Paris 2 Nice

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It was back in December 2013 when the email came through asking if anyone was interested in cycling 700km from Paris to Nice. My initial reaction was “Yes please, count me in!” A quick review of my cycling history should have dictated a more measured response. I remember falling off the bike as a kid and picking gravel out of my hands and knees. Twenty years later, I was at it again, arriving at my parents’ house bloodied and bruised for dinner one Sunday evening, following another spectacular bike crash…

So why did I say yes? There are plenty of reasons. The challenge of cycling at least 120km a day for six straight days. The cycling team from Hays Ireland has “great craic” stamped all over it. And lastly, and most importantly, how many times will I have the opportunity to be part of something that will raise at least €15,000 for Barretstown?

The Barretstown link is key. In the past, I have worked with children of all ages. The majority of them fit and healthy kids with plenty of energy and enthusiasm but also the same worries and insecurities all kids have, including making friends, being cool and generally fitting in. How much more difficult must it be to show confidence, energy and enthusiasm when cancer has dealt you the cruellest of blows? The world can be a very unfair place and Barretstown make it their mission to rebuild the lives of children affected by serious illness. Compared to what the children helped by Barretstown have to go through, a 700km cycle will be easy.

The moment I took possession of my new bike things changed. There was no backing out now, I was about to become someone capable of cycling over 100km in one day. Not just myself but five colleagues from Hays were going to take on this mammoth challenge. Mike has previously cycled from Malin to Misenhead, while the rest of us looked more likely to fall on our heads! We may have no real experience of cycling, but myself, Anne-Marie, Kelly and Arlene have all picked up sports before, from Gaelic football to tag rugby and soccer to softball but this was going to be something special.

The baby steps took place in the Phoenix Park, one Saturday morning in February, as Mike patiently showed us how to clip our feet into our new pedals, how to use our gears and most importantly how to stay perched on the bike. With this mastered we soon graduated to training spins across Wicklow and beyond, before we knew it we were covering upwards of 50km on a Sunday morning. While the majority of Dublin was nursing a hangover, we were out in the fresh Sunday morning air and it felt good.

These training cycles took place alongside the extended Paris to Nice group and here we were exposed to stories about how great previous trips were, the best ways to prepare and how addictive cycling can be.

It is a great feeling to be out on the bike seeing the world from a different perspective. The great outdoors is an altogether harsher place when you are on your bike. The wind blows harder, the rain falls heavier, hills rise higher but the sun shines stronger. It is impossible not to notice the rugged beauty that surrounds us on Dublin’s doorstep.

We have only just begun but myself, Mike, Anne-Marie, Kelly and Arlene are giving everything we have to make sure we are in a position to take on this mammoth challenge. Each year it costs €4.5 million to run Barretstown’s programmes, the €15,000 we hope to raise will make a small dent in that massive amount, but every little contribution helps. 

Coming soon in blog… we took on everything the Tour de Connemara had to throw at us, and we won!

To find out more about our Hays cyclists and to sponsor us, click here.

Philip Bourke
Marketing Executive

HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide
16 Upper Fitzwilliam St
Dublin 2
T: +353 1 619 0580