Kirk Vickers showed up at his first hill climb of the season on a favourite course intent on breaking his own course record in Round 3 of the BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series, Mid Shropshire Wheelers ascent of The Stiperstones. In the end that 3 minutes 55.0 seconds record was safe for another year as the effort on a hot evening proved just a little too much, with Vickers having to settle for the win – by a small matter of 14.8 seconds. Vickers stormed up the climb, taking respite on the brief descent before the hardest, final push to the line in 4:02.4, with the effort of a first attempt of the season making his chest burn. He stated: “My first hill climb this year, I forgot how much it hurts the lungs. I always enjoy the Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ hill climb course; I paced it well and got everything out. It was nice to see a good turn out of people, well done to all riders”.

Reigning BBR Hill Climb Champion Tomos Hales stretched his lead from 6 to 14 points at the top of the Series over Wrekinsport team mate Ben Southgate after taking the Runner-up spot in 4:17.2, 5.3 seconds ahead of TrainSharp Development Team’s Sam Holwill. Hales reflected on the changing gradient offered in this climb, with all in the Series offering unique challenges: “A lovely evening for The Stiperstones climb, I do like the technical climb with the small bit of downhill in the climb to give you a rest before the steep stuff. Well done to Kirk with the win and thanks for Mid Shropshire Wheelers for hosting”.

Southgate had a close battle with Mid Shropshire Wheelers Junior Noah White, just taking the Junior win in 4:54.3 by 1.9 seconds and extending his lead at the top of the BBR Junior standings to 42 points. Southgate was, as usual, brief with his post-race comments, stating: “It went well, the course was very good”.

Southgate isn’t the only rider dominating the head of the standings with Paramount’s Becky Griffiths stretching her lead at the top of the BBR Women’s Series after taking a solid win of 22.1 seconds over team mate Hayley Wells in 5:30.0. Like Vickers, Griffiths was trying to get a course personal best, but conditions didn’t appear to favour riders despite the warmth. Griffiths commented: “I gave it as much as I could on the night. I didn’t manage a personal best but was pleased to get first lady. A great turn out, a beautiful sunset and nice chip butties as always – cheers Mid Shropshire Wheelers”.

In the BBR Veterans Series Steven Prince took another win to narrow the gap to Paramount’s Chris Riley, with his 4:27.2 beating Scott Palmer by 11.4 seconds. Despite this great effort the Ludlow Brewery rider didn’t have the best of it, with this time 16 seconds down on his 2022 effort showing the trickiness of conditions. Prince reflected: “A great turn out of riders on a climb I really like, but I seemed to struggle for some reason. One of those nights where the harder I pressed on the pedals the slower I went! It was a great time by Kirk for the win; and thanks Mid Shropshire Wheelers and all the marshals”.

Result:

Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Points
1 Kirk Vickers Holohan Coaching RT S 4:02.4 20
2 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 4:17.2 18
3 Sam Holwill TrainSharp Development Team S 4:22.5 .
4 Steven Prince Ludlow Brewery RT V 4:27.2 16
5 Scott Palmer Aerologic RT V 4:38.6 14
6 John Woodward Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 4:39.6 12
7 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 4:54.3 10
8 Noah White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 4:56.2 8
9 James Hards Unattached S 5:00.8 .
10 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 5:02.4 6
11 Richard Bacon Unattached V 5:18.5 .
12 Andrew Wakefield Mid Shropshire Wheelers S 5:27.8 4
13 Becky Griffiths Paramount CRT W 5:30.0 2
14 Basil Wilson Unattached V 5:34.4 .
15 Tim Wilson Unattached S 5:40.0 .
16 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 5:40.2 2
17 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC S 5:40.6 2
18 Elliott Wills Wrekinsport CC S 5:45.6 2
19 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 5:52.1 2
20 Jude White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 5:57.3 2
21 Ian Townsend Paramount CRT V 6:00.3 2
22 Neil Wilson Paramount CRT V 6:01.7 2
23 Des Pugh Hafren CC V 6:04.5 2
24 Andy Collins Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 6:06.6 2
25 Phil Gardner Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 6:13.9 2
26 Keith Richards Unattached V 6:41.6 .
27 Claire Blackwell-Smyth Paramount CRT WV 7:16.4 2
28 Connor Gatfield Unattached J 9:57.6 .
29 Geoff Sproson Unattached V 11:28.9 .

Veterans on Actual:

Vets Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Vets Points
1 Steven Prince Ludlow Brewery RT V 4:27.2 20
2 Scott Palmer Aerologic RT V 4:38.6 18
3 John Woodward Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 4:39.6 16
4 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 5:02.4 14
5 Richard Bacon Unattached V 5:18.5 .
6 Basil Wilson Unattached V 5:34.4 .
7 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 5:40.2 12
8 Ian Townsend Paramount CRT V 6:00.3 10
9 Neil Wilson Paramount CRT V 6:01.7 8
10 Des Pugh Hafren CC V 6:04.5 6
11 Andy Collins Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 6:06.6 4
12 Phil Gardner Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 6:13.9 2
13 Keith Richards Unattached V 6:41.6 .
14 Claire Blackwell-Smyth Paramount CRT WV 7:16.4 2
15 Geoff Sproson Unattached V 11:28.9 .

Women’s:

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Becky Griffiths Paramount CRT W 5:30.0 20
2 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 5:52.1 16
3 Claire Blackwell-Smyth Paramount CRT WV 7:16.4 2

Juniors:

Junior Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Junior Points
1 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 4:54.3 20
2 Noah White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 4:56.2 18
3 Jude White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 5:57.3 16

Cumulative standings after three rounds

Overall Top 10:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 54
2 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 40
3 Steven Prince Ludlow Brewery RT V 34
4 Scott Palmer Aerologic RT V 30
5 John Woodward Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 22
=6 Dave Scott Mule CC S 20
=6 Kirk Vickers Holohan Coaching RT S 20
8 Phil Roberts Wrekinsport CC S 16
9 Robbie Disney Aerologic RT S 14
=10 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 12
=10 Sara Willhoit Paramount CRT W 12

Veterans Top 10:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 46
2 Steven Prince Ludlow Brewery RT V 40
=3 John Woodward Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 36
=3 Scott Palmer Aerologic RT V 36
5 Andy Collins Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 28
6 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 26
7 Neil Wilson Paramount CRT V 22
8 Simon Romei Paramount CRT V 18
9 Claire Blackwell-Smyth Paramount CRT WV 12
10 Ian Townsend Paramount CRT V 10

Women’s standings:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Becky Griffiths Paramount CRT W 58
2 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 52
3 Claire Blackwell-Smyth Paramount CRT WV 32
4 Sara Willhoit Paramount CRT W 20
5 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC WV 14

Junior standings:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 60
=2 Chester Romei Paramount CRT J 18
=2 Noah White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 18
4 Jude White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 16