Eugène Dillon won the Orwell leisure league by taking part in over 40 events in 2015 and accumulating over 130 points. Easily the most prolific Sportif rider in 2015 and quite possible set a record on number of events done that will never be equaled! A staggering year's cycling that took Eugene to every corner and county in Ireland and Sportifs in over 5 countries for a combination of over 4000km in Sportifs alone....what better person to kick off our 2nd 5 minutes with interview..... However what Eugene is best known for is the King of Orwell Banter....

Eugène with one of the groups about to start the 2015 w200. Photograph thanks to clubmate Diarmuid Donnelly who was the photographer and the support on the day.

Age: 34

Years with Orwell:Almost 2 years

What made you choose Orwell?
For about eleven years I hummed and hawed about what club to join. My first impression of Orwell was cycling with Richard McSherry at the 2011 Mick Byrne Randonnée and he was pure sound. In April 2013 I met Billy Parker in Glendalough Green as I was out training for Amstel sportive and he was preparing for the Marmotte. Later on in 2013 I cycled over the Gap with Billy, Eileen and yourself Gar and Billy convinced me to join Orwell that day. It took almost nine months but I finally did it in late April 2014.

How did you get into cycling? Did you try any other sports first?
I loved cycling to school and sometimes added an extra loop and turned up late! I started being obsessed in 1998 and from then on I just loved cycling. I never did any other sports and I've had no interest in anything else either, except things that benefit cycling like yoga or core stuff.

What sort of cycling do you do, and what do you enjoy about it?
It was always about cycletouring and exploring the country and the world from the perspective of a bike. I did a cycletour around Ireland in 2000, northern France 2001, Ireland again 2002 and Brittany 2003. The touring was a bit demanding on time and they could be quite lonesome, especially a lone tour in a country you couldn't speak the language. There was also some hairy moments when you'd get lost and cycle through a really dodgy block of flats in Le Harve. In September 2003, I did the Joe Loughman Randonnée with some friends from Bray Wheelers - Padraig and a guy they called Popeye. The banter was savage. After I achieved my BSc, I started being more consistent in my training through the winter and using sportives as targets. The years 2013-2015 I have pushed myself to doing a consistent pattern of sportives and challenges throughout the year, with as many 'doubles' as possible where you do a 160km sportive on the Saturday and then perform again with a whole different crowd on another 160km one on the Sunday. Initially you suffer on day two, holding an intense group, but it feels great and it prolongs the adventure. The challenge for me with sportives is being in as strong a group as I can, but also to get a banter in and to take in the scenery. This year alone I've made friends in other clubs like Castelbar, Annagh Wheelers, Errigal, Clontarf, Team Madigan, Dave Kane, Phoenix and Innisfree Wheelers. Great banter altogether.

Cycling/Orwell high point?
TKAS/w200 in 2014: I joined Orwell in late April 2014 and started chatting to Orwell people on the sportives and telling them I joined the club. Mick Byrne was the first time I cycled with the gang and I started to meet people. The following weekend was TKAS in Tralee. On the morning of the first day the Orwell group came together for a photograph but as I didn't know that many people yet I was too nervous and deliberately kept away from the gang. Over the course of the three days I really got to know everyone and it was a really nice experience. Since stopping drinking in 2001 and ultimately stopping gig and pub life in the years after it, I didn't have a social outlet and I thought that side of me was finished with, unless if I moved back to the Netherlands. I was very pleasantly surprised to be in the amidst of loads of banter with people who were just as obsessed with cycling as me. I didn't realise there would be so many other people in the same boat. From TKAS 2014 I was on the Orwell banter buzz and the week flowed right into the next event the w200.

Low point?
Collarbone fracture on black ice in November 2012: It's not actually the injury that was bad. It was a combination of things and where I was at the time. I was under savage pressure to write my PhD by an impending deadline. I just couldn't lose a day and I pushed myself very hard mentally to make it. I learned when you're injured, you shouldn't put mental pressure on yourself like that.

Favourite Training Spin
I used to do a training spin of about 140km over Shay/Slieve Mann/Brown/Shay/Gap and Featherbeds. But thats just for the spring/summer. I really like the Phoenix Park - Meath style ones for the high cadence. Up and down the coast in the bitter cold is nice as it's hopefully ice free. I like cycling with the orange gang of Mr Orange and Swiss Rodney.

Eugène having the banter with Paul Perry and Stephen 'Banter' Barry (photograph with thanks to Diarmuid Donnelly)

Favourite Race/Sportif?
Paris-Roubaix sportive for the adrenaline. Wicklow 200 for the Orwell banter.

Favourite Coffee Stop
As long as I'm with the Orwell gang any coffee stop is pure quality.

Best cyclist you ever cycled with/against
It's hard to pinpoint who is the best because I'm into cycle touring and not racing and banter is a very important attribute when on the bike too. Paul O' Donnoghue from Sorrento CC and Audax Ireland is really inspirational because I think I come from the same perspective as him in my passion for cycling. I've never attempted the distances he does (Paris-Brest-Paris or 24h TT) but I really see something there and he is an absolute machine on the bike - I would very much like to be like him in terms of strength, endurance, banter, smiling and his long term dedication to cycling.

Eugène salutes the photographer at the Rebel Tour

Person in Orwell who has influenced/inspired you the most
When I joined Orwell and I was at TKAS with the gang. Sinead Kennedy loaned me Louise Keane's ripped Orwell jersey (Louise had been hit by a car and the jersey had been torn at the back of the shoulder). I put it on for the first time and rolled to the start where Stephen Ryan said to me I looked a little like one of the top racers in the club. It was because the hair was long and sticking out from the cap that from a distance there was a likeness to Patrick O' Brien! When I met Pat we had a good laugh about me being his impostor. It turned out he spent his tea break in my building every morning so from then on we would have a little banter quite often. Pat was winning the club league that year and won the league race to Brittas just around that time, followed by second in the TTT and 3rd in the club hill climb championships. It was really cool that he was so sound to chat to so I was hoping to get him to have the banter on the sportives like the w200 and the Sean Kelly Tour. He was very enthusiastic for cycling and would make you feel that you could go very far in cycling, whatever aspect you wanted to do - be in racing or touring. This coming winter I was hoping to train with him as he prepared for what would be his second Ras. It was such a shock for everyone in the club and his family and fiancee Eileen to lose him. We will always remember him and he'll always be in our hearts.

Where would like to see Orwell in 5 years?
For me as a tourer, what the club has is special and it would be nice to still have it. I get to know club mates throughout the season who reap the benefit of a consistent winter and accomplish the satisfaction of the challenges of the longer distance. For other people I think they want Orwell to have a club house, a strong junior team or maybe a supported racing set up for both men and women. I'd like to support those dreams of my club mates while I'm in the club. I get a lot out of being in the club so would like to help out.