The season may be slowly coming to an end but there was still plenty of quality racing last weekend! The youths battled it out for the Leinster Road titles, the track had the team National Championships, the second last round of the National Points series in Banbridge and the Collins Christie Memorial in Navan. And of course not forgetting the battle of the teams for Team Time Trial glory in the club league!
Starting with the Club League this week: R19 - the Team Time Trial
8 teams assembled in Blackbull on Thursday night for the eagerly anticipated TTT. There was much talk and calculation of handicaps in the week running up to the event with some strong teams emerging after tough transfer/contract negotiations;)
The planned route was to have included Dorey's Forge but thankfully unfortunately some major road works on the route called for a Dave Mc special - Plan B. Dave managed to conjure up an excellent route to within 2km of the original distance. The new route took teams out to the Trim roundabout via the Mullagh and back - tough, testing but fair.
Honours went to the team which was not only fastest after the adjusted time but also fastest on the road. A great achievement as the team contained 3 Scratch riders and only 1 Semi-Scratch - Brian, Ciaran, Valdis & Balszc. The real battle on the night turned out to be for second place and when the times were adjusted for handicap there was only .01 of a second in it as the team of Breda, Dick, Michael and Brian pipped the "Semi Limit Bangers" of Richard, Garrett, Dave and Donal. Well done to all who gave it a go
1. Brian McNally (S), Ciaran Carroll (SS), Valdis Andersons (S), Balszc Galambos (S): 51:22/50:47
2. Breda Horan (SL), Dick O'Brien (SS) Michael Hanley (SS), Brian McArdle (SS): 55:17/51:57
3. Richard Cattle (SL), Garrett Connolly (SL), Dave Murnane (SL), Donal Arundel (SL): 59:13/51:58
The John Beggs Memorial/National Points Series with thanks to Áine Donegan
The Beggs was a hilly 98km race, which suited me as I prefer a race with some good variation!
On the first lap a successful attack occurred and there was a group of 10 of us that got away. Five of us attempted to split the group up further on the third lap but this break didn’t last long as the chasers managed to weave their way back on through the cars behind. From here on the pace really slowed up.
The 10 riders stuck together until the final hill towards the finish, Katharine Smyth was first to round the left hand corner followed my myself, the road really kicked up making for a good lung burning race to the line. Lauren Creamer passed us before the top of the hill and managed to extend her gap to the line. I managed to inch past Katharine at one point but knew I had to work all the way to the line to maintain second place, so I kept my head down & managed to hold her off.
I was delighted with my overall result and the podium pics with champagne made for some good entertainment too! It was a really well organised event and would encourage more women to sign up next year. Looking forward to the rest of the National Series & Ras na mBan!
Editors note: Áine will be returning to her Triathlon roots this weekend as she takes on the Dun Laoghaire Ironman! We wish her the best of luck with the race and hope to see more photos of champagne celebrations:)
In the men's race Bernard English was 3rd A2 in the main race, a really tough race. Apologies for the lack of details - more to follow.
The John Beggs A4 race saw Luke McMullan win in style following a 15km solo break! Luke has had a busy season mixing his cycling with Adventure Races and Triathlons. This season he has already won the Gaelforce West and Gaelforce Dublin events and will be competing in a half Ironman in the next few weeks. If we could get him to concentrate on cycling who knows what he could do...watch this space;)
Luke McMullan wins the A4 race at the John Beggs
The Collins Christie Memorial with thanks to Jonathon Coffey
The Collins-Christle Memorial took place on Sunday the 12 August. The race featured A1, A2, A3, Ladies, and A4 riders. The A4 representatives this week were John Wade, Robbie Dolan and Myself.
The A4 race was a relatively flat 54km (4 laps) route with a total elevation gain of 300 meters and a race average of 40km/hr.
The race kicked off with the A1, A2, A3’s race which was shortly followed by the A4 peloton and X2 Ladies.
All Orwell’s sat tight sheltered under the instruction of John Wade waiting for our prime time to make our appearances, unfortunately after a lap and a half I decided to roll off the front for a lap! Unfortunately nobody came with me on the break, so I sat up and after a stern talking to from John I decided to rested in the bunch for the sprint.
On the run into the finish we were very well positioned, I was sitting third wheel and John and Robbie not too far behind. There was a big surge and I followed all the “biggest” wheels to secure second place, John was in the top 10 and Robbie not to far behind.
It was a great afternoons bike racing, thanks to Navan cycling club for arranging a great event, I would highly recommend this race.
Editors note: Apart from a great second place by Jonathon in the A4 race Anthony Mulholland continued his great run of form and finished 1st unplaced A2. We wonder how much longer before Anthony makes the jump to A1? Having started as an A4 this season Anthony is another great talent in the club.
The Leinster Youth Road Race Championships
The Leinster Youth Championships took place in Kilmessin on Saturday. A strong turn out from Scott Orwell Wheelers saw Ryan Fox, Luca Holmes, Killian O'Brien and Áine Reilly compete in the under 12's, Katie Reilly and Annie Roche in the under 14's and Conor Murphy Rogers in the under 16's
Ryan Fox added the under 12 Road title to the TT one he won earlier this year! Ryan had great help from his team of domestiques - Killian, Luca and Áine all worked very hard to make sure he was in with a shout then Ryan did the biz coming across the line the clear winner.
Special mention too for Conor Murphy Rogers who is still on the come back trail after fracturing his wrist in a crit race not too long ago. Conor finished a fantastic 4th, just outside the medals, but showing what a strong rider he is and what potential he has!
Commiserations to Katie Reilly who has had a great season but who was just beaten on the line for the bronze medal.
Under 12 Boys:
1. Ryan Fox, Scott Orwell Wheelers
Under 12 Girls:
2. Áine Reilly, Scott Orwell Wheelers
Under 14 Girls:
2. Annie Roche, Scott Orwell Wheelers
4. Katie Reilly, Scott Orwell Wheelers
Under 16 Boys:
4. Conor Murphy Rogers, Scott Orwell Wheelers
National Team Track Championships thanks to Daniel McElroy
The team track national championships were held last weekend at the Sundrive Velodrome. Teams must be comprised of members from the same club and 7 Orwell teams competed across the 4 events.
The Scott Orwell teams were:
Women's Team Sprint A: Ciara Ní Fhlathartaigh, Orla Hendron
Women's Team Sprint B: Yvonne Doran, Gráinne O'Callaghan
Men's Team Sprint A: Eddie Lynch, Fionn Sheridan, Valdis Anderson
Men's Team Sprint B: Dmitri Griffin, David Hearne, Daniel McElroy
Women's Team Pursuit: Ciara Ní Fhlathartaigh, Ciara Kinch, Orlan Hendron, Yvonne Doran
Men's Team Pursuit A: Dmitri Griffin, Daniel McElroy, Freddie Stevens, Valdis Anderson
Men's Team Pursuit B: David Hearne, Fionn Sheridan, Eddie Lynch, Paul Tierney
First up was team sprint starting with the women. Of the 4 riders, only Orla had done this event before but the 3 others took it in their stride and the teams came 7th and 9th!
In the men's competition, the experienced A-team clocked a time of 51.1 secs to win a Bronze medal!! Orwell's first ever medal in the men's event!
The team pursuit was next, both men's and women's teams have trained hard over the past few months at Sundrive velodrome and it showed, the women's team took a bronze medal in a very strong field where both gold and silver medallists breaking the national record. Orwell's second medal of the day!
The Men's A-team took 4th place with an Orwell PB time of 4:57 with the B team taking 8th place.
To finish off the day, both Daniel and Fionn raced in the Keirin, coming 9th and 10th.
Well done to all those who competed in their first team nationals, (hope to see you next year) and congratulations to those who now own a national medal!
