Club League 2022

We’re pleased to announce that the Orwell Club League will return this year. After two COVID-disrupted seasons, we’re planning to run a full league this year, going back to the same kind of format we last saw in 2019 with multiple rounds of criteriums, road races, and TTs.

I’ll be posting a full calendar in the next couple of weeks but we’re hoping to kick off on Thursday April 7 and run a programme of races into August.

Entry to the league will remain open until the end of February. You can enter using the same Eventbrite portal that handles club membership . Bear in mind that by entering the league, you’re making a commitment to marshal at least two races. Races can only happen if everyone rows in and does their marshalling nights. If you don’t show up for your marshalling, you’ll be suspended from the league and the race may be cancelled.

The full rules for the League can be found here . Or, if you want to learn more, read on:

I’ve never raced before, can I participate?
Yes, the league is probably the best place to dip your toes into racing. The opening rounds are on closed circuits and bunches tend to be smaller than open races. If there’s enough interest, I’ll run a race training session for newcomers in Corkagh Park.

What kind of Cycling Ireland licence do I need?
You’ll need either a Limited Competition or Open Competition licence. If you’ve already taken out a leisure licence, contact Cycling Ireland to upgrade it. They’re usually fairly obliging.

How are riders graded?
Grading is done by ability. The goal is to put riders in the fastest group they can manage to complete the majority of the race in. With that in mind, you can expect to find yourself promoted after a run of results. In some cases, a single strong performance will be enough to get you an upgrade. Generally speaking, we’ll put people in the same groups they finished the league in last year. Newcomers are usually put in the Limit group, i.e. the group which gets the largest handicap.

Can youth riders participate?
Yes, albeit with some restrictions. All youth riders can avail of free entry to the league. We usually automatically add any youth rider who has participated in previous years. If you’re child hasn’t raced before and you’d like to enter them, just let me know. Junior riders can take a full part in the league with parental consent. U16 riders can take full part in the league provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. U14 riders can participate in Corkagh Park races and TTs, provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. If you’re in doubt on whether your kid is ready to race the league I’d suggest discussing it with Youth Rep Ivan O’Brien, who’d probably have a good appreciation for the level they’d need to be at to be comfortable.

I can’t make my marshalling spot, what do I do?
What most people do is organize a swap with someone else. We usually have a marshalling swap thread every year for this. If you post well in advance, you usually should have no problem finding someone to swap with you. If you can’t find a swap, then your best bet is asking a friend to cover for you and owing them a favour. If you’re not going to make it and can’t find a replacement, do let us know as soon as possible.

What's involved in marshalling?
We've a handy guide drafted up here .

Hi all, the schedule for this year's league is below. We've largely tried to keep to the same kind of timetable we've had in previous years, at least previous pre-COVID years. 

Note that the second and third round L/SL races are on a Tuesday night this year. We usually run them on Wednesdays but had to move them to accommodate the Starsky Gold League.

Prizes:

• Overall winner of the league will receive the league trophy and the top ten overall will receive prizes.
• Top three male and female finishers in club championship races will receive medals.
• NEW: Top three unplaced veterans overall will receive prizes
• NEW: Top three unplaced youth riders will receive prizes
• NEW: Top three female riders will receive prizes.

Also new:

• On July 21 we're going to run a join race with the Lucan/IRC/Tiernans  et al club league. While it will be a combined race, points will be awarded as usual for the top Orwell riders (i.e. if you finish 13th but you're the sixth Orwell rider across the line, you'll get your points for sixth place finish).
  
  This is a bit of an experiment to see if all of clubs can work together to share resources during a quiet time of the year when a lot of people are away on holidays. If it works well, we'll look at doing a few more.

Next Steps:
We'll close entry shortly after the launch night tomorrow. Once that's done I'll begin allocating marshalling spots. I'll also be assigning race organisers for each round.

Date Race No Race Location
7 Apr 1 5K TT Pine Forest
12 Apr 2A Criterium (Tues: L/SL) Corkagh
14 Apr 2B Criterium (S/SS) Corkagh
19 Apr 3A Criterium (Tues): L/SL) Corkagh
21 Apr 3B Criterium (S/SS) Corkagh
27 Apr 4 Criterium (Weds) Corkagh
5 May 5 10TT TBC
12 May 6 Road Race Brittas (Lakes)
19 May 7 Criterium Corkagh Park
26 May 8 Road Race Sally Gap
2 Jun 9 Road Race Green Sheds
9 Jun 10 Road Race Brittas (Lakes)
16 Jun 11 10TT Champs Batterstown
23 Jun 12 Road Race Summerhill O&B
30 Jun 13 Road Race Dorey's Forge
7 Jul 14 25TT Champs Batterstown
14 Jul 15 RR Champs Poulaphouca
21 Jul 16 Road Race Russborough
28 Jul 17 Road Race Brittas (Lakes)
4 Aug 18 TTT Summerhill O&B
11 Aug 19 Criterium Mondello
18 Aug 20 Hill Climb TBC
25 Aug 21 Road Race Golden Ball

EDIT: Realise the formatting of the list is a bit off. Will try to fix tomorrow.

Nice one. Thanks a mill Diarmuid.

Final Call
Entries to the league will close midnight on Sunday, March 20.

Yes, the league is starting on April 7 as adverstised. We'll be posting the marshal roster in the next day or two.

You're down as having entered. Unless we have two David McNamaras?

Here's the handicap groups for this year's League. Grading has been been done on the following basis:

• For those who did the league in the last couple of years, you've been put in the group you finished in.
• Those new to racing (or who I'm assuming are new)  have been put in Limit.
• Anyone returning to the league after an absence and/or who has raced before I've made a guess at which group would be suitable on the basis of what level you raced at previously and how long it looks like you've been away from racing.

If you think you've been put in the wrong group, get on to me and we can discuss. Upgrades are available on request. Downgrades, you'll have to give us a reason.

Youth Riders: Youth riders are entitled to free entry. I've added youth riders who particpated last year. If I've left anyone out or if there are any other youths who wish to participate, get your parents to let me know.

Limit
John Anslow
Colum Bradley
David Byrne
Jim Carey
Bernard Collins
Keith Cunningham
Michael Doorly
Beata Golczak
Garret Kearney
Aine Kelly
Zoheb Khan
Fionn Killeen
Andrew Lomax
Josephine Lynch
John Mac Aree
Liam McCarthy
Adam McConnell
Tony McDowell
Luke Mckend
Jonathan McKeown
David McNamara
Gary Mullane
James O'Brien
Grainne O'Callaghan
Majella Rafferty
Aine  Reilly
Patryk Rejmoniak
Elaine Seale-Mckend
Ronan Simms
Alessandro Stapleton
Sean Walsh

Semi-Limit
Donal Arundel
Daragh Boyd
David Cahill
David Claes
Brian Colfer
Peadar Corbally
Daniel Coulcher
Jules De Meester
Yvonne  Doran
Kilian Doyle
JP Flynn
Garrett Greene
David Harrington
Orla Hendron
Luca Holmes
Martyn Holmes
Niall Kieran
Dejan Lazic
Eddie Lynch
David Maher
Dave Murnane
Oisín Murtagh
Jonathan O'Brien
Killian O'Brien
Fintan O'Kelly
Declan Quigley
Fergal Quinn
Katie Reilly
Stephen Thomas
John Twomey

Semi-Scratch
Valdis Andersons
Craig Arrigan
Richard Cattle
Jonathan Coffey
Aidan Collins
Ross Collins
Barry Cronin
Ian  Devlin
Robert Dolan
Ryan Fox
Mathieu Fragniere
Barry Greene
Dmitri  Griffin
Alan Hickey
Paul Kane
Darran Kearney
Tadhg Killeen
Luke McMullan
Owen McNamee
Michael  Monahan 
Mark Mulcahy
Dick O'Brien
Owen O'Flaherty
Colm O'Neill
Bernard Sellars
David Trenaman

Scratch
Eoin Ahern
Ruairi  Byrne
Diarmuid Collins
Odhrán Connors
Ian Donnelly
Bernard English
Manuel Fontan Garcia
Ronan Grimes
Neal Hudson
Shaun Kelly
Barry McMahon
Daniel Mulcahy
Anthony Mullholland
Seán  Murnane
Padraic O Flynn
Ken O’Neill
Cahir O'Higgins

Marshal Roster for this year's league is attached. The number of marshaling spots assigned each year depends on the number of league entrants. This year it works out that everyone will have to do three marshaling spots. Please make a note of your assigned nights. Remember, if marshals don't show up, we can't have a race.

If you're unavailable or really want to do a particular race, the best thing to do is arrange a swap using the marshal swap thread on the forum. Provided you do so reasonably far in advance, you'll usually have no problem finding a swap. If you're really stuck, I'd suggest getting a friend in the club to do you a favour and cover. If you can't make and can't find a replacement, please let me or the race organizer know as soon as you can.

If you miss a marhsalling slot, you'll be suspended from the league and have to apply for readmittance.

 

Latest version of the league sheet attached. Few minor changes to the handicap groups. 

Note the race organisers for each night are listed in the Race Organisers row by their initials.