So I want to stave off that and I want to please implore you to head on over to patreon.com forward slash Anthony underscore Walsh, boy me the price of a point of beer coming into Christmas and it can be a little shop haul tap on the back to say you know, enjoy the summit I'm enjoying the podcast. There you go. Okay, roadman, I'm not going to put this one off any forwarder. I'm really excited for you to hear this chat. It's image and color. Thanks for having me. I'm excited about this chat. Yeah, well, I hope I have something interesting to say. Firstly, congratulations on your Instagram account is blown up. You call me in my like explorer section. I don't even have to go looking for your posts. They just, they're like forced down my trot. Well, you know, no, I've been, yeah, I kind of started a few years to go with it when I was living at my orca. And I've just been putting in war, I suppose. Yeah, just like kind of, of it's just built really gradually. But yeah, it's really nice to have a nice little community on there now. I think it's cool as well because cycling and specifically women's cycling, there is a problem with sponsorship, pay for women, trying to get full time in the sport. And some of the crazy stats we've seen about how many of the women's professional palatine are on paid. So figuring out your own way to give a return on investment to sponsors has to be just positive positive. Yeah, like I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing if I didn't have my Instagram account, which is really amazing. And it's also quite sad because you have to think like there's so many girls out there who could be amazing cyclists, but you just can't afford it. Like in women's teams, there isn't the same opportunity for men like a girl. Say if I was a man at this level, I'd probably be earning a wage from a team. But in like even if it was just like a really basic wage, you know, I think there are a lot guys I know are earning like 800 a month which is like the kind of basic continental team wage but like there isn't really that to the same degree in women's cycling and so yeah I kind of I remember at the time like I was actually out in my work here with a order wash and I didn't have any cycling shoes and she was like I had like 4,000 followers and she was like I'll give you a shout out you know, tell me it was funny and I got like 2,000 followers from order like in one day and then I had 6,000 and she was like just you know, start like emailing companies, you know, and see if they'll support you, you know, with what you're trying to achieve and yeah, that's where it started out like I really needed to post cycling shoes and I just thought like, let's see if we can do that. I feel like I'm partially responsible for the beast that is Orla's Instagram account. She came on one of our training camps to, I remember we went to Spain somewhere, Cambrails. I remember like after a ride one day, she's like, how did you grow your Instagram account? Like what did you do? And then we went down to the beach that day and we took the first photo for Orla's Instagram account. Oh my god, really? Well, I'm instantly staring off in the distance. I actually watched after it last week on Woah. That was a long time ago. I remember I think she had like a video of her descending on that on that trip because like yes I came in cycling through the talent transfer program and I didn't have any experience with cycling well very very little and and I remember seeing a video of all that like descending I think on that training camp she had like a go for one who is steering me or steering wheel what I'm saying on her and I remember watching it and being like Oh my God, I'll never ever be able to do that. Like, so yeah, I remember at the time looking back, I remember being like, wow, or that like. So I thought that's a good segue into how did you get into the sport? Because you came to the Thailand Transfer Program. So what was your previous sport? So my previous sport was running. Well, I mean, I say it was running, but I kind of done everything up along like I started out swimming when I was eight, doing a bit of running then.
And when I was like 15 or 16, I did triathlons. And then from there, I went into running again, but then I kind of really focused on running. So that was like 17 onwards up until like 23. And I was, I was a good runner. Like I was, I did like a 38 minute 10k. I was like second in the national cross country. I was a good runner but I just was continuously in a thing of having a great training cycle and then getting injured. It was just like this vicious circle which was really frustrating. So in 2017, I was 23, nearly 24 and cycling R&N to do your talent transfer program and my mom kind of tagged me on Facebook like, oh, you should try this out. And I was like, okay, like I actually didn't know what kind of cyclists they were looking for. Like I remember going to R&N to do the testing because I was living in London at the time. I remember going to R&N to do the testing and being like, oh, well, maybe they'll make me into a road cyclist now. Like I didn't know it was for track cycling. Like I didn't know anything. I was just going in there like, let's see how fast I can turn these pedals. But anyway, over the course of 2017, I kind of did three separate rounds of testing with them and I ended up getting onto the National kind of fast track team pursuit program. So as well as the follow up to that, like what challenges did you experience getting into the sport, but maybe some of those were like paper over because you did come kind of a fast track way or if you didn't have challenges, what are the challenges you see for other girls getting into the sport? I suppose I did have a lot of challenges in that. I kind of, yeah, even though I was on a fast track program, it just meant I had those challenges, but in quick succession. Like, you know, I didn't have kind of, you know, crashing a bike, going around a corner. Like, I didn't have any experience with anything. And so I suppose, yeah, that was kind of the main stuff. I didn't know how to handle a bike, and I just didn't have the confidence for it either, like being in a group. I remember one time like being when we were out in my work I would be cycling Ireland, you know, with some of the coaches and we were cycling on like a straight road in a straight line and I was like, oh my god, I'm gonna crash, I'm gonna crash. And they were like beside me like, why would you crash, like you're just going in a straight line. I was like, you're so close, you're so close, like I was just terrified. So I think that's a big thing and that's a question I get a lot like how can I build my confidence on the road and it's just something that has come with time and I wouldn't even say now that I'm 100% confident like there are still times now when I'd be like you know if someone's too close I'm thinking oh my god oh my god but yeah I think that's always part of it like I had a Toyota Hamilton on the summit who's you know one tour of Ron stages and one of the best writers of that generation. You talk to him and he still speaks about the challenges of holness, position and classics like Liège or in the crosswinds and it's constantly like, I don't think it's ever a finished article, you know, maybe if you're a vaudevoir or something. But I think for most mortals you're constantly evolving. Yeah, true. Like I think at the time when I first began And my struggle was more, oh, how can I write a group write it that we can't, how can I say in a bunch, you know, which is, and I was just like second nature to me. But now that I've, you know, got that, now I'm like, okay, but how can I, you know, maintain my position at the end of a race, you know, so there's always like a different challenge. You know, the better you get the war, like there's something else you need to improve, something else and something else. So I suppose you're never happy. So you're kind of flicking that switch down from participant to competitor. Like I suppose what you think now makes you a good competitor? Oh, well, I mean, I wouldn't even say that I am like, I mean, when I see, yeah, I suppose when I see it's difficult to kind of understand because, So obviously I do most of my races, I do are at like a Kermes level or UCI level in Belgium.
But yeah, at the end of the 2020 season I got to do two world tour races and like, you know, that kind of bloody thing, you know, if you're good at all. Because you roll a tour of Flanders this year? Yeah, tour of Flanders and Proge de Panna. And what was that like? Yeah, well, it was just like I found out a week or two before that I was doing them. So I like wasn't prepared at all. Like, you know, I thought I was starting my off season. So I was a bit like, I just been so lazy the month before I'd still been training. But you know, you know, when you have something and you're like focused on it, then you're like getting out for training and you're super focused, but I kind of lost that. So yeah, then I had to do those two races and it was just like, yeah, it knocks you a bit. And it was definitely, I knew it was too soon for me to do it. But I just said, if I don't do it now, I regret it. So I just did it. And I think you're so humble. But I think there's a lot of girls looking at this interview or looking at you and you're what they aspire to be. It's, you know, they kind of can't see me can't be me. And you're stepping into that role model for a lot of girls in the sport now. Is that difficult to comprehend that you are now one of those role models or how are you finding that? I don't even like I don't think of it like that like for me I Just put my stuff out there and I Say what I'm doing and if it helps inspire someone that's that's brilliant like that's what I want But I never think of myself like oh, you know, I'm great I'm doing everything and I'm never like I wouldn't ever think of It's funny. I just don't see it like that. I'd be really happy if I was inspiring people, but I don't see it like that. You are inspiring people. In terms of girls, but also anyone looking to this, getting into the body, because I know you're turning into a real student at a sport and studying specific areas of it. Fuelling is a question we get recurring time and time again. What's your fueling strategy or sports to broadly start? Yeah, so like for for long rides. Yeah, for training days, I. Yeah, so like a training day, I would always have porridge in the morning, like, and I don't like porridge. So that's like a real kind of, I've got to eat this, like, I really don't like that. Yeah, I'd have porridge with like frozen raspberries, coffee, sugar, you know, just that kind of basic stuff. And then out on the bike, like you say, I'm a student, so I am still learning what does and doesn't work. And like I would be a real, I would be really eating in terms of convenience on the bike. So like I would really prefer on a long ride to take gels. But you know, my coach is always like, okay no, like you need proper food, like put that away or just stop eating that. Like he'd ask me often like, what did you have in your bike ride saying? And I'd be like, oh god, I had a gel. So I suppose it's a, you know, I try and bring stuff like if there's, I don't know in Belgium they have those like mashing tarot things, they're like rice cakes. You actually sometimes see the pros eating them in races, they're like kind of rice cakes is a bad word, they're like pastry with like rice pudding inside them. Yeah, they're really heavy, sugary fuel, and then stuff like yeah we'd often get like little singular packaged cakes or anything like that, anything with fast sugars and then I have isotonic drink as well. I know chatting to we had a nutrition from Mitchell's and Scott's on to someone as well and it's amazing how dialed they are at the very top of the sports on carb intake and even combining various sugar sources to make sure you're getting because you can only absorb tradition you think it was 60 grams carbs per hour or your stomach starts to kind of cramp and you get gas problems but then they found if you start mixing various sugar sources like fructose, maltose, dextrose together, you can actually up that to nearly 120 grams per hour. So he's speaking about that. That's fascinating because, you know, I've been in the sport for 10 plus years and you're still having these conversations and it's still mind blown.
And Sebastian Weber's talking about changing recovery protocols and stuff which, you know, you think you have your recovery down and then you hear someone like that who's worked coaching Saigon and guys like that. you're like, whoa, I don't know anything. Is dudes are tweaking it so fast. Exactly. And I think that like nutrition is a very like individual thing as well. And it's definitely my like downfall, you know, but just trying to learn. And yeah, I suppose I've always kind of struggled with that as well. even as a runner I was very restricted in what I would eat. I had very unhealthy eating habits and not even unhealthy as in like, oh I like chocolate like as in I just wouldn't eat. And so then I've come into running or into cycling and I'm kind of finally finding that balance and And yeah, it's a long road, I suppose. Are eating disorders a problem in women's professional cycling? Because I know I had Yanny Brackovich on the podcast a whole year ago. And I'm essentially linked to it. It was a crazy chasm. He was riding alongside Armstrong at Radio Shack. And he actually won the Criterion of the Dauphiné. And he was speaking about the year he won the Criterion of the Dauphiné. Like dropping Alberto Contador on the Alp De Weiz. he went back to his hotel room and made himself sick after that he had believed me all the way through his career. And I know it's a problem in male cycling, and I know it's a problem broadly in female culture. But is it specifically a problem you think in the female paltan? I don't know that I would see that actually. And I think that that's why I've improved that relationship with food so much is because I've made this switch into cycling, which isn't necessary, so focused on, you know, I think you know with a distance running or running of any kind, like people know, oh she's skinny, she must be a good runner. And I've never had that in cycling, which is so refreshing. I feel like most females that I've met through cycling have such healthy relationships with food. And yeah, it's really nice to see. So no, I would actually say in my opinion that men, male cyclists are worse than female cyclists. That's interesting. I know one area you're saying to be super doiled on is mindset and goal setting. Is this something you, is it a passion of yours or just an area you've just doiled in on because you know it has an importance? I've always been interested in it. I, with my running coach, he was really into like mindset imagery and it really helped me. So I knew that, I knew since then that it was something that really helped my performance. And then I went to university and I studied sports science and we did sports psychology. And I just found it really fascinating like, you know, and I've seen the difference it does make. when I do imagine something and I'm focused on it and I know how it's going to happen, whereas when I don't. And there's a really interesting difference in that for me. Like, you know, for me to have a huge performance game just from imagining something beforehand, obviously I'm going to do it. So first... Every time I want to race, then if I can. So yeah, I find it... For somebody who hasn't kind of used these mental mindset, I don't recall them tricks, rituals or practices before, is there any tips you could give them on like how to cultivate that winning mindset? For me, there's just imagining, like imagining something happening before it happens. And it's really interesting, like if you look into athletes using that, how many do, you you know, envision things so clearly before they actually happen. Down to like, you know, I used to write down everything I do on the morning of a race. And I still do that now, like not to the same extent, but like I used to be like, I will get up. I will put my shoe on my right foot. I will put my shoe on my left foot. Like that, and that like structured the day and knowing XYZ is going to happen take so many nerves away from the actual day. So that's something I find really helpful. As well as that, it kind of just imagining something happening before it happens. So if you are focused on bad things, like what will happen if you crash? What will happen if you puncture? No, no. Don't focus on bad things. So this is interesting. So I had a sports psychologist on, I know I'd be the same as you.
I never focus on anything bad because I have this idea, like on the descent. If I look at the rock, I'm going to crash into the rock. But he talked about the importance of actually focusing on bad outcomes as well. So he said, if you puncture, you need to rehearse. The race isn't over if you puncture. It's what happens. So this, yeah. Definitely for something like a puncture, I could have that in my head. But I would never imagine crashing or hurting myself. Because I feel like if you start to imagine that, then it, like you say, it will happen. You're like manifested. I never try and think of crushing. like I just, if that comes into my head, game over, you know. Do you have a ritual daily that you practice at like a mental skills ritual? Not so much no, but I think that I practice positive self talk a lot. Like I don't have a ritual so much, but I would be quite hesitant to beat myself up about something. You know, I'm learning, we're all learning, like, and I don't beat myself up if I have a bad race. I don't come home from one session and say, oh, God, like, oh, I'm a crap cyclist, you know, I am learning. That's what I think like, and everybody's learning, like, and I know I came to this sport really late. So I don't care, like if I'm learning later than somebody else. So well, like that's how I see it. I've seen you posting on your Instagram account with this motto, win the day. What's that about, Dr. Osvada? Yeah, so that's my favorite quote. It was from a university football team in the US and they had a coach who basically he said he came in and everybody's attitude was like, right, we're gonna be like state champ, we're gonna be national champ, whatever. And he said like, if you don't, if you want to become state champ, national champ, you've got to show up to training on any given Tuesday and give your best. You know, like, you can't expect all these great things if you don't put in small work along the way. And yeah, like as soon as I read it, I was like, wow, like that's so good. Because it's so true. Ooh, like, it is all the little things you do that do help you achieve those big goals. So yeah, I know. There's a cool book, Robin Sharma, it's called Wind the Morning, Wind the Day. And it's not particularly well written, but the message in it is so cool and it's about like getting up at 5am and having this series of rituals that set you up for success in the rest of the day. And since I read it, I've been totally like hooked on morning rituals like military precision the first hour of my day every day. God, I really need to, I'm going to read that book now because I need to get my mornings like sorted because yeah, I feel like I get up and I'm like, okay, I'm going have like eat my breakfast like I'm just really chilling in the morning whereas like I read these things you know do whatever 5am club and everyone's like oh getting up attacking the day like three hours later so I need to get to work on that. Yeah I think the big thing is actually on a podcast on I'll send you on a link because you have different like components you want to add into it like you want to have some sort of reflective or gratitude piece because that sets you up to not be angry or spoiled for because it's an impossibility to be like angry and grateful at the same time. So if you're even grateful for like the coffee you have in the morning things like that, but I think an important precursor to that is like a change of state because you can get up out of bed and you could be kind of dehydrated or you had a shit sleep. So you need some sort of change of state to put you in a good place before you go into your gratitude practice. So for me, I get into like an ice-cold shower and I just do like three minutes down in the ice-cold shower. It's so horrible. I don't know if he's going to have a five o'clock in the morning. It could be like seven a.m. or whatever. But it's so horrible. It's the last thing I want to do. But it has a double purpose because first it's like eat the frog. It's the last thing I want to do. But I do it straight away.
So it creates this momentum in the rest of the day. But also you go into a grumpy and three minutes later, you're the happiest man in the world. You come out and you're sitting in the gym. I don't know what he called showering. He made me so happy. I hate this even more. I'm going back to bed. I gotta say it's on the podcast. You're going to get in. So I know a lot of people listening to this. You're in Belgium and you're living a lot of people's dream. You know, they're probably taking, whoa, this pro life is all plan. Is this or take us a little bit behind the scenes of what it's actually like, what's the day today look like for you? Well, I mean, I acknowledge that at this moment in time, I am living my best life. Like, I know that I'm living the dream for a lot of people. But no, it's not, it's 100% not all like perfect. You know, there's, well, yeah, like, you don't make a lot of money. You know, there's people my age who are like building houses and like, whatever. I know my life is really like kind of, okay, I'm going to go there. And now I'm going to go there. I finish university, I move to London and then I move to my orca and now I've moved to Belgium. I've kind of just, you know, I go where life takes me and I would cycling. It's just, you don't have that opportunity to save a lot of money like people usually do in their twenties before they like buy a house or whatever, but it doesn't bother me. Like I've kind of chosen this path and I'll see where it takes me. But yeah, anyway, I just want to acknowledge, I know that I'm living the dream, but there is a dream though, because I remember a short story, I remember I was on a bus from Toronto to Chicago, I had a pro contract at the time, I was actually earning an okay money for the county level, I was earning about 20 grand for the year, so it was decent enough cash to pay for stuff, and I was on a bus from Toronto to Chicago for a criteria, I was like like an eight or nine hour bus ride. And I'm a bike downstairs in the luggage area. And I remember getting a text off a friend from back home. And the text just said, live in the dream buddy. And I looked at it and I was just so miserable. I was like, I miss my friends, I miss home. I've missed my sister's birthday, I've missed my dad's birthday, I've missed weddings of friends. I'm like miserable. And I was looking at it, I live in the dream. I was like, fuck, this is like, There's two dreams here because there's like, my dream to just like, almost have an excuse to get out with this world that I didn't want to be in anymore, but not let down people who felt that this was a dream. I know it can be really different on the outside and inside of times. So you're still enjoying it, you're still happy moving forward? Yeah, I am, but like what you say there about missing things at home, like that's a huge part for me. I'm very homesick in Belgium. And I have obviously, I've got my boyfriend here and we have a dog and, but I'm homesick. Like, yeah, I want to be back in Ireland. Really, I'd love to be back in Ireland. That's the on the short for it. If I, you know, if I see my sisters and my mum and dad, you know, going out for a walk on the beach and kind of clear, I'm just like, God, I could cry. Like it's, like you say, it's, people say you're living the dream. Yeah, there are really tough parts to it as well. Yeah, I still love cycling. To finish your image and talk to me a little bit about female cycling and where you see it as I suppose that kind of... I don't know, I don't want to use the word growing gap because that presupposes your answer. But is it a growing gap between male and female cycling? Like what do you... That they're getting further apart? Yeah, I'd have gotten closer to the girls getting party with the guys, because I know this year with like COVID, it just seemed to be a total prioritization of the male calendar at the expense of female calendar at times. Yeah, I would say that things are improving for women and that there is more kind of coverage coming through and more interest being shown and more people speaking out as well, which I think is brilliant.