CLUB LEAGUE: The Hill Climb Championships
Starting with one of the most hotly anticipated races of the club league this year – the club Hill Climb Championships. Details of the route are usually kept close to Dave Mc’s chest for each years race so when word started to get out a few weeks in advance that a route recce would be advised we knew we were in for something special!
1.7km, with 600m on tarmac, a barrier to be negotiated and 1.1km of gravel fire road….this would definitely be interesting!
What’s App groups were on fire, Strava showed many trips to the hills with off road diversions. Which bike to use, what tyre pressures, could it be done on a road bike at all? There were those who doubted, those who knew they could and then there were those who decided “what the hell, he wouldn’t have chosen it if it couldn’t be done so lets give it a lash”.
Luke McMullan and Eoin Byrne were hot favourites going into the race. Luke was the defending champion and has an off road pedigree. Eoin weighs about 30kg and dances up mountains! Would it come down to these guys or could anyone else put it up to them? Eoin Ahern is always one to watch and Brian McNally already had the club league sown up but he had the added incentive to trying to win the BAR with a good performance on the night.
In the end the win went to a worthy Champion, Luke McMullan who blitzed the course with a 7:23 – 12 seconds ahead of Eoin Byrne in second and 13 seconds ahead of Eoin Ahern in third.
1st, Luke McMullan, 7:23;
2nd, Eoin Byrne, 7:35;
3rd, Eoin Ahern, 7:36.
In the Women’s Race Breda Horan put on a climbing masterclass and stormed to victory over Charlotte Stevens in second with Louise Keane taking third.
1st, Breda Horan, 9:59;
2nd, Charlotte Stevens, 11:32;
3rd, Louise Keane, 11:50.
Special mention and kudos has to go to Brian McArdle who decided to throw all sense to the wind and turned up on a Dublin Bike in full Scott Orwell kit. I don’t think there is anyone else in the club who would try it let alone get that beast to the top of the hill ..in runners! Well done Brian.
Results of the BAR (Best All Rounder) – thanks to Dave Mc
It could hardly have been closer at the end- Eoin rode the expected stellar hill climb at the start of the night, and it looked like Brian was about to lose out in the final round of the BAR for the 3rd year in a row. At the other end of the night Brian rode what must have been the hill climb of his life, finishing just 17 seconds outside the medals and hanging on to his lead in the BAR by an unimaginably narrow margin.
0.03Km/h- that's just 30 metres per hour between the pair of them after 4 rounds, and works out at about 6.5 seconds difference at the end- if Brian had taken only 7 seconds longer Eoin would have taken the overall.
Congratulations to Brian who rode superbly in every event and got the ending that he should have had last season, and commiserations to Eoin who rode so well, placed in everything and managed to just miss out on the trophy.
Congratulations too to Balazs who had a couple of very good rounds and no bad ones to take a very solid 3rd place.
NATIONAL TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS, Sundrive
Two days of racing in Sundrive saw some great performances from the Scott Orwell Team.
National Sprint Championships:
5th Fionn Sheridan
6th Daniel McElroy
Women's Individual Pursuit
7th Ciara KInch
Men's Individual Pursuit
7th Valdis Andersons
11th Daniel McElroy
12th Fionn Sheridan
1km TT
5th Valdis Andersons
Madison
4th Fionn Sheridan & Daniel McElroy
Congratulations to ex-Scott Orwell rider Seán Murnane who picked up 2 silver medals in the Scratch and Madison!
IRISH NATIONAL YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
A strong team of young Scott Orwell Wheeler racers headed North to the Ballymoney/Dunloy area for this intense weekend of racing – the last big event on the calendar before the end of the summer season and return to school.
The youths have been in great form all summer both on and off the bike. It is wonderful to hear reports back from events they attend that the team has a great camaraderie and how well they look after and support one another!
The Championships were run over 2 busy days – a TT on Saturday morning, the Road Race in the afternoon and the Criterium race on Sunday. Over 200 entries in the TT slowed down the schedule and releasing of times but it was worth it to see such big numbers participating.
TT Results
Under 11 Girls Under 11 Boys:
4th Áine Reilly 2nd Oisin May
5th Luca Holmes
17th Killian O'Brien
Under 12 Boys:
2nd Ryan Fox (tied 2nd with Willem O'Connor, Kanturk O'Leary Stone)
Under 13 Girls: Under 14 Girls:
2nd Katie Reilly 4th Annie Roche
Under 15 Boys: Under 15 Girls:
6th Ronan O'Conor 2nd Caoimhe May
Under 16 Boys:
13th Conor Murphy Rodgers
Road Race Results:
Under 11 boys Under 11 girls
4th Oisin May 2nd Àine Reilly
7th Luca Holmes
Under 12 boys Under 13
3rd Ryan Fox 2nd Katie Reilly
Under 14 Girls Under 15 boys
3rd Annie Roche 12th Ronan O’Connor
Under 15 Girls
2nd Caoimhe May
Criterium Results
Under 11 Boys: Under 11 Girls:
3rd Oisin May 5th Áine Reilly
6th Luca Holmes
Under 12 Boys: Under 13 Girls
2nd Ryan Fox 2nd Katie Reilly
Under 14 Girls: Under 15 boys
4th Annie Roche 14th Conor Murphy Rogers
Under 15 Girls
1st Caoimhe May * National Champion
IVCA LEAGUE
The IVCA league is coming to a close but there are still a few races to be contested! Sunday saw racing return to Summerhill but this time for the Age Championships in the form of an Age CP. The Age races are always very tough to place in so a big well done to Eddie Lynch and Terry Ferris for beating the handicap and featuring in the results.
5th Eddie Lynch
7th Terry Ferris.
LEINSTER AUTUMN CLASSIC, A1/2/3 Race – with thanks to Eoin Ahern
Last Saturday saw a very strong Orwell team line up for the inaugural Leinster Autumn Classic at Bellewstown. Organised at short notice to replace the cancelled Wexford 2-Day, the route promised to be one for the mountain goats, with over 1,500 metres of climbing packed into 87 km. The combined A1/2/3 race had 7 laps of the very hilly 12.5 km circuit to contend with.
Within the first few km, a group of 8 or so riders got away from the main bunch in pursuit of the A3s. Among them were Bryan Geary and Callum O'Toole. On the next lap, another 6 of us got away from the main bunch on one of the many steep ramps on the circuit. We worked away steadily, and before too long we could see the remainder of the A3 bunch just ahead of us. The brutally tough course, combined with the firepower of the A1 riders who had already bridged across, had blown the A3 bunch to pieces. It took us another two laps or so to make it across to them, by which time Bryan had pinged off the front with Tim O'Regan of Killarney.
We knew there were others up the road ahead of them, but we didn't know how many. The pace in our group stayed high, although the two men ahead maintained their gap for quite a while before eventually being pegged back (I only soft-pedalled, honestly Bryan!). Unfortunately Callum completely cramped up around this time and had to abandon.
On the second last lap, the pace relaxed a little on one of the climbs and an A3 rider rolled off the front, quickly building up a decent gap. Nobody else was bothered chasing, so when we hit the next steep ramp I went off in pursuit and soon caught him. However, my move had caused some concern behind, so we were soon joined by another half a dozen, including Bryan. There weren't many attacks from our group in the final lap, as everyone was just so knackered. I put in a small effort to test my legs with about 5km to go, but could instantly feel my calves cramping up. I decided then to just sit in and hope I didn't completely seize up in the sprint.
Bryan was the first to jump coming in for the line, but he went a bit early on the uphill finish and didn't have the legs left. Conor Murnane led us in then, while I managed to cling on for 4th from our bunch, despite the worst cramping I've ever experienced! It was only after we'd finished that we realised there had only been one man still out ahead of us: Dermot Trulock taking victory with an epic solo break. I was delighted with my 5th place, scoring my first points since my upgrade to A1 in May of last year. I’m finally happy now to hang up the road bike after a tough but rewarding season and get back into CX mode!
Editors Notes: Congratulations to Bryan Geary who finished 10th in the A1/2/3 race and also to Barry Greene who nabbed 3rd in the A4 Race and now makes the jump to A3. Barry claims to have done very little work throughout the race, sitting in 3rd or 4th wheel most of the day – we would call that a very tactical race!
