It is with regret that we note the passing of one of our founder members, Martin Hensey.
Martin had a successful early sporting career as both a boxer and a wrestler, winning the National Cruiser weight title as a young man. He switched to cycling in 1947 with immediate success, placing second in his first road race and winning a number of time trials across 1947 and 48, culminating in his selection for the London Olympics in 1948.
Orwell Wheelers was formed by a group of training partners in the Winter of 1948, affiliating to the newly formed CRE in early 1949, and Martin continued his success in the new club's colours. In early March of '49 he became the Orwell's first 25 mile TT champion, winning with a time of 1'02'05", and followed just a few days later with our first ever open race win.
Foremost among the many race wins taken by Martin across the following two years were the National 25TT, 100TT and the first ever CRE National hillclimb title. Even though he was only involved in cycling for a very short few years he remains to this day one of our most successful racing members.
Funeral details at rip.ie. Thank you to Martin's grandson Stephen Oglesby for getting in touch with the club.
