Tag: ireland

Westportif 2014

Sorcha, Alastair and Paul at the finish of Westportif 2014
Sorcha, Alastair and Paul at the finish of Westportif 2014

I did the Westportif cycle on Saturday. Looking at the crowds at the start in Westport, my guess is there were around 1000 people taking part, approximately 400 each for the 160km and 80km, with 200 or so doing the 40km.

I did the 80. I would liked to have done something slightly longer – maybe 120 or so – but as someone who doesn’t get out on the bike half enough 160km is outside my range – at least within any time limit that they’d find reasonable (I’d be bringing lights!) 🙂

Happening to be near the front at the start, I took off with a mixed group of club riders from Westport out to Louisburgh. I had no real intention beforehand of riding with a group or pushing my pace but it just fell that way and I was happy to get towed along around 28-32km/h for a while. I did have a minor “mechanical” – my Brooks saddle ~2mm too high on my borrowed BH Prisma. Should have taken it out for a longer spin before borrowing it – c’est la vie.

Stopped in Louisburgh and sorted out the saddle at the small feed station – which seemed to be located just a bit early for most riders who just passed it. I got back on another group that was going by Continue reading “Westportif 2014”

Ireland Get 6 Nations Back On Track

England 16-20 Ireland

Earls scoring against England
Earls scores against England - photo from BBC site (linked)

After a disasterous visit to Paris and a very disappointing performance against the French, Ireland have got their 2010 Six Nations campaign back on track with a hard-fought victory in Twickenham.

It was by no means a classic performance, made more of grit and determination rather than a champagne performance. A huge amount of tackles put in by the Irish line, with the vast majority of possession to England.
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Is Thierry Henry a Cheat?

Henry controls the ball with his hand, enabling France to scoreThe evidence clearly suggests that Thierry Henry is a cheat, and a thief.

Video replays show that he controlled the ball with his hand at least twice, and possibly 3 times, in a split second incident 13 minutes into extra-time of the France-Ireland World Cup Qualifying Playoff.

Because of the resulting goal, France won, Ireland lost and won’t take part in World Cup South Africa 2010.

The referee missed the blatent (on replay!) handball at the time. Irish players, management and officials were incensed that such an obvious foul could be missed. Within 2 hours of the incident, 2000+ people had joined the Thierry Henry should apologise to Ireland Facebook group.

But is Henry a cheat and a thief? Well, honestly, I think that’s not relevant.

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Turn about is fair play

Leinster beat Munster 25-6 in the 2009 Heineken Cup Semi Final, a reversal of the 2006 result

Leinster beat Munster 25-6 in the 2009 Heineken Cup Semi Final, a reversal of the 2006 result

What a win! What a glorious, glorious win! Here’s some pictures from the wonderful occasion, and it certainly was a massive win for rugby and Ireland, as well as Leinster. After my previous post being a humorous response to the drubbing Munster gave Leinster, it’s a massive turn around.
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