The Last of The Cycling Postmen, Goleen, Co. Cork, Ireland 1975

for over 40 years mike sheehan has peddled and walked with the post anything up to 30 miles a day around this area of goleen in west cork in all that time he's hardly ever been outside the district but his friends calculate he has worn out a total of 22 bikes 96 pairs of tires 240 pairs of brake pads and that at a conservative minimum he has cycled the equivalent of 10 times around the equator just doing his job all that by simply following the same unchanging route day after day [Music] do how many miles i know about 27 days but yeah every day for six days a week yeah for the past 42 years yeah i saw two postmen this morning one in a car another on a motorbike is that the future now or that lads like you finished why suppose we are finished getting unfinished anyway you don't think that many more fellas will be riding by success i'd say that is it very difficult is it very tough work well it is should you notice when you can drive up without any further another big difference well why don't you start driving a car or a motorbike or standby do you know how to drive a car or a motorbike no there are three postmen in goleen mike sheehan with his bike and his friends who prefer a car or a motorbike even before mike starts his deliveries in the village he'll already have fed and milked his five cows and then cycled the three miles from his 15-acre farm to the post office five minutes or so completes the village round and then mike heads for the surrounding hills if he's lucky mike can cut a few miles from the route should he find some of the farmers on his delivery list at the cream room today he can only find one man his colleague however who arrives after him makes a number of deliveries and then is off in his car mike peddles steadily behind pointless all right you know what we did as a big difference it is a beautiful day today what's it like when the weather closes in here oh it is bad what's the worst part of it the wind the wind and the rain built in league in a common bike you're not just here were you ever not able to deliver the mail no i do it all the time how many years rain or snow right now it's beautiful but mountainy country mike pays for every downhill run with a stiff climb over the next hill you may have to go halfway up the side of a mountain to deliver one letter or down a side boring to reach another isolated farmhouse over the years he's only been sick once and had only one minor accident are you going to give it up next year i believe you you'll be eligible for retirement i would but i i jumping on my weight anyway i have no time to get up so hell anyway yes you feel you're still fit to do that over 27 miles a day and you're 65 or almost 65. you'll keep it up i would saw that i went to live it all stopped i can't go

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Length: 3min 59sec (239 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 28 2021