The May bank holiday weekend was a busy one on the racing scene for Orwell, with riders active in Ulster, Cork and the UK. But it was the Frank O'Rourke Memorial in Wexford that saw the best result for the club, with Jamie Busher sealing his upgrade to A3 with a 2nd place that was inches from an outright win.

Wexford Wheelers put on a full complement of races on Sunday, and they provided Orwell's best placings of the weekend. Busher's sprint in the A4 race was preceded by a strong solo push by Ronan Grimes. He broke at the 10km to go mark, and quickly built up a decent gap, stretching it to fifty seconds with the help of Busher and Jules Cantwell disrupting the chase from the bunch. He was only caught with 1.5km to go, when a block headwind put an end to his valiant effort.

It was left to Busher to challenge the sprint, battling in a bunch of about 40 riders. Having done the Orwell Randonée the day before, he wasn't sure if his legs would be up to the race, but when it came to the line they were only beaten by one man - Anthony Harpur of Wexford Wheelers. It was a photo finish, with only inches separating the first four riders.

Busher at far right, excruciatingly close to victory (photo used with permission of Liam Ruth)

His superb result has launched him up to the A3 division, thank to the points earned at the Newbridge GP and Cycleways Cup. As well as bringing the upgrade, the result had special significance because he was racing on his home turf, near his native Enniscorthy.

In the A1/A2 results, it was no surprise to see Eric Downey's name listed, this week in fourth place. While many of the strongest riders were competing in Ulster as part of their Rás preparation, Downey still had a top quality field to battle, with the top three finishers all coming in solo. Downey came in with two others, and took the sprint with a bike length to spare.

Finally from the Frank O'Rourke, the youth section of the club had cause to celebrate, with Tour of Scotland veteran Naoise Sheridan taking a fine tenth in the U16 race. She was outdone by her brother however, Uisneach Sheridan snatched a brilliant fifth in the U12 race. After completing the Rás na nÓg in Drogheda, Sheridan's form is coming along nicely, and we look forward to watching his progress through the youth ranks.

For the stage races, we'll go across the water to the Bedford 3 Day first, where Charlotte MacDonald and U16 National Champion Rachel Kaye-Mellor were racing as part of a Leinster squad. There were also two ex-Orwell reps in Anne Dalton (DID Electrical) and now UK-based Lydia Boylan (Team CTC).

With five stages squeezed into the three days, the pace was fast and the racing was tough. The first day saw some hard luck for both of the Irish teams, most notably for Leinster's Sandra Fitzgerald who came down badly in a crash, and abandoned with concussion. Many other riders were held up and lost a lot of time. Best of the Irish was Boylan who grabbed 4th in the sprint, and after a judge's inquiry was awarded the podium place of third for the stage.

The pace was tough going for the youngster Kaye-Mellor, and she was forced to pull out eventually. We know she'll have learned a lot from the experience though, and it'll stand to her in future events. MacDonald pushed on to finish 65th overall of 94 starters, with Lydia Boylan top of the Irish in 15th, and Anne Dalton first finisher from the Irish teams in 22nd.

In Cork, Aidan and Diarmuid Collinses and Tom Blennerhassett were flying the Orwell colours in the Kanturk 3 Day. Darragh Long was also in attendence, racing for NRPT. He was denied a win on stage 3 by Ryan O'Donovan (Cork County) in a tight sprint, again only half a wheel in it. While Long hasn't yet managed an outright win this year, we have a feeling it won't be er, long coming.

Aidan Collins took the best club result, getting in the winning move on Saturday's opening stage. He finished just outside the top ten in 11th, but unforunately slipped to 29th overall over the course of the race. Diarmuid managed 57th of 118, while Blennerhassett pulled out along with Long.

Lastly we head north to the Tour of Ulster, where the cream of Irish cycling were putting the finishing touches to their Rás preparation. Dan Whiting and Odhran Connors were also there. Connors had the better weekend, peaking at 21st after two stages and eventually finishing 31st of 89 starters.

All eyes will be on the Shay Elliot next weekend, the last chance for the A riders to show their form before the Rás, while the action for A3 and A4 riders will be in Dunsany, which will also play host to the next round of the Joe Daly Cycles' Women's National League.

Frank O'Rourke Memorial (A1/A2)

1 Dermot Radford (Tipperary Wheelers)
2 Ed Barry (Planet Tri)
3 Hugh Mulhearne (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)
4 Eric Downey (Orwell Wheelers)
5 Geoff Sheehan (South Dublin Cycling Club)
6 David Early (Team Albion)
7 David Walsh (Slaney Cycling Club)
8 Martin Mizgajski (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)
Prime: Martin Mizgajski (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)

Unplaced A2

1 Martin Gill (Wexford Wheelers)
2 Trevor Robinson (Comeragh Cycling Club)
3 Mehall Fitzgerald (Visit Nenagh)
4 Ciaran O’Conluain (UCD)

A3 Race

1 Ciaran Campbell (Drogheda Wheelers)
2 Shem Cullen (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)
3 Fintan Ryan (NRPT)
4 Shane Foley (Carlow Cycling Club)
5 Fergie Whelan (Adamstown Cycling Club)
6 Martin O’Brien (Comeragh Cycling Club)
7 Joe Kearney (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)
8 Leonard Foley (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)
Prime: Nick Coughlan (Barrow Wheelers)

Unplaced Junior

1 Darragh Campbell (Drogheda Wheelers)

A4 Race

1 Anthony Harpur (Wexford Wheelers)
2 Jamie Busher (Orwell Wheelers)
3 Frank Doyle (Wexford Wheelers)
4 Mark Reilly (Lucan)
5 Michael Walsh (Barrow Wheelers)
6 Ger Lacey (Slaney Cycling Club)
7 Gary Morris (Wexford Wheelers)
8 Michael Stafford (Wexford Wheelers)
Prime: Mark Reilly (Lucan)

Under 16 Race

1 Seamus Sinnott (Wexford Wheelers)
2 Andrew Maguire (Wexford Wheelers)
3 Stephen Byrne (Lucan)
4 Reece Young (Slaney Cycling Club)
5 Robert Murphy (NCC)
6 Sam Gilmore (Bray Wheelers)
7 Fionn Jordan (Slaney Cycling Club)
8 Brendan Wright (Wexford Wheelers)
9 Harry Brooks (NCC)
10 Naoise Sheridan (DTC Orwell Wheelers)
11 Ryan Byrne (Wexford Wheelers)

Under 14 Race

1 Daniel Browne (Clonmel Cycling Club)
2 David Nolan (South East Road Club)

Under 12 Race

1 Elliott Young (Slaney Cycling Club)
2 Shane Gallagher (Barrow Wheelers)
3 Robert Keane (Carlow Cycling Club)
4 Hugh Maguire (Wexford Wheelers)
5 Uisneach Sheridan (DTC Orwell Wheelers)
6 Conor Ruth (Slaney Cycling Club)

Bedford 3 Day results at https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/

Tour of Ulster results at http://www.tourofulster.com/results

Kanturk 3 Day results at http://www.irishcyclingphotos.com/?p=14717 and http://www.irishcyclingphotos.com/?p=14818