The recent Orwell club membership night turned out to be the most successful in the club's history with no less than 107 riders signing up on the night.

This is a 50% rise on last year's membership night which attracted 70 subscriptions. Given that the final total of Orwell members in 2008 reached 154, the indications are that DTC Orwell Wheelers will once again be amongst the biggest clubs affiliated to Cycling Ireland in 2009.

Since the club night a further 23 subs had been received by club secretary Dave McLoughlin bringing the current total before the end of the first month of the year to 130.

More than 80 riders have registered to compete in the Inter Club League and 45 Open Licences have been applied for.

The membership total includes 24 female riders and 18 underage riders as Orwell continues to make significant inroads into the gender and age imbalance in Irish club cycling.