Saturday the 23rd of March was a quite (ish) day in the world of Scott Orwell Wheelers racing with only Ras Maigh Eo on the schedule.

Ras Maigh Eo is the first stage race of the year and is open to A1 to A3 - including ladies. There are 2 stages on Saturday - a morning road stage followed by a TT this evening. The Sunday morning stage 3 is another road stage.

Unfortunately Paul Forristal and Freddie Stevens did not start the race as they are both on the Sick List. Paul won the TT stage in this last year so was particularly disappointed to have missed the racing. Get well soon guys!

In Stage 1 there was hectic racing from the start and it took over 50km before the decisive break was made when a group of 12 got away. Ronan O'Flynn was active all morning and chomping at the bit to get away, making people work hard after their breakfasts. Unfortunately Ronan missed the break that counted today but sill finished well up in the field along with Neal Hudson.

Brian Mc, Barry McMahon, Callum O'Toole and Mike Handley were unfortunately caught up in a crash. Barry and Brian Mc got back in the bunch and Callum joined them after a quick wheel change from DS Stephen O'Shea in the team car. Unfortunately Mike missed a turn while chasing back on and was disqualified:(

Ride of the stage went to Barry who finished well up in the bunch despite having no shifter for most of the stage!

Stage 2: No results of note for the the team in this uphill TT. Ronan & Neal finished in the top 30.

Stage 3: Again Ronan rode aggressively and got a way for a while but was reeled back in. Unfortunately for the rest of the team the day didn't go so well - Barry came down in a crash and had to retire due to mechanical reasons, Callum came down in the same crash but managed to finish despite the cuts and bruises. Brian Mc's lost the ability to change gears just before the 3 KOHs and had to grind it out to the finish!

Not the best of races for the team but we are up and running and hopefully that's all the bad luck out of the way for a while!

 

Sunday the 24th of March was a busy day - for our racers and our PRO as the results kept flooding in!  First up the Youths were split between The McCann Cup in the North and the Biking Blitz in Dublin.

The McCann Cup:

We had youth racers in the under 12, under 14 and under 16 races and managed to get podium spots in all 3 races. Luca H finished 2nd in the u12 race with Katie R matching him in the u14s. The top result of the day came in the U16 race where Ronan O'C took the win in fine style. Ronan managed to break from the back and hold his lead while team mate Andrew R did a great job of controlling the chasing pack.

                                      A winning combination! Photo thanks to Martyn Holmes

In the Women's race Yvonne Doran continued her fine run of form and made it 3 weeks in a row in the results! Yvonne finished in 5th place and looks in good form heading into the first of the National League Series races - the Des Hanlon - next weekend.

 

The Boyne GP:

Closer to home the A2 race of the Boyne GP produced a string of results for The Orwell!  Brian McNally finished in 6th place with Jamie Busher in 8 and Anthony Mulholland getting in for 10th. Anthony started racing in A4 last summer and quickly moved up to A2 - it looks like he is still flying!

In the A3 race Conor Murphy Rogers took the 1st unplaced Junior prize while also finishing in the top 10 of the A3 race. We are looking forward to Conor keeping us busy with results this season.

 

The IVCA League:

The IVCA league kicked off the 2019 season this Sunday with round 1 taking place on the Green Sheds Circuit. It's a course that usually suits the sprinters but it seems a few people were chomping at the bit to get racing again and there were plenty of attacks and breaks on Sunday!

In Race 1 racing was fast from the start with attacks being reeled in all the time. It took a while for a break to establish but when it did about 12 riders got away leaving the Orwell posse behind in the main bunch. While the escapees fought it out for the main prizes John Twomey showed that he has wintered well by taking the bunch sprint consolation prize.

Race 2 saw Scott Orwell take a great win when Shaun Kelly jumped clear and stayed away on a 7km solo break! I a beautifly well timed move he stayed clear right to the line when he had to sprint it out with the only person to get close enough to catch him. The smile says it all......

Sean - 1 race:1 win! Photo thanks to Brendan Culleton

At the time of writing we are still waiting for the remainder of the league results from round 1. There was a huge turnout across all races including a lot of new Scott Orwell members. We are looking forward to hearing how they get on in the league over the next few weeks.

 

The Biking Blitz:

The Biking Blitz series came to a close on Sunday when it took to the trails of Ticknock. In the Baggy Shorts category Eoin Ahern was the best of our finishers crossing the line in 4th place. Valdis Andersons followed him in in 15th - there is a runour that Valdis was on a Cyclocross bike? Can anyone confirm?

Eoin takes flight! Photo thanks to John Hammer

In the Super Pro race our only entry was Paul Kane who finished in 25th place against a very high quality field.

The youths were out in force with Anna C winning the under 10 girls race, Kevin R was 3rd in the under 10 boys. In the under 12 boys no one could catch Oisin M who left the rest of the race in his dust! Aine took second in the girls under 12 race. In the under 16 race Annie R took another well deserved win.