Orwell made a foreigner feel at home
I guess I am still considered a beginner cyclist. I started cycling when I joined the club, back in March this year. As a foreigner who just moved to Ireland a few months before, I hoped this would be a good way to meet new people while finding a sport that would keep me fit (and allow me to eat more great food).
The gang for the Tour of Inishowen
Initially, my big goal for the season was to be able to ride a 100 km. Well, those goals were soon upped when I met my fellow winter-spin buddies who soon convinced me to train for the Wicklow 200, not the 100!
Fast forward a few months, and I’ve ticked off the Orwell Randonnée, the Mount Leinster challenge, the Wicklow 200 and the Tour da Beast (just for that gorgeous jersey)...you can see right there that I’ve done a lot more than I had originally planned and would have thought I would be capable of. I would have never been able to do that without the amazing support from my training comrades (you know who you are) and our amazing group leaders/midnight bike tinkerers Gerard and Rodney. If the season were over right there, I would have been a happy man, looking back on all the soaking wet Saturdays and the torturous Tuesdays we endured (and enjoyed) together.
Doing sportives now and then for a day is great craic, but I was looking for a way to get closer to the club. Don’t get me wrong….I’ve met great people and thoroughly enjoyed each and every spin, but somehow I still felt more like a guest to the club than a real member. I turned to Gillian, who's always well informed and often serves as my personal sportive data base, to ask her what events we could still do. Next thing you know, I signed up for the Tour of Inishowen and took Ken up on his offer to share a room with him. The three of us drove up in Gillian’s flash new ride and I had a certain feeling in my stomach - this was different than leaving the house at the scratch of dawn and returning home a few hours later. This was going to be a weekend that wouldn’t be about anything else but bikes, the club, great company and making lasting memories.
Once we arrived and had checked into our rooms, we met with the rest of the group for dinner. I knew hardly anyone from the group, but immediately felt welcomed with open arms by the people that I regarded as the elite and the core of the club. We chatted about everything from the current Tour de France to generational differences in social media use (or lack thereof).
The next day, we all started the event together at a quite fast pace. I decided I would go for the 100k instead of the 160k route since I killed myself taming The Beast the weekend before. I just wanted to enjoy myself. While I love the buzz of being in a big peloton and flying down the roads at over 30 kph average, Gillian and myself soon realized that we wouldn't be able to sustain that pace for long, even on a flat-ish spin. You just can’t help it but to believe Garret’s words when he says “ah, we’ll stick together in the group for the first 40k until the routes split”, only to realizs that not much has changed in the past few weeks and I still can’t keep up with the fellow. Oh well, it might take just a few more years.
Max and Gillian
Gillian and I turned it down a bit and dropped back, and were later joined by Ken for a while. The three of us where motoring for quite a bit, until it was down to Gillian and myself again (Ken the lunatic went for the 160k by himself!) and we took care of our Instagram duties.
Annette regrouped with us during the coffee stop, and we made it back home together at a leisurely pace while taking turns on the front and sharing the work.
That evening, all of us met again for dinner, where I had the chance to get to know people more from the club. As we finished our dinner and went on to a pub for a few drinks, I sat there for a few minutes - observing the communication and dynamic of the situation that was going on at the table. I could tell that these people weren’t just acquaintances that happened to go on bike rides together, but have become close friends through this passion that they all have in common. In that moment, I felt at home, more than I had ever felt before in the past 10 months in Ireland. As we talked about my sad and impending departure from Ireland and we discussed how we could ride once I lived in Germany, I found myself part of that very group of people that I had observed as an outsider just a few months earlier on the forums and Facebook.
Joining the club has been the one thing that has contributed the most to me finding myself feeling at home in Dublin and actually even considering staying beyond my current time-limited employment contract. As is often the case, life happens and personal circumstances are calling me to return home in September - but I will always cherish the unforgettable memories I have made with the Orwell Wheelers. It is incredible how much you can love a country with such miserable weather, especially when you find a new hobby that connects you with such a great bunch of people. I came as a beginner cyclist, and I am leaving as a friend. Thank you.
The gang afterwards
