Profiles

Eugène Dillon won the Orwell leisure league by taking part in over 40 events in 2015 and accumulating over 130 points. Easily the most prolific Sportif rider in 2015 and quite possible set a record on number of events done that will never be equaled! A staggering year's cycling that took Eugene to every corner and county in Ireland and Sportifs in over 5 countries for a combination of over 4000km in Sportifs alone....what better person to kick off our 2nd 5 minutes with inter

Our next profile feature is on Jamie Busher, a consistent A3 racer not afraid of a classic 'all or nothing' attack who, in addition to his personal achievements in A3 races, has really worked with the other A3 Orwell racers, culminating with victory for Orwell Wheelers in the A3 National Championships this year. Jamie at the Suir Valley (photograph with thanks to John Coleman). Age: 40 Years with Orwell: 5 years What made you choose Orwell? Orwell has a great reputation in

With the Rás dominating the weekend racing, we thought it an appropriate time to catch up with one of last year's Men of the Rás, Diarmuid Collins, and find out a bit more about the Limerick man. Age: 37 Years with Orwell: Just over 4 years now What made you choose Orwell Wheelers?  I moved back to Dublin in January 2010 and wanted to join a club. I was moving to Rathfarnham so my starting point was to join a club in that area. I knew no-one in cycling clubs in Ireland so I

Next in line to be interviewed for our series of rider profiles was one of the stars of Orwell's last golden age in the 1980s, and now spends his time helping the next generation of stars to come through by helping to organise the club league, and this year's very successful Corkagh park youth league. Fresh from narrowly missing out on winning Cycling Ireland's volunteer of the year award, read on for five minutes with Damien Long... Age: 52            Years with Orwell?:  38

Many of the previous pieces on orwellwheelers.org were written by the talented Mr Quigley, whose day job sees him rub shoulders with high calibre sportstars, from Olympic sailor Annalise Murphy to Scottish legend Graeme Obree. In his spare time, he can be found dishing out helpful tips to novice racers, usually after the finish line. In the following interview, we enjoyed turning the tables, and asking him the questions for once. Declan, for his part, was only too happy to g

FIVE+ DECADES WITH... Noel O'Neill In interview with Aideen Collard Our long running series of rider profiles makes a return this week after a lengthy break, starting off this week with an interview with our longest serving member, Noel O'Neill. A former National Champion at Road, Track and Time Trial, and having spent almost 60 years with the club through both the good years and the bad, Noel most definitely fits the description of club legend.   Age: 75 (and very proud of i

With the Winter spins ticking along and Sportive and Racing seasons both about to kick off, now is an ideal time to rekindle our series of rider profiles before the front page is filled with news of results, and there could be no-one more apposite to be the next interviewee than the man who has been  the friendly face of Orwell Wheelers to a significant majority of newcomers over the past few years. Read on to find out more about our current "Clubman of the year", the man kn

Next in line to be interviewed for our rider profiles is "Most Consistent rider of 2010", John Twomey. 2010 was a busy year for John with a return to racing after nearly two decades of an absence, sportives in every corner of the Country, not to mention completing the gruelling Race Around Ireland with the County Cork team. Age: 35    Years with Orwell?: 3 years How did you get into cycling?   I was quite involved with athletics at an early age, but after watching Stephen Ro

The latest in our increasingly inaccurately titled series of 5 minute profiles is Brian Ahern, for whom brevity isn't a strongpoint! For answers to every question that we thought to ask him, and a handful more that we didn't, read on...     Age: 30            Years with Orwell:  I was a member from 1993 – 2000; then returned in 2004 so about 13 years altogether. How did you get into cycling? It’s my brothe r Colm’s f ault.  As a kid I played every sport going but my main spor

The latest rider to be profiled is co-organiser of last week's highly successful table quiz, Anne Dalton. Known almost as well for her prodigious cycling talent as she is for her caustic assessments of her fellow clubmates, it really is hard to believe it's been less than a year since Anne blew in and started to turn the place upside down. Read on to hear what makes her tick...     Age: 29 Years with Orwell:  10 months How did you get into cycling?   A Dare!I was at a work f

Orwell's national track sprint championship medalist Donal Bailey was selected as the Irish domestic male cyclist of the year in the Cycling Ireland Membership awards. In the latest instalment of her regular series, Aideen Collard catches up with the man who is anything but a short distance only cyclist.   FIVE MINUTES WITH…  Donal Bailey  by Aideen Collard Age: 25           Years with Orwell?: One   How did you get into cycling? I always loved cycling for fun but when I was

Colm Ahern's recent second place in the Bikepure GP Cyclocross earns him the latest spot in our series of rider profiles. We caught him while he was still recovering to hear about the Rás, fatherhood, and racing in the good old days. Colm Ahern Age: 33           Years with Orwell?:  17 (on and off…) How did you get into cycling? I was always into hacking around on the BMX from the age of 7, but as I kid played Gaelic football and Hurling.  I enjoyed it but I was useless on

In the latest club profile we get the lowdown on Orwell’s new world champion Orla Hendron and her path to the maillot arc-en-ciel. Age: Somewhere between 44-49 Years with Orwell: 8 years now… Holy S…!! How did you get into cycling? After my hockey career came to an end I took up triathlon, so that got me on a bike, then I did a charity cycle for Crumlin Hospital where I met Arthur Ebbs (also currently a member of Orwell).  He told me I should join the vets as I’d be good at

By Aideen Collard As Orwell's star female rider, Michelle Geoghegan makes the move over to Holland to join her new cycling team, Moving Ladies and prepares for her first big race of the season, theOmloop Het Nieuwsblad next week, we catch up with her and ask her a few probing questions about her cycling career to date. Last year, Michelle won the National Ladies League and narrowly missed out on a medal at the National Road Championships. She moves on to greater challenges in