The only downside to Carlow's rising for manager Turlough O'Brien is that it doesn't leave him much time to get out on his bike.
Since O'Brien took over before the start of the 2017 season, there has been a remarkable turnaround in Carlow's fortunes.
From a team that regularly found themselves battling to avoid bottom spot in Division 4 of the Allianz League, they find themselves in a Leinster semi-final - just one step away from the final, a place they haven't found themselves since 1944.
O'Brien wouldn't claim credit for this and he's keen to heap praise on his players and backroom staff, but the level of organisation, motivation and enthusiasm he has brought to the job can't be discounted.
Away from football, the Éire Óg man's passion is for cycle touring - packing up his sleeping bag, hopping on his bike and heading off for a few days.
To see a team actually come together, particularly for the ten or 12 lads that have been there for ten years who have been through tough times times with Carlow, stuck with it and now are getting some reward. That's really special for us.
He's cycled the Camino de Santiago through Spain numerous times and the Via Francigena from Canterbury in England to Rome in Italy. Pilgrimage routes are his speciality and one day he hopes to pedal all the way to Jerusalem.
O'Brien has even written a book about it - Cycling South Leinster, a compilation of his 30 favourite routes close to home.
"We're quite busy at the moment with all the football that's on," he explained. "I just wish I had more time to get out on the bike, but we'll do that after September!"
O'Brien's father Jim fostered his love of GAA and cycling from an early age. Jim was a long-serving county secretary who sent his son out on his bike during his summer holidays to deliver correspondence to clubs.
"I got to know the county very well, I got to know every backroad and I'd be cycling up to Bilboa, Killeshin, Ballinabranagh across to Bagnealstown, to Kildavin, Tullow, Rathvilly. I developed a love of cycling and a knowledge of Carlow through that.
"When I left school myself and a few friends from school went cycling - we had some great holidays in the west of Ireland, Kerry, Cork all on the bike. Roads were a lot quieter then and we weren't speed merchants; great times."
O'Brien isn't much of a man for the pub so to celebrate one of Carlow's recent achievements, he's been happier to hop up on his bike and cycle a few miles of his beloved Barrow Way to help settle his mind.
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And there have been achievements - last year they squared up against Dublin in the Leinster Championship and gave them a game of it. In fact, few gave them a better run for their money all season long.
This year there has been promoted from Division 4 after a lifetime in the basement and provincial wins over Louth and Division 1 Kildare.
"If you're involved in hurling or football in Carlow you'll look around at other countries around, Kilkenny in particular with all of their success, and you'll know that we've been in the wilderness," he said.
"We're a paragraph in the newspapers after a League game, but I always felt that we had much better footballers than our results would have shown over the years and I would have been bitterly disappointed with some of our campaigns - we let ourselves down and could have done better.
"We haven't been rated really on the national stage and justifiably so because we've been bottom of Division 4 for as long as I'm alive.
Looking to the future, O'Brien insisted: "We haven't reached our ceiling yet, no. We got out of Division 4, which was a big aim, and we're looking forward to the challenge of Division 3 next year. I think teams that come out of Division 4 do well in Division 3 and I feel that we can put in a decent campaign next year.
"The higher up the divisions we get the better the teams we meet and the better we are going to get ourselves. The success we had last year has given us a flavour of what we can achieve."
Clashganny on the Barrow Way, County Carlow
O'Brien has a great love of Carlow, its people and its places as well as its hurling and football.
He calls the county Ireland's hidden gem and believes more should be done to promote it to tourists - both at home and abroad.
During the day he's the CEO of Tintean, Carlow's Voluntary Housing Association, which place vulnerable people in full-time housing, as well as building and managing properties. He says when they can hand over a set of keys to someone who has been struggling for years, it's hugely rewarding.
He's married to Mary Amond, who along with her sister Patricia held numerous national athletics titles. Patricia's son Marcus Lawler is currently one of Ireland's leading international sprinters.
"I'm born in Carlow, raised in Carlow and lived here all my life," said O'Brien. "My father would have brought me all around the county as a child and he gave me a real interest in local history and local folklore. It's a wonderful place to live, it's home for me."
But what's giving him his biggest buzz at the moment is football - and the prospect of Sunday's clash with Laois.
"Absolutely!" he grinned. "To go to training on a Tuesday and a Thursday is a great thing to look forward to. I love going to the field, there's a buzz there when you're winning matches and the whole county are behind you and you've big games coming up.
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"These days don't come around too often in Carlow, but we're very relaxed about the whole thing and we have a very happy camp, friendly camp and great morale in the panel.
"The people of Carlow are really behind us and you can see the flags out around the towns of Carlow, down country roads flying high and it's a great feeling to know that you're involved with that and involved with the team.
"To see a team actually come together, particularly for the ten or 12 lads that have been there for ten years who have been through tough times times with Carlow, stuck with it and now are getting some reward. That's really special for us.
"We're on a journey and who knows where it's going to take us. I think there's a very bright future for this team.
"We're looking ahead to this game against Laois as a huge opportunity for us - the winner of this game is going to play in a Leinster final and is one game away from the Super 8. These are the days you get involved in football for.
"It's a special time for Carlow and I think you'll see a huge Carlow support travelling to Croke Park; there's talk of three buses from Myshall, which is a hurling village, so we'll have a huge support there and we look forward to that."
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