Philip Nolan
@philipnolanmu.bsky.social
Research Professor @MaynoothUni | Scientist (physiologist), teacher, higher education leader, cyclist | philip.nolan@mu.ie | Personal account
David Byrne’s ‘One Fine Day’ is keeping me (relatively) sane right now.
October 23, 2025 at 5:31 PM
David Byrne’s ‘One Fine Day’ is keeping me (relatively) sane right now.
Simultaneously a good thing and not a good thing to be reading when planning a programme of fundamental research.
August 29, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Simultaneously a good thing and not a good thing to be reading when planning a programme of fundamental research.
Leigh Bowery! at the Tate Modern. Artist, fashion designer, performer, provocateur. The full retrospective really makes you stop, think, reflect. Triptych of Bowery in “looks”; portrait by Lucien Freud; still from Charles Atlas’s “Hail the New Puritan” featuring Bowery, with music by The Fall.
August 9, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Leigh Bowery! at the Tate Modern. Artist, fashion designer, performer, provocateur. The full retrospective really makes you stop, think, reflect. Triptych of Bowery in “looks”; portrait by Lucien Freud; still from Charles Atlas’s “Hail the New Puritan” featuring Bowery, with music by The Fall.
Two-bar electric heater…the grille on the front gives it away. Short seminar to follow on these twentieth-century icons, the horrific accidents they caused, and the fact that our electrical outlets are rated at 13 amps because of them!
July 20, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Two-bar electric heater…the grille on the front gives it away. Short seminar to follow on these twentieth-century icons, the horrific accidents they caused, and the fact that our electrical outlets are rated at 13 amps because of them!
Bucket list (and proud to be Irish) day at the start of Stage 14 in Pau. @cyclingireland.bsky.social @efprocycling.com
July 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Bucket list (and proud to be Irish) day at the start of Stage 14 in Pau. @cyclingireland.bsky.social @efprocycling.com
Absolutely buzzing seeing Ben Healy in yellow, and enjoying it so much. @cyclingireland.bsky.social @ciarancannon.bsky.social @efprocycling.com
July 17, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Absolutely buzzing seeing Ben Healy in yellow, and enjoying it so much. @cyclingireland.bsky.social @ciarancannon.bsky.social @efprocycling.com
And I’m finished. It’s time to let Daniel out of the lions’ den.
July 7, 2025 at 4:50 PM
And I’m finished. It’s time to let Daniel out of the lions’ den.
Only 20km to go now, and the Pyrenees grow more vivid, until, through a break in the trees, I see Oloron-Sainte-Marie.
July 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Only 20km to go now, and the Pyrenees grow more vivid, until, through a break in the trees, I see Oloron-Sainte-Marie.
And moments later, the walls of Navarrenx
July 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
And moments later, the walls of Navarrenx
The ancient road from Orthez to Navarrenx, trees planted generations ago to give shade to the traveller.
July 7, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The ancient road from Orthez to Navarrenx, trees planted generations ago to give shade to the traveller.
This is the land of the Wars of Religion, and of Montaigne and Montesquieu. The placenames are a reminder of those wars: I pass through Labastide-Villefranche to Sauveterre-de-Bearn. Bastide: small fortified town. Sauveterre: safe ground. The view from Sauveterre-de-Bearn toward my destination.
July 7, 2025 at 4:42 PM
This is the land of the Wars of Religion, and of Montaigne and Montesquieu. The placenames are a reminder of those wars: I pass through Labastide-Villefranche to Sauveterre-de-Bearn. Bastide: small fortified town. Sauveterre: safe ground. The view from Sauveterre-de-Bearn toward my destination.
Backtracked along the south bank of the Adour to the confluence with the Bidouze, and followed the latter through Bidache, where the Chateau de Gramont commands a turn in the river, to Came, where I left the riverbank.
July 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Backtracked along the south bank of the Adour to the confluence with the Bidouze, and followed the latter through Bidache, where the Chateau de Gramont commands a turn in the river, to Came, where I left the riverbank.
Given that his writing had kept me company all the way, and on other journeys, it would have been rude not to climb the hill to the cemetery at Urt and pay tribute.
July 7, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Given that his writing had kept me company all the way, and on other journeys, it would have been rude not to climb the hill to the cemetery at Urt and pay tribute.
France 2025 Day 10 last day: 140km from Dax to Oloron-Sainte-Maire. A day of riverside riding, from Dax along the north bank of the Adour to the bridge at Urt, the Pyrenees coming into view.
July 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
France 2025 Day 10 last day: 140km from Dax to Oloron-Sainte-Maire. A day of riverside riding, from Dax along the north bank of the Adour to the bridge at Urt, the Pyrenees coming into view.
…rolling towards Dax in the early evening.
July 6, 2025 at 8:54 AM
…rolling towards Dax in the early evening.
…followed by many hot hours through Les Landes…
July 6, 2025 at 8:52 AM
…followed by many hot hours through Les Landes…
…on past Les Grands Lacs…
July 6, 2025 at 8:51 AM
…on past Les Grands Lacs…
…with views over the ocean, and inland over a stark sandy landscape to La Forêt de Gascogne…
July 6, 2025 at 8:50 AM
…with views over the ocean, and inland over a stark sandy landscape to La Forêt de Gascogne…
France 2025 Day 9: 148km from Arcachon to Dax. Out, along the southern shore of Le Bassin d’Arcachon, and a short climb past the Dune du Pilat, the highest sand dune in Europe…
July 6, 2025 at 8:48 AM
France 2025 Day 9: 148km from Arcachon to Dax. Out, along the southern shore of Le Bassin d’Arcachon, and a short climb past the Dune du Pilat, the highest sand dune in Europe…
When cycling through France, I always bring one book to be with in the evening; this year it’s Roland Barthes’ “Mythologies”. The essay “Toys” is so resonant; though published almost 70 years ago, it is disturbingly timely.
July 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
When cycling through France, I always bring one book to be with in the evening; this year it’s Roland Barthes’ “Mythologies”. The essay “Toys” is so resonant; though published almost 70 years ago, it is disturbingly timely.
After that, I just turned the cranks to Arcachon
July 4, 2025 at 9:44 PM
After that, I just turned the cranks to Arcachon
There’s always something unexpected on a long trip. Just after Lacanau the greenway was blocked by trees that had fallen in the violent thunderstorms of 25 June. The middle of nowhere with no escape route, so I had to get the bike around, over or under each fallen tree, about 30 in total over 4km.
July 4, 2025 at 9:43 PM
There’s always something unexpected on a long trip. Just after Lacanau the greenway was blocked by trees that had fallen in the violent thunderstorms of 25 June. The middle of nowhere with no escape route, so I had to get the bike around, over or under each fallen tree, about 30 in total over 4km.
A fork in the greenway just after Lacanau. The left takes you to the very centre of Bordeaux, right onto Les Quais; it it’s the right for me, to Lège, and on to Arcachon
July 4, 2025 at 9:37 PM
A fork in the greenway just after Lacanau. The left takes you to the very centre of Bordeaux, right onto Les Quais; it it’s the right for me, to Lège, and on to Arcachon
The Medoc greenways are fabulous, but they are unrelenting straight runs through the sandy pine forest, and when it’s hot, it’s hot like a desert.
July 4, 2025 at 9:31 PM
The Medoc greenways are fabulous, but they are unrelenting straight runs through the sandy pine forest, and when it’s hot, it’s hot like a desert.
Soulac-sur-Mer. The isolated tip of the Medoc was the last part of France to be liberated at the end of WW2.
July 4, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Soulac-sur-Mer. The isolated tip of the Medoc was the last part of France to be liberated at the end of WW2.