My Club: Orwell Wheelers

David Daly is part of the distinguished cycling family in Dundrum, Co Dublin. His father, Joe, has run the bicycle shop for nearly 50 years, and his brothers Paul and Francis were also leading cyclists with Orwell Wheelers.

The club celebrates its 50th anniversary this year as an overall cycling club for the general Dublin area. Stephen Roche started his career there under early club mentors Noel O'Neill and Paddy Doran. Today it is still based in Dundrum, with an ideal source of training routes at the foot of the Dublin mountains.

Membership: Right now we have one of the lowest numbers, with about 35-40 members in the books. They are mostly racing or former racing cyclists, and there is a lack of new young riders coming through. We have a couple of female members also - our cheerleaders.

Status: We were always a very enthusiastic racing club and compete in most of the Classic League races across the country. This year we had a team in the FBD Milk Ras, which is the highest level in Ireland and includes some of the best international competition. Traditionally, we're not one of the big money clubs, so a lot of riders might use Orwell as a stepping stone towards a bigger club.

Honours: Stephen Roche obviously brought huge honour to the club as Tour de France, Giro and World Champion in 1987, but Noel O'Neill was national champion back in the 1950s, and on the whole we've had about 40 members who represented Ireland. Just before Roche turned professional in 1979 we won the team prize in the national road race.

Finest Hour: It's a great moment for any club member to complete a major race and I remember finishing my first Ras back in 1993, which after nine days of racing was a wonderful feeling.

Worst Moment: Cycle racing can be a bit hairy at times and on last year's Ras I hit a sheep in Connemara at 30 miles an hour. It bent the forks badly even though I had another 90 miles to go.

Club Hero: Stephen's record speaks for itself and he still cycles with the club and helps in any way he can. After his Tour win the numbers more than doubled to about 70 or 80 riders.