Wonderfully Odd Waterford!

Last Sunday was a strange one for me.

It started early on Sunday morning, with me furiously trying to sew a rather old and tired Santa hat, on to the top of my helmet (cycling!). Now, I would never confess to be a dab hand at sewing and judging by the many, many Heath Robinson repairs to socks, cycling bibs, even an old Scotland patch on my winter tights. I would never make the televised stages of the BBC’s Sew Bee programme! Being the thrifty Scot I am, it is in my DNA to try and save something, prior to eventually having to toss it into the correctly coloured plastic receptacle.

Having somehow secured Santa’s hat, I then had to in some way attach a pair of Dame Edna Everage’s, Christmas themed, glasses to my actual cycling glasses. All manner of tools were arranged on the breakfast table – snippers, cable ties, scissors, rubber bands, string and so on. In the end I gave up. I simply laid Dame Edna’s glasses over my existing pair. This of course reduced my visibility by 50% causing excruciating neck pain, as I strained many a muscle, to twist my head to silly angles to simply see where I was going.

 

Next was a scarf of tinsel. Simple in design and yet visually stunning. Well, so I thought until it was pointed out to me that the sliver shiny stuff was getting tangled up in my back wheel and could, in all likelihood, toss me off the bike whilst traversing the Tramore Road.

The reason for all the dressing up was of course, you’ve guessed it, the annual Biscuit Club Santa Cycle – Waterford to Tramore and back to Waterford, via the Christmas Carousel in John Robert’s Square.

Every variety of Christmas onesie was on display on Saturday morning. There was many a Santa, a few Reindeers, some elves and of course lots of twinkly lights, flashing hats and enough tinsel to wrap several trees.

The Santa Run, sounding like an old WWII codename for a secret bombing mission, was great fun and light-hearted. It was also amazing to see so many motorists beeping their horns, waving and acknowledging our dressing up efforts. Maybe this is the way to answer that age old car versus cycling rivalry – sharing the road and being happy in our own space!

Onto the carousel, then breakfast, a wee raffle, a prize-giving, lots of laughs, then off home to shower and onto part two of my second last Sunday, before the Big Man dressed in red arrives.

Into The Book Centre to meet our three judges, Mary O’Neill, Phil Brennan and Hazel Farrell, for the annual Waterford Business Group’s Winter Wonderbands.

You may well have seen and heard, three wonderful bands playing across the City, in performance areas that included; outside The Book Centre, George’s Street and Cathedral Square. The three bands taking part this year were the De La Salle Scout Pipe Band, City of Waterford Brass and Brass Band New Ross.

To hear such wonderful music popping up around our City Centre, at this festive time of year, added so much to our visitors’ experience of Winter in Waterford City. I heard so many people saying that the bands were “brilliant”, “stunning” and “why don’t we have this in our town?” There were people taking photographs and videos to capture the moment in time. Waterford has come up with this concept and we need to drive on with this winning formula, to bring it to the next level.

There can be no doubt that we have a City, County and region that are blessed with talented musicians. The task of separating the three bands proved extremely difficult for the judges. In the end the 2016 winners were announced as the City of Waterford Brass. We do hope that the 2017 event will expand and attract between 6 and 9 bands to the City next year.

So, my second last shopping Sunday before Christmas started off on a road bike, wearing festive themed Lycra and ending with sweet music.

Only in Waterford, could such an odd combination work so well!

A road less travelled.

Biscuit Club cycle humour!

I have now been cycling around the South East region for a little under two years and during that time I have covered many thousands of kilometres across Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Tipperary and I have even, dare I say, visited the neighbours in Kilkenny on many an occasion – without the need for a passport may I add.

Who said we are two warring counties fighting over a proposed boundary extension in and around the Ferrybank area? As all seems fine when I peddle my bike through what some would picture is “bandit territory”. If you are to believe some of the rhetoric coming from certain public representatives then you might just need a flak jacket the next time you venture across the bridge!

Anyway, last weekend I took part in another fundraising event. This time for Mount Sion CBS which was an event I participated in last year and hopefully this will now become an annual fundraiser for the school. Make no bones about it? The people you regularly see at weekends, squeezed into all manner of coloured Lyrca, give a considerable amount of their time and money to many of the charity/fundraising cycles around this wonderful South East corner of Ireland.

Already this year we, The Biscuit Club members, have helped raise money for The Cycle for Sarah, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, Solas South East Cancer Centre “Dance for Life”, Waterford Hospice, Kilmacow Wheelers Charity Cycle to name but a few and the calendar for the summer looks equally busy.

There can be no doubt and speaking as a MAMIL only (so as not to upset the fairer sex), that when you get to certain age we either buy; a Harley, a stupid convertible car that makes you look like a numpty, a set of ridiculously expensive golf bats or a carbon racer bicycle with all the bells and whistle in terms of wheels, groupsets, low rolling resistance tyres, GPS computer gizmos and the latest trend a power meter! There is even an App that allows us to record our rides, compare times and keep an eye out on just how many kilometres you are covering every week.

In addition, if you were any way competitive in a previous sporting life, and some say I still am, then your weekend cycles, sportifs and charity events can become very spirited. The fact that you can now be as nerdy as you wish with all the statistics available makes cycling even more competitive.

There is of course a commercial side to cycling and if we are to be honest then there is a whole market out there for road, mountain and leisure cyclists that the South East region is missing out on. As the closest point to the UK, by boat and ferry, there really is a vast untapped market, of potential affluent customers to the South East and yet they do not come.

The opening of the Greenway will of course help us draw this lucrative market, but it will only do so if we are prepared to tell people about what we have to offer. To date our international promotion of the City, County and the greater region have been sadly lacking and I do wonder if we are to forever remain, in terms of international tourists, the Quiet County and forgotten region! Or perhaps it suits others that we remain the Cinderella in terms of our tourism opportunities.

Ideal Greenway companion bike!

Yes, we do have sooooo much to offer and I see this every weekend whilst out on the Penny Farthing. But what I do not see are lots of foreign tourists out enjoying the same fresh air, the stunning scenery, the beautiful beaches, challenging roads and the great hospitality.

My bike has taken me many places and given me the time to clear my mind to allow my creative juices to flow and I just wonder if those promoting this great region actually take the time TO do the same.

A Challenge That Takes The Biscuit!

It is in the genes.

I referenced a few weeks ago a quote from a poem about doing your very best against all the odds and the particular lines from the poem that have most meaning were; “Rise and rise again, until the sheep have become lions”.

We saw again on Sunday from our young group of Waterford hurlers a collective will, drive and determination to well and truly uncork the bottle and we outplayed a more experienced team of hurlers. This true grit and determination is something that we all should and need to aspire to. To be part of a winning team means setting yourself your own challenging goals and this in turn will have a positive effect on those around you whether that be in your home, at work or during you

r leisure time.

Defining you role within an organisation is a challenge to all of us and we all know those individuals that appear to take this in their stride and emerge, on the surface anyway, to be cool as the proverbial cucumber and these people seem to have a great degree of confidence and very, very little self-doubt. We need to surround ourselves with these drivers and achievers in business if said business is to have longevity.

Like our young Waterford hurlers who have no doubt set themselves the tough goal of winning a Munster title, myself and seven other members of The Biscuit Club, a cycling sportif, set ourselves a very challenging goal of completing the Wicklow 200km cycle on Sunday 7^th June. Individually, we were all working away on our own fitness and I am sure we were all working out in our own minds just how we were to complete this gargantuan challenge. However we could all take comfort in the knowledge that we would collectively suffer the pain together.

I myself, having literally only picked up racing road bike in August of last year (2014), found the task in hand very daunting and I believed that for me to complete the 200km within my timeframe of under eight hours would be a huge mental challenge for myself. However, my past life and business experiences have taught me that the greater the challenge the greater my focus and this in turn drives me forward at an accelerated pace to relish whatever challenge is put in front of me. I am that dog who will not let the bone go and I know from my rugby playing days that I would always have sought out the biggest maddest player on the opposition team and smash them within the first few minutes of a game, just to lay down a marker. I suppose that in a way my Scottish genes mean that I really do savour a challenge.

Typical MAMIL.

On the Sunday 7^th June I was mentally prepared to tackle the very best of the hills and mountains that the Wicklow 200km could throw at me. Even a flat tyre before I set off would not distract my mind from the task in hand. And so eight intrepid Middle Aged Men In Lycra (MAMILs) set off at around 07:00 on Sunday morning to test our fitness, endurance, mental fortitude and no doubt there was just an edge of competitiveness to see just how we would compete against much more seasoned cyclists.

After many, many, many hours literally welded to the saddle we managed to come back, in ones and twos, to the finish line, at Bray Leisure Centre, in around 7 hours and 15 to 25 minutes. Remarkable times from everyone who took part and all the more remarkable as these MAMIL’s all have day jobs and cycling is after all a hobby and a pastime. The Wicklow 200km challenged all of us in a very personal way and to a man everyone stood up to the challenge and although utterly exhausted we managed to still smile at the end of an epic journey.

For me personally to get round the 200km in approximately seven hours and twenty minutes meant that I had over achieved on my goal of competing the 200km in less than eight hours. Having smashed my own personal goal I am already considering setting an under seven hours target for next year! Now there is a challenge!!!!!

Michael, Declan, John, Gary, Stephen & Ray.

Ambitious, absolutely YES. Is this actually achievable for me? Well I will find out in twelve months time and I am sure an increased number of Biscuits from Waterford City will join us in the challenge.

The setting of tough ambitious goals and targets works for me and works for those around me. This in part means that many of the people I surround myself with are by their very nature extremely positive people and certainly will not fear a challenge. Whilst we may all get slightly apprehensive about the challenges we set ourselves, a tough challenge tests our very character and our mental resolve. If you are sound in mind then anything is possible and you will go through life seeking out new opportunities with a degree of excitement that is palpable for all to see.

As a life lesson I see at the moment many teenagers getting overly stressed and worried about leaving certification examinations. These young adults who have done the hard work, put in the study times and covered the course work will do well. They just need to believe that they have prepared enough for the challenges of examinations.  They need to believe that they will do well and it is the responsibility of those positive people around these young adults to install the confidence that is needed to face the challenges of the examination room.

In life we all should be seeking out bigger tougher challenges that will stretch us both physically and mentally. Our mind and body both crave regular exercise and the more we work our bodies constituent parts the better we will be to meet whatever challenge our work life and leisure life throws at us.

Too big a challenge?

Being able to say that you have done your absolute best and could give no more is the most any business can ask of its employees. If that business is lucky enough to have a motivated workforce and the business knows how to challenges it staff members then such a business will have longevity. However, surround yourself with lazy, negative, pessimistic and unmotivated staff members this will ensure that a business has no future.

How we tackle challenges in life and in business define us. So remember that every uphill has a downhill just over the summit and the tougher the uphill the greater the reward coming down the other side.