7 Questions with Cormac Daly of Good Guys Racing
I was thinking about this question on my ride today, is their a more useful two-word phrase in the English language than “good guy (or gal)?” Think about it yourself, “don’t worry, he’s a good guy” often used while convincing someone that a blind date won’t be so bad. “I just want to find a good guy,” the lament of someone who is suffering the pains of heart break or the end result of one too many tequila sunrises on the beach in Cancun. Or maybe “yeah, he’s a good guy” (said in the most appropriate Brooklyn accent possible) to refer to a candidate for a job or maybe even a spot on a rec-league softball team. The phrase is incredibly useful.
I had the good fortune in December of 2020 to meet a real life good guy, from Good Guys Racing out of NYC, Michael Tan. We talked all about the origin of the team, the meaning of its name, and what it’s like being a bike racer in NYC— some of the most congested stretches of pavement in America, if not the world. Then we met another Good Guy, Conor Delanbanque, in March of 2021. In that interview we were exposed to a good guy with a posh accent. We learned a little bit about geography, i.e., that Barbuda is a different country from Barbados, and we also learned about the culture of bike racing in South Florida.
Now we’ve got our third Good Guy, Cormac Daly, this one comes complete with a high FTP, a history of winning races in Ireland, and also an accent. We gave Cormac 7 questions and here are his answers.
Criterium Nation: Ach, let me get into character and put on me best brogue. What's it like being a genuine, pure blooded, 100% Irishman born on March 17 no doubt, living in New York City? How many pints do people offer ta buy ya every day?
Cormac Daly: Haha well you can’t get any more Irish than being born on Paddy’s Day! For such a small country we do seem to end up all over the world. There’s obviously a big Irish community living in NYC and you’ll often hear us say “we built this city” which does have some truth to it given the huge influx of Irish immigrants to NYC over the 19th Century.
History aside, I was fortunate to have been given a fantastic opportunity to live and work here once I graduated college and haven’t looked back. It’s been 5 years already, and while most people will still notice my Irish accent it seems I have adopted some of the American lingo as I’m now called a “Yank” when I go back home to the Emerald Isle.
I can’t say I get offered a Pint every day, but it definitely helps being Irish when you walk into any of the 300+ pubs scattered all over the city. Now if you’re looking for the best pint of plain (Guinness) then you won’t find that anywhere on this side of the Atlantic but if you want an as-close-as-it-gets pint, check out Swift Hibernia next time you’re in the city.
CN: While we are on the subject of New York City, you live and train in the city, we've seen your GoPro videos streaming between yellow taxis and suburban assault vehicles, how do you manage to stay upright and do the hard training?
Cormac: I have to say when I first moved here, I stopped riding my bike for almost a year. I went from riding on some of the most beautiful and quiet countryside roads of Ireland where you wouldn’t hit a traffic light for 6 hours to having to ride through 100+ traffic lights just to get out of the city. I hated it. It wasn’t until my suit started getting a little too tight that I sought to get back onto my bike and discover the fantastic race and cycling scene that NYC has to offer. I can understand how some people think it’s insane on how we ride through the city as I was one of them, but once you learn how the traffic and lights flow it’s actually relatively easy and quick to get around.
So we train in Central Park between 5:30-8:00am during the week. We’re very fortunate to have CP on our doorstep as we can train there in the dark without the fear of being hit by traffic. Central Park laps may be boring to some but I absolutely love starting my day in the park. It’s almost eerily quiet for the first hour and as the sun rises you watch the city wake up around you and by the time you leave, it’s complete chaos.
On the weekends we seek to escape the concrete jungle for quieter roads, we tend to ride over the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey, and then North for upstate NY. We’re fortunate that these roads provide a decent playground for us cyclists and the further North you venture the better the riding gets.
CN: Speaking of staying upright, you haven't always been that lucky. We know that you spent some less-than quality time in the emergency room at Oklahoma State University Medical Center in 2021. How do you look at that risk yet continue to push onward and take the corners faster and faster?
Cormac: Haha I won’t forget that experience in Oklahoma, shout out to Rob for keeping me company in the emergency room too!
I think it depends how you look at it, I’ve been racing my bike since 2013 and that crash in Tulsa was the first bad crash that I’ve had. At the time I remember thinking I wouldn’t race another Crit again as there’s too much risk involved but two months later, I was back on the start line of Winston Salem and raced to 4th place. I think as a bike racer you must be well aware of the risks involved as we seek out the adrenaline and enjoyment that we get from this crazy sport.
I believe it’s very important that you don’t let past crashes or injuries leave any self-doubt or fear when it comes to racing your bike. There’s obviously a chance of crashing in every race but you can’t go into a race ever thinking about what could happen if you were to crash, being fully present and focused when you’re in the midst of a fast crit is so important.
CN: In 2022 you took the boys from Good Guys Racing back to the old country for some Irish racing. How did they take to the roads and how did the lads back home take to these New Yorkers?
Cormac: It was a trip of a lifetime to Ireland to race the famous Ras Tailteann stage race. We were very fortunate to have such a great support crew who took amazing care of us and allowed us to experience the full pro race set up. For some of the guys it was a brand-new experience racing in a 175-rider field and the style of racing back home tends to be much more aggressive than here in the US.
It’s full gas from the flag drop and you’re racing on narrow bumpy Irish roads. I believe at the time stage 4 was the 11th fastest race in the world for 2022 clocking just shy of 30 mph over 100 miles. It was complete carnage but we all loved it and will be back this year all going well.
One of our guys Will, known as the “Hackman,” actually got taken out by a beer keg on stage 1 that was left too far out on the street, thankfully he’s tough as nails and was back on his bike in no time. You couldn’t make it up though, our guys are obviously not used to dodging the occasional beer keg.
They boys got on great with the Irish lads and I have to say I got a kick from seeing them being made fun of for their accents for a change haha. If you haven’t been to Ireland, you should add it to your list, you’ll be treated with some of the most beautiful un spoilt landscapes and the warmest of welcomes from the Irish people.
CN: On the professional side, you work in the hospitality industry in probably one of the toughest cities to work in that industry in the world. What do you think is harder to manage, holding on to the front in the final 5 laps at the Harlem Skyscraper or keeping hotel guests happy? And why?
Cormac: Well, that’s a tough one, two very different situations to find yourself in. In terms of our guests, we obviously hope that everyone has a great experience at the hotel. Being the largest luxury hotel in the city, with just over 900 rooms, we do encounter our fair share of angry or upset customers.
I’ve learnt the best way to deal with an unhappy guest is to kill them with a smile and kindness, usually their mood changes quickly if you remain calm and polite and I always use the Irish charm to my advantage. I think in hospitality we look on an unhappy client as an opportunity to turn their stay around and hope that we can make an impression that makes them wanting to return in the future.
Last 5 laps of Harlem on the other hand, well you either have it in the tank or you don’t. I can definitely say that the physical and mental hardship we voluntarily put ourselves through in cycling has had a positive effect on my career. When I find myself in a stressful or difficult situations in work I often think of a race or training situation where I’ve pushed myself beyond my limitations. I’ve come to realize that there’s probably no challenge in my job that I can’t overcome if I use that same mental switch that I go into during that deep state of mental suffering on the bike.
CN: In 2021 you raced a lot more outside of NY state than you did in 2022, why the change?
Cormac: Well Rob I’m not sure where you did your research on this but as someone who works in revenue, I love looking at the data as it doesn’t lie and in 2021 I raced in 7 different states vs. 2022 - 9 States and 1 International.
I will say I took a few less flights to races in 22 vs 21 and this just comes down to me trying to balance my work career with my racing. As anyone who works and tries to race at the domestic elite level, they will understand both the physical and mental fatigue caused by doing a lot of travel amongst a 40-50 hour work week. It took a bit of a toll on me, and I found I was losing fitness and sleep by travelling across the country to race a 1-hour crit.
We have so much racing locally here in NYC that I can do a 2-hour early morning park race on a Saturday and Sunday and then do another 3-4 hours of training afterwards which works out to be a great session and less time consuming.
That’s not so say I or the team don’t have travel plans for 2023. I think we’ve just learnt that we have to carefully pick and choose events that suit our skillset and provide more bang for our buck both in terms of the experience and training side of it. For this year we will be using the local races again to build fitness and then look to challenge at a specific few bigger events on the US calendar.
CN: One thing we know about Good Guys Racing is that you have some next level professional photography and social media. You've secured some incredible sponsors like Cervelo and Assos, undoubtedly because you continually show up with such great work. What's it like when you guys get noticed outside of the tri-state area because of it?
Cormac: We’re very fortunate to have obtained such great sponsors and support in such a short time frame. When I joined in 2019 we were a cat 3/4 team with zero support so it’s been awesome to see it grow over the last few years.
It’s been important for us to try and be self-sufficient when it comes to getting the support we need and fortunately our social media presence has been a big contributing factor to this.
We’re also lucky to have some talented photographers on the team which has definitely helped elevate our brand and give more value to our sponsors. It’s important for us that the team’s brand “Good Guys and Gals Racing NYC” remains as the prominent feature of our kit and identity. We see too often in cycling that team’s names change based on their sponsors and it makes it difficult for people to support in my opinion.
It's always a bonus to get recognized when we go on the road, while cycling isn’t my only focus in life, I do pour a lot of time and effort into the craft and if what we’re doing encourages more people to start cycling or motivates people to ride more often then that’s good enough for me. I feel very fortunate to have found this sport and it has had such a positive impact on my life that I hope I can continue to share it with others.