Gavin Noble

I am a fulltime Irishman and professional triathlete competing on the ITU Circuit. I was born in Ireland in 1981, I am 1 of 5 Noble children and at 6ft 1 inches tall if my legs were any shorter they would not touch the ground.

I grew up with dirty hands and with food split down my shirt. At one stage my dream was to be 'Murdoch' from the televison series The A-team. My dreams changed in my teenage years when 'Baywatch' began broadcasting on Irish televison and have since changed to competing with and beating the best triathletes on the planet.

I swam competitively when I was younger, played soccer, rugby and any other sport that got me out of school lessons. I found and fell in love with triathlon in high school and have competed professionally since I left University with a degree in Sports Marketing.

Currently I race draft legal ITU races on a S-works Tarmac SL2 but one day I will rock up to transition on a Specialized Fatboy Chopper.

Sometimes I wonder......

February 18, 2010

Sometimes I wonder to myself should I be more detailed or CAN I be more detailed in what I do ?

When I chat to other athletes I sometimes think “sh1t maybe I should look for that extra 1% too”.

One such area with regard to this thought process has been my bike set up. Some athletes I know are very sensitive to subtle changes in position whereas I have always just sat on my bike and if it felt right I went with it. My seat height for example has been set by placing my heels on the pedals and cycling backwards - the height adjusted to that position when my hips just begin to rock.

“This feels good, it feels correct”

or sometimes

“How can something that feels so good be wrong !? “

( I quite often think that to myself, but maybe that’s a blog for another time, or maybe it’s something I shouldn’t go into ? . . . . yeah . . I should probably keep something’s to myself )

I was reading Conrad Stoltz and how he has finally ’come out of the closet with regard to sports science’ . . . and stemming from that it has become fashionable in Stellenbosch (and in www.Triathlonteam.org) to get a bike fit carried out at the South African Institute of Sport in Cape Town - Dan Hugo had also visited the Bike Tinker as had Mari Rabie . . . so I thought why not.

What if I could buy an extra few watts too ?

I had a physio screen (thanks Mum and Dad for making me symmetrical), the numbers were pumped into a magic formula and my Specialized SL2 was then measured . . . . the result ? I was actually more sensitive that I thought. In fact my own senses had been given a thumbs up.

Initially I was a little disappointed that there were no free watts on offer (good job Specialized !) but then I actually felt good that maybe, just maybe, I knew what I was doing in the first place - I guess I would have been annoyed had I been training all this time in the wrong positon.

I took the time out to find some extra % but it is February and so my main concern is the other 98% . . . on that note I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep

and miles to go before I sleep.

Stats for Gavin Noble are coming soon.