We've a pile of racing to catch up on apart from the Roche GP, with the Sallygap race being won by Séamus Nolan, the vets getting a slew of results including 2nd in the As for Barry Dace, and the Sheridans flooding the track league final overall.
Last Thursday was the annual Sallygap finish for Round 12 of the Club League, with warm conditions for the nearly 60 riders gathering at Brittas. Semi-limit were the largest group, their 16 riders catching Limit well before the Sallygap.
Scratch were let off eight minutes behind the front group, while five Semi- scratch opted to gun for glory independent of SS. That choice pay off well, as most of the group were only caught in the closing kilometres, while two went on to earn points.
The pace was high across every group, with Strava records broken around the lakes by some, and more than one cat describing their race as a team time trial.
The winner ultimately came from the Semi-limit - Séamus Nolan is already well known for his efforts in last year's hill climb, and overdue a win of this magnitude. His Italian steel steed is due to be upgraded shortly, and we are both excited and afraid to see how quickly he'll dance up the hills once he gets it on the road.
2nd place was Cormac Bracken from the SS group, a great sign of form ahead of the vets' national champs this weekend. Garry Blair took 3rd with an easy acceleration at the line - his first set of points outside of testing.
Late joiner Greg O'Donnell took a fine 4th, holding off the strong David Maher at the line. Eric Downey was the only Scratch man to score points, just managing to take 6th ahead of Diarmuid Collins.
This week is the first club championship event of 2014, the 10TT. With Pat O'Brien still at the top of the table with a 37pt lead, and with his record in TTs so far this season, we're unlikely to see a change in that in the near future.
At the weekend, the club was sadly bereft of results in Kildare, but club champ and NRPT squad member Darragh Long took a superb win in the Manzer Thackaberry Memorial event for A3s and Juniors. Long has just returned to racing after a break required by his Leaving Cert, and it's comforting to see the rest has done him good!
Diarmuid Collins and Dick O'Brien both managed to get in the winning moves in their respective races, but one was dropped and the other packed. oh-well.
The very same day, the IVCA were racing over Dorey's Forge, with a three man break going clear in the A race - an 100km affair over 3 laps. One of those was our very own Barry Dace, and the trio held on to contest the sprint, with Dace coming home an excellent 2nd place. Behind him in the bunch, John Dillon took 6th, that's 3rd in the bunch sprint.
Romano Morelli netted 10th in the B race, while new joiner William Parnell also scored 2nd in the C race. That's a solid set of results for the Orwell vets for Sunday, and Morelli followed it up with 4th in the B race on Tuesday 24th!
Monday saw the final night of the track league (normally run on a Wednesday, but moved to accommodate the Roche GP), and several Orwell members took home prizes in the overall. Pride of place were the top two steps on the podium in the women's group - Naoise Sheridan taking gold, and Theresa Heffernan silver.
4th in the A group was Fionn Sheridan, who recently showed in the Kieran Hammond Memorial TT that track won't hold you back on the road. Daniel McElroy won silver in the C group - a newcomer to Orwell, he's making a name for himself both in the club and track leagues.
The Sheridan onslaught continued with Uisneach Sheridan medalling in the D group, while Fionn was awarded a special prize for most improved rider.
Orwell League R12: Brittas Road Race, Sallygap finish (17/6/2014)
1 Seamus Nolan (SL)
2 Cormac Bracken (SS)
3 Garry Blair (SL)
4 Greg O'Donnell (SL)
5 David Maher (SS)
6 Eric Downey (S)
Paddy Flanagan Memorial, Newbridge (21/6/2014)
1 Bryan McCrystal (Aquablue)
2 Greg Swinand (UCD CC)
3 Keith Gater (Aquablue)
4 Javan Nulty (DID Dunboyne)
5 Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne)
6 Sean McKenna (UCD CC)
7 Mark Reilly (Lucan CRC)
8 Danny Bruton (AC Bisontine)
Manzer Thackaberry Memorial (A3/Jun)
1 Darragh Long (NRPT)
2 Brian Reynolds (Lucan CRC)
3 Adam Swirydowicz (Swords CC)
4 Seamus Sinnott (Wexford Wheelers)
5 Barry Talt (Murphy Surveys Kilcullen CC)
6 Dermot Gregan (Slipstream)
7 Tadgh Kelly (Dublin Wheelers CC)
8 John Hodge (Dungarvan)
Unplaced Junior
Luke McVeigh (Clonard CC)
Ned Flanagan Memorial (A4)
1 Evren Unal (Newbridge CC)
2 Sean Power (Athy CC)
3 ?
4 Neil Power (Dungarvan CC)
5 David Howell (Comeragh CC)
6 JP Nillins (DID Dunboyne)
7 James Lawless (Usher IRC)
8 Jerry Nearney (Laois CC)
9 David Nolan (LSW)
10 Brian Sheridan (TC Racing)
Women’s Prize
Maria Mulvaney (Lucan CRC)
Sundrive Summer Track League
Results at trackcycling.ie.
