It's only four years since Mullingar native Damien Shaw took up the sport of cycling and the reason was due to weight issues.
Prior to that, he had little interest in the sport, although he had enjoyed athletics in his early years.
"I found myself at 25 or 26 carrying a few extra KG. But the thing is you continue to eat like you're training as an athlete," said Shaw, who joined us on Off The Ball today as the route for the 2015 An Post Ras was released.
The race will begin on May 17th in Dunboyne, travelling around Ireland with stage finishes in Carlow, Tipperary, Bearna, Newport, Ballina, Ballinamore and Drogheda, before the customary finale in Skerries eight days later.
Meanwhile, Shaw's scenic route to the world of cycling followed a path working in landscaping, then as a firefighter.
But he is a natural on a bike and that then transformed from a means of losing weight to entering competitions.
"It just went from a way to lose a bit of weight to full competition. I was two years on the bike and nearly to the day and I was in the Velodrome in London two years later," said Shaw, who who won a bronze medal at the Paralympics as a sighted pilot for James Brown.
"I got my place on a few teams and I got some testing done. In that physiological test, they established that I have a big VO2 max and that I'd be perfect for cycling."
An Post Rás route 2015 (UCI 2.2, May 17th – May 24th):
Stage 1, Sunday May 17th: Dunboyne to Carlow (154.4 kilometres)
Stage 2, Monday May 18th: Carlow to Tipperary (137.2 kilometres)
Stage 3, Tuesday May 19th: Tipperary to Bearna (155.9 kilometres)
Stage 4, Wednesday May 20th: Bearna to Newport (155 kilometres)
Stage 5, Thursday May 21st: Newport to Ballina (142.4 kilometres)
Stage 6, Friday May 22nd: Ballina to Ballinamore (160.1 kilometres)
Stage 7, Saturday May 23rd: Ballinamore to Drogheda (142.4 kilometres)
Stage 8, Sunday May 24th: Drogheda to Skerries (132.6 kilometres)
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