The highlight of the year, only surpassed by the Tour De France! This is the Orwell Xmas Fun Day out. There will be several fun events, so bring the kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, bring the spouse, partner, lover, bring the dog, cat, hamster. Oh and don't forget the bicycle.

Audax is a form of long distance cycling which is based on reliability and self sufficiency rather than speed, and typically cover distances from 200km to 600km over the most scenic backroads that can be found. Our own Louise Nicholls has been settling into the world of audax this year, and wrote a little about her experiences...

The Orwell vets enjoyed a bumper haul of prizes at the IVCA end of year prize presentation, held at lunch in the Springfield Hotel in Leixlip on Sunday. Congratulations are due to John Dillon, Lloyd Berry, David Tansey, Ciara Kinch and Arthur Ebbs, who took home a variety of awards and titles between them.

Orwell Wheelers will be holding their annual membership night from 7pm-9pm on Monday 3rd of December, in Uncle Tom's Cabin, Dundrum. This is to allow riders to sign up for licences for the 2013 season, pay club and CI fees, have a sandwich and a cup of tea, and ask any questions of more experienced members.

Following on from the coaching programmes which were run with some success last year, the club are looking to repeat and improve the options for riders looking for coaches next year. The planning for this will begin at a talk on Monday next, November 5th, at 7.30pm in the Milltown Institute.

Orwell's Barry Dace is making a welcome return to racing, competing in the Fixx Coffeehouse Supercross Series this year. In Tymon Park last week he reaped his reward, coming home in third place in the B race, pipped to second by only a single second!

He graciously took some time out of his busy schedule to write a few words for us, and it's a fantastic read!

The Club AGM took place two weeks ago. A little delayed, there's a brief report below for those who couldn't make it...

The annual club weekend away was a runaway success this year. Social coordinator Anne Dalton's impressive organisational skills were evident in every aspect of the trip, meaning the rest of us could sit back and enjoy the ride. More below...

Former world champion Orla Hendron continued her medal winning streak in the World Masters Track Championships, taking home two bronze medals from last week’s event in Manchester.

Hendron, who already had a haul of gold, silver and two bronze from recent World Masters events, added third place finishes in the 45-49 Points Race and the 2km Individual Pursuit to a strong set of Irish results.

Nearly 70 riders signed on in Glendalough yesterday morning for the National Hill Climb Championships 2012, organised by Cycleways CC. There were a number of fine results from the Orwell riders, and best of the lot was Rachel Glendon who came home first of the ladies to grab the top prize. There was no official title awarded by CI, but that won't stop us from crowning her National Hill Climb Champ 2012!