AS WINTER CREPT off on its not-so-merry way, Greg Callaghan was prepared to throw himself fully into the flow of a new season.
That wonderful feeling of a fresh start was all around. With a new team bringing him onto a new bike, the new decade was to be a chance to recapture some of his very best form.
Of course, as the meme goes, plans and 2020 are utterly irreconcilable. However, Callaghan’s craft demands him to literally adapt to terrain and rapidly whip himself to changes of direction.
The Dublin mountain biker has pushed himself as high as third in the world rankings on the Enduro World Series, making a name for himself with impressive tour victories in Australia, New Zealand and – in consecutive years – much closer to home on Carrick Mountain.
Before the winter off-season Callaghan was signed to a new team in Unior Devinci Factory Racing. His former colleagues in Cube bade him farewell after a 28th-place World Series finish with an incredibly warm press release – a form that usually makes an art form of professional, steely and curt language – hailing him as one of the world’s best enduro riders and thanking him ‘for amazing years traveling & racing around the world’.
Every good journey requires a stint at home too. The pandemic put a hold on Callaghan’s globe-trotting itinerary, but at least left him well-placed to keep working on his own time as he has been able to spend recent months in the Dublin mountains. His Rathfarnham root homestead and Three Rock’s trails within reach.
We could all curse the Coronavirus, lamenting disappearing paths that had seemed unshakable before us, but Callaghan has used the time to strip away structure and simply enjoy his sport.
“For the most part, pretty ideal place to be stuck, to be honest,” Callaghan, a Red Bull ambassador, tells The42 over a Zoom meeting this week.
“The positive side is it’s given me more time to gel with the bike and get used to the change in equipment.
“Back in March I was already chomping at the bit to get the season going. When you’re feeling good you want to race more than ever, because you want to show how good you feel. The more time that goes by, the more I want to be unleashed in a race.”
Recent weeks have seen the 28-year-old return to a structured training regime for a physically demanding sport, but lockdown had more than enough time for everything. Time to sit through The Last Dance, give the body a quality rest and also get on the bike for no reason other than to enjoy being on the bike.
“I got back to training, but it was more just for fun and doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.
“Training because I want to train not because the plan says so. Maybe setting myself challenges on the rowing machine or doing cross-fit things. Stuff that doesn’t necessarily fall into the plan of a bike rider, but it makes me stronger and it’s enjoyable.
“I started doing quite a lot of virtual racing. That kept my competitive side satisfied as well.”
The Dubliner was was reared around two-wheeled sport. He lists off a catalogue of relatives who raced either on motorbikes or self-propelled, counts Joey Dunlop as his sporting hero and his cousin Killian also placed in last year’s Enduro top 50. He followed his father onto a motorbike as a kid, but switched to downhill racing at 15 and took up Enduro at 19.
The competitive edge he mentions, along with a touch of searing honesty, recently brought Callaghan to describe his more recent form as ‘two pretty poor years, to call a spade a spade’. 2020 was to be a reset in itself for him. But on top of a new bike, new colours and altered setup, he has taken himself back to basics.
“It’s been a great chance to pause, reflect and come at things with a fresh perspective.
“That time training gave me what I wanted and gave me a chance to remind myself why I got into it, what makes me enjoy training, what I respond to. There’ll definitely be some changes to my approach after this.
“The last couple of years were tough, it’d be easy to look at a results sheet and think, ‘maybe I’m just off the pace’. But I know I have the speed, I have all the pieces of the puzzle to be winning races.
“It’s just a matter of putting those pieces together on race day.
“I feel I’m in as good a position as ever to put those pieces together. Just looking forward to getting the chance to do it.”
The ability to enjoy his time on the bike may well prove crucial as this is a year with precious little clarity on what pieces are needed on race day. The pandemic brought a screeching halt to the season as it was set to get under way in March. Enduro will go again with a start in August in Switzerland. Cancellations, chops and changes mean some events have fallen away and some will take on a very different guise. The Chilean Andes, for instance, will be a very different prospect in spring than the southern hemisphere autumn.
This weekend’s rain might bring a little familiar mud to splash around in after a hot summer gave Callaghan a dry track to play with, to test and enjoy himself.
“I’m normally not home as much this time of year. I normally do most of my riding at home in winter, in the the mud, so it’s been nice to see the trails when they’re dry.
“I didn’t know they were ever dry.”
Excellent analysis of all the pieces of the jigsaw of moves leading to great tries
Great analysis as always. What an atmosphere yesterday. Delighted for Sexton and Healy!!! What a Six Nations send off
@Kenneth O Connor: Healy not getting a run was disappointing and strange
@Noel Lynn: He did… only about 4 minutes but he did play.
Yesterday(and last week) should put to bed any doubt about Conan’s value. Every bit as effective as Doris imo.
@Gary Donlan: doris level ahead
@Gary Donlan: I’m a big, big fan of Conan – he’s an outstanding player – but I’d have to acknowledge that Doris is at the very top of the global tree. And he has so much more to grow, being so young. Arguably a future World Player of the Year nominee, if not winner.
I see lots of people saying how England really used line speed yesterday to get in Irelands face, that’s not what happened at all. England played a soft drift defence, not putting too much pressure on the first carrier / passer, and not committing too many men to the breakdown, opting to be more disruptive and messy rather than look for turnovers. It was an interesting tactic and one that threw a lot of the Irish players off, particularly Furlong who takes the first pivot option quite often. Ireland will need to learn how to adapt to it by World Cup, I can’t imagine South Africa or France would try it, they would trust their line speed, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Scotland or even New Zealand thought about using it.
Great analysis there. It shows really how intelligent this group are. Dorris, JVF,, Aki, Sexton, Hansen running subplots and dummies lines and how they build a try 3 phases out. To have so many on the same page is extraordinary and as Farrell said, they will get a lot better over the next few months with more time collectively in camp.
Roll on the WC
It was squeaky bum time for much of the game. England gave it everything. Ireland found a way to win. Work done with decoy runners is magnificent. Enjoy, upwards and onwards to France
That was some offload by Conan for sheehans try.
Sheehan is a pure speed merchant
@Gary Galligan: He’s a 4×4 at full speed.
On the strike plays which Ireland use we have seen a few of these in this 6 nations I believe they have only used a small number of these in this 6 nations and there are many more which they had no need to use and they are been reserved for the later stages of the world Cup.
I would imagine when Farrell and his team review this game they will be a little concerned. Obviously the short term gain here, winning a grand slam, is brilliant. But there was a lot of pressure going into the game and we did not handle it well. Ultimately a red card may have won it for Ireland and whether you agree or disagree with the card the nature of it shows it can how easily happen under current rules. (There was at least 1 red card possibility for us that was missed by the ref and TMO). This team will ultimately be judged on how it performs in the World Cup. When they meet Scotland on the 7th of October it will more than likely be a knock out game. The pressure on them will easily be as intense as yesterday, probably more so. They will need to be a lot better. If we don’t make it out of the group, this Grand Slam will lose a lot of it’s shine. Of course hopefully by the time we meet Scotland SA will have 2 losses so it won’t matter :)
@Pud: OTOH, the experience of yesterday, a real pressure cooker, will stand to them. Plus, those guys played a lot of intense rugby over a short period of time. Some were definitely not at their best, following injuries (Furlong, for example, looked rusty; Henshaw wasn’t fully up to speed; Ringrose in and out). Farrell took some risks, playing guys like Porter, VDF, Keenan, Hansen and others to their limits (Keenan looked tired yesterday, as did others). The player management plan for the RWC needs to cater for the interactive effects of physical endurance and how it affects mental/emotional resilience. I’m pretty confident they’re on top of that. And again, all the players will be better for the experience of this 6N.
@Pud: South Africa then Scotland…followed by France or New Zealand…three massive banana skins….I don’t think if we are stopped before semi final, yesterday’s outstanding achievement will be diminished….cruel world cup draw.
Herring sealed victory over the All Blacks with a similar try in the third test .. hooker is definitely a position we don’t need to worry about… bench again made the difference yesterday
Murray Kinsella, single handedly helping other teams work out Ireland!!