Secret Cyclist: How Orla Walsh went from bike commuter to bike champion in a few years

Orla Walsh went from smoking and drinking heavily to a vegan lifestyle, breaking national cycling records along the way. The professional cyclist chats to our resident columnist ahead of her race this Sunday at 11:30am

Cyclist Orla Walsh. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

My partner said if I’m going to write about cycling, I should try to speak to Orla Walsh. If you don’t know who Orla Walsh is, go over to her Instagram page and watch the pinned reel. To the soundtrack of Echosmith’s ‘Cool Kids’, there’s a video of a 26-year-old leaving her house on a bike. It could be any of the tens of thousands of people who cycle to school, college, or work in Ireland every day. 

The reel suddenly cuts to clips of a track sprinter wearing our national colours at the UCI’s (Cycling’s World Governing Body) Velodrome in Switzerland. This is the story of Orla Walsh, who went from bike commuter to bike champion in the space of a few years.

Orla was kind enough to speak to me last weekend before her final preparations for the European Championships. We started off by going back to her early days on the bike. In 2015, Orla started a master’s degree at DIT and needed a reliable way to travel there. Her father suggested that they bike into town together. The freedom of the bike was appealing to Orla. "I could leave whenever I liked, it was door to door, and I wasn’t stuck in traffic." 

I asked Orla how the early days of commuting went and whether the practicalities of bike commuting (the showering, the spare clothes, etc) posed any challenges. ‘" just became routine and second nature. I felt like there was even more planning to get public transport."

One of the great things about bike commuting is that it opens a whole set of new doors to people. Many people become healthier while others start exploring their locality by bike at the weekend. In Orla’s case, she decided to join Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club. After a few rides with the club, people suggested to her that she try racing. She decided to give it a go. The next few years involved a lot of hard work, determination, injury, setbacks, losses, and wins. It’s the story that many people will recognise when they take on a new challenge. However, in Orla’s case, it has resulted in seven national championships and three national records.

Orla’s success on the track is noteworthy not only because she came to the sport comparatively late, but also because she wasn’t even into sport before she started biking to college. This brings us to the second pinned reel on Orla’s Instagram page. A collection of photos from her pre-cycling days where she enjoyed nightlife, festivals, and socialising. While many of us are guilty of excess on a night out, it’s not often we see people make the switch from party animal to elite athlete.

Track cycling is a sport of power and strength. These are not characteristics that we tend to associate with veganism but Orla has followed a vegan diet for three years now. Although initially attracted to the diet for ethical reasons, Orla tells me she hasn’t really been sick (other than Covid) in three years and credits this largely to the switch. She talks me through what a normal day of eating looks like and it doesn’t seem too complicated. "Since I’ve made this choice, I’m very aware of what I eat and I probably have an even healthier diet."

We don’t have an indoor velodrome in Ireland. Denmark (pop 5.8m) has two and both Scotland and Wales have one each. Last year, the Government launched the ‘ Safe Routes to School’ Programme to make it safer and more attractive for kids to walk and cycle to school. As more and more children cycle to school, more will want to join cycling clubs and explore the different cycling specialities. Currently, everyone from top-level athletes like Orla down to developing juniors has to travel abroad to train or race. 

The Safe Routes To School campaign was launched last year, with projects commencing in 170 schools as part of a rolling programme of support. Picture: Department of Transport/Twitter

"Having a facility in Ireland where kids could go during the week, at weekends, that’s how athletes are developed and if we have that facility here, we will have a really strong track team in the future."

Mallorca is a mecca for people who cycle and Orla hosts cycling camps in October and November on the island. It’s not every sport where you can train alongside elite international athletes in the morning and chat with them in the evening over a meal served up to you. I’ve cycled around Mallorca and it is indeed an amazing experience. I asked Orla what we can do to help emulate the Mallorcan cycling experience in Ireland. ‘The locals are aware of cyclists, they give you so much room on the road and that makes it so much more relaxing. At home, it’s more “us versus them” but it’s not like we’re on different teams, I drive a car as well’.

I wonder if Orla considers herself a role model? Like most Irish people, she shies away from the suggestion. "I fell in love with something and I wanted to keep doing it, opportunities came my way and it was partially luck and partially determination." Orla has built up a significant following online. Whether it’s coming to the sport late, winning medals, going vegan, or just doing what she loves, it’s clear her story has resonated with many people. 

You can follow Orla or find out more about her camps on Instagram at @pedalingheroine. She represents Ireland at the 2022 UEC European Track Championships in Munich this weekend.