A roaring southerly wind made for a fast ‘out’ leg on the Berriew – Welshpool 10 mile course but a confidence and energy-sapping grovel back as Hafren CC hosted Round 9 of the SB Sports Series. Won by former Hafren CC Junior rider and now signed for Wales Racing Academy Fred Meredith, the youngster was the only rider to dip below the 21 minute mark with an excellent effort on 20 minutes 55 seconds to beat SB Series leader Tomos Hales by 30 seconds. Meredith is capable of faster times, but that hampering wind made a significant difference as he explained: “I really liked it. It was a good evening with some good competition, making me push myself. The wind wasn’t favourable for a fast time but was enjoyable nonetheless. I was happy to be able to take the win after a pretty up-and-down season so far”.

Hales extended his lead at the top of the SB Series to a strong 52 point advantage with a solid 21:25, with the promoting club’s Conrad Taylor getting closest 1:04 behind. Hales’ post-race comments echoed Meredith’s and it was a case of taking every advantage the tail wind out gave and hanging on coming back – great training for ‘float’ days. Hales presents a very low frontal profile to the wind and has gained fitness doubling up at triathlon, with the cross training proving complimentary to some great results in 2023. He commented: “The Hafren SB 10 went well; a quick outward leg was then followed with a tough push to the line – thanks to Hafren for hosting and all the marshals that helped out”.

This was Taylor’s first appearance in the 2023 SB Series and he is well versed in the subtleties of this fast 10 mile course to take advantage of it. His attention was all about beating team mate Chris Lewis, with a check across the road at how Lewis was doing spurring him on to a 49 second personal victory of 22:29 – a solitary second ahead of Paramount’s Chris Riley. Taylor commented: “I had a solid ride. It was the first totally incident free run I’ve had on that course this year. I paced the outward leg well and felt super strong on the return. Have been battling with Chris Lewis this season I took a time check with him at the roundabout and was well up, so that really motivated me for the return”.

Riley had a fine consolation prize for being pushed down to 4th spot Overall after he won the SB Veterans event in +4:48 from Helen Tudor who finished in +3:18 in this age-adjusted competition. This elevated the Paramount rider to the top of the Veterans standings, overtaking Jonathan Mills-Keeling by four points. Riley was looking to use the super smooth road surface to set a personal best, but conditions were against him on the night. Nevertheless he pronounced himself satisfied with taking the Veterans win: “I was looking for that elusive best ever 10 on the speedy Berriew course but fell short again. Being a Veterans winner certainly makes up for it. A great atmosphere at the Hafren event as ever, thanks everyone”.

Tudor extended her lead at the top of the SB Women’s Series to 22 points thanks to her 26:30 ride, but was consigned to the runner-up spot in this competition too thanks to being beaten by 15 seconds by a strong effort from Hafren’s Jan Davies. Davies knew she had been in a race, toughing it out on the return: “I had to dig pretty deep, a tough headwind on the return leg. Thanks to the marshals and volunteers, I’m really enjoying this season so far”

Taking the maximum 20 points in the SB Junior Series was 15 year-old Hafren rider Jess Bufton, choosing a tough evening for her first ever race on a time trial bike. Bufton scored a fine personal best 28:30 in her first season and clearly enjoyed the experience: “This was my first time riding a time trial bike in a race, having only recently started racing time trials on my road bike. I was really pleased to put down a new personal best and would like to say thank you to all the volunteers for putting on a great event”.

Result:

Position Name Club Cat Time Points
1 Fred Meredith Wales Racing Academy J 20:55 .
2 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 21:25 20
3 Conrad Taylor Hafren CC S 22:29 18
4 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 22:30 16
5 Chris Lewis Hafren CC S 23:18 14
6 Neil Vose Hafren CC V 23:53 12
7 Mark Hill Hafren CC V 24:20 10
8 Neil Bowden Hafren CC V 24:44 8
9 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 25:54 6
10 Mick Case Hafren CC V 26:00 4
11 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV 26:15 2
12 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 26:30 2
13 Mark Stocks Newport Shropshire CC V 26:42 2
14 Paul Bufton Hafren CC V 26:54 2
15 Robin Shedden Wrekinsport CC V 27:57 2
16 Jess Bufton Hafren CC WJ 28:30 2

Veterans:

Vets Pos’n Name Club Cat Vet +/- Vets Points
1 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V +4:48 20
2 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV +3:18 18
3 Neil Vose Hafren CC V +3:14 16
4 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV +3:03 14
5 Mark Hill Hafren CC V +2:58 12
6 Neil Bowden Hafren CC V +1:39 10
7 Mick Case Hafren CC V +1:18 8
8 Mark Stocks Newport Shropshire CC V +0:48 6
9 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V +0:38 4
10 Robin Shedden Wrekinsport CC V +0:16 2
11 Paul Bufton Hafren CC V -0:31 2

Women:

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV 26:15 20
2 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 26:30 18
3 Jess Bufton Hafren CC WJ 28:30 16

Juniors:

Junior Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Junior Points
1 Fred Meredith Wales Racing J 20:55 .
2 Jess Bufton Hafren CC WJ 28:30 20

Cumulative Standings after nine rounds

Overall

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 142
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 90
3 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 78
4 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 74
5 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 72
6 Phil Roberts Wrekinsport CC S 56
7 Mark Stocks Newport Shropshire CC V 32
8 Rich Smith Wrekinsport CC V 30
9 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 28
=10 Ben Wood Wrekinsport CC S 26
=10 George Coombes SCCA S 26
=10 Rob McGregor Paramount CRT S 26

Veterans

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 104
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 100
3 Mark Stocks Newport Shropshire CC V 72
4 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon WV 68
5 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 50
6 Rich Smith Wrekinsport CC V 48
7 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 46
=8 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 42
=8 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV 42
10 Mark Hill Hafren CC V 30

Women

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 80
2 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 58
3 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV 52
4 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers WV 24
=5 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 20
=5 Thea Osmund-Smith Paramount CRT W 20
7 Jess Bufton Hafren CC WJ 16

Juniors

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 126
2 Jess Bufton Hafren CC WJ 20
3 Chester Romei Paramount CRT J 18