#155 - Joe Barr

Description

Today we spoke with Joe Barr - Irish World endurance cyclist and Multiple World Record Holder

Joe Barr has been racing bikes his whole life, for over 5 decades in fact - from two years of age on a push bike, to today; in 2022 from a racing perspective it will be 50 years...and he hasn't missed a season in 50 years! He has won over 500 races and amassed hundreds of medals and trophies in an impressive array of cycling disciplines. He is a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist and has represented his country at numerous World Championship events throughout the years. He has experience in road racing, time trials, cyclo-cross, and ultra endurance.

Joe currently holds endurance cycling records in Ireland such as Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way, from north to south (2304 KM) set in 2021, Malin to Mizen Head and back (1242 KM) set in 2020, West Coast - East Coast - West Coast Ireland (776 KM), a World Record set in 2020 and the Race Around Ireland (2200 KM), an Irish record set 2018.

Today we speak about when Joe knew he was good at this, and his upbringing from where he grew up in Ireland - Tyrone, Donegal; we hear about history and culture around Northern Ireland and Ireland.

We dive into what endurance racing is all about, passion and performance, escapism on the bike, finding the way in the world with the bike as a tool, teamwork - it's so much more than one person, and mindset. Joe speaks with us about his book - "Going the Distance - the making of a world class endurance cyclist", Team Joe Barr, the Race Around Ireland and the epic Race across America, now a category winner on vimeo called "Reborn in the USA". There are immersive stories  around grit, mental toughness, a bigger why, sketching and colouring in images of riders in the Tour de France - what a ride!

In this episode we discuss 🗣
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Key Timestamps

- 1. 47 - Growing up in Donegal in a 'border county'

- 2. 58 - Understanding + interpreting different perspectives

- 3. 36 - Cycle endeavors + personal struggles

- 4. 2h - Cycling to escape difficult circumstances

- 6. 00 - 50 years of cycling - hasn't missed a season

- 6. 59 - Support from rival cyclists

- 8. 03 - Talent to a degree - hard work is a necessity

- 10. 15 - Creating luck and the perfect storm

- 12. 52 - Purpose behind team Joe Barr

- 14. 53 - Fundraising for son's battle with cancer + care services

- 15. 42 - Race around Ireland

- 16. 30 - Race across America

- 17. 58 - Altitude sickness @ Wolf's Creek

- 18. 51 - Trust that life has prepared you for what's ahead

- 20. 52 - Journey in hospital with son prepared Joe for endurance

- 23. 00 - RTA and fixing a broken foot

- 25. 21 - Importance of the race team

- 26. 20 - A place of vulnerability and inner truth

- 26. 40 - Dialogue and avoiding miscommunication

- 28. 44 - A lightbulb moment

- 30. 10 - Losing touch with inner self in the modern world

- 31. 20 - Stripping away layer + forced daily

- 33. 15 - Writing a book and Gillian being an inspiration

- 33. 45 - Origins of Joe's book 3515 - Sketching for downtime

- 37. 48 - What does high performance mean to you?

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