skating is knowing that even if you're actively seeking the development of something like this, it can take years to happen.

There's a possibility of one a lot sooner than you think;)

CianRyan

Beasty wrote: »

There's a possibility of one a lot sooner than you think;)

Oh, any more info than this?

Beasty

CianRyan wrote: »

Oh, any more info than this?

In your back yard

Still very tentative at this stage, but with a bit of luck ....

CianRyan

Beasty wrote: »

In your back yard

Still very tentative at this stage, but with a bit of luck ....

Bless my wonderful detective skills. :P