Oswestry Paragon’s Mount Road climb suffered from a weekend of bad weather as conditions put some off in Round 7 of the BBR Hill Climb Series. The 1.65 mile climb towards The Old Racecourse is unusual with a flat and occasionally even slightly downhill middle section – but the last half mile makes the knees buckle. Rising to 17%, this hill holds no secrets of what is to come, with the climb rearing up almost arrow straight in front. Won by Dave Scott, the Mule CC rider closed the gap to Series leader Tomos Hales down to a 14 point advantage with a fabulous effort of 6 minutes 5.60 seconds – but it almost wasn’t so as he explained: “Oswestry was a last minute decision due to the weather, but I always like to support the local hill climb although it’s not my favourite climb with a long flat section, but happy to get the win”!
A rider new to the Series has been making plenty of waves in his first year with Will Witterick encountering many classic climbs for the first time – and not only took the BBR Veterans win, but also overall runner-up too. Despite Scott pushing him down to third place Overall he now has a 40 point lead in the Veterans standings, with unusually over-40 riders outnumbering younger competitors on the day. Witterick’s impressions of Mount Road shows how that wall of pain laid out with no escape but to grind your way out of it plays with the head: “Another new one on me. It seems harmless enough on paper, but a very intimidating climb in person. My old school, tech-free method of pacing was adequate as I was happy with the amount of juice I had left for the final kick. Thanks to Oswestry Paragon and the other lads on the day – it felt like a Veteran’s meet-up”! The Mid Shropshire Wheeler got to the top in 6:41.01.
Witterick’s nearest challenger both in the Overall and Veterans competitions was Oswestry Paragon’s Rob Kerr, making his first appearance of the Series in 2024 and on this hill for several years – and he showed that being rested and feeling strong is a must in this game: “It was a last minute decision to do the event as I’d already done Park Run that morning which I regretted once the hill climb started as my legs weren’t completely fresh. It was the first time I’d done the event in three years, but it was nice to be back doing it again as it’s one of North Shropshire’s classic climbs”.
Full result:
| Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Time | Points |
| 1 | David Scott | Mule CC | S | 6:05.60 | 20 |
| 2 | William Witterick | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 6:41.01 | 18 |
| 3 | Rob Kerr | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 7:26.35 | 16 |
| 4 | Andrew Wakefield | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | S | 7:51.73 | 14 |
| 5 | Jan Kardasz | Fibrax Fenwicks Wrexham RC | V | 7:58.45 | . |
| 6 | Neil Coles | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 8:08.94 | 12 |
| 7 | Jack Young | Oswestry Paragon CC | S | 8:13.54 | 10 |
| 8 | Andrew Dawson | Paramount CRT | V | 8:26.45 | 8 |
| 9 | Mike Doyle | Oswestry Paragon CC | S | 12:14.58 | 6 |
| 10 | Stephen Davies | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 12:14.82 | 4 |
Veterans:
| Vets Pos’n | Name | Club | Cat | Time | Vets Points |
| 1 | William Witterick | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 6:41.01 | 20 |
| 2 | Rob Kerr | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 7:26.35 | 18 |
| 3 | Jan Kardasz | Fibrax Fenwicks Wrexham RC | V | 7:58.45 | . |
| 4 | Neil Coles | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 8:08.94 | 16 |
| 5 | Andrew Dawson | Paramount CRT | V | 8:26.45 | 14 |
| 6 | Stephen Davies | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 12:14.82 | 12 |
Cumulative standings after seven rounds
Overall Top 10:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 6 |
| 1 | Tomos Hales | Wrekinsport CC | S | 112 |
| 2 | Dave Scott | Mule CC | S | 98 |
| 3 | William Witterick | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 92 |
| 4 | Troy Rimell | Mule CC | S | 62 |
| 5 | Paul Bailey | Bridgnorth CC | V | 50 |
| 6 | Hayley Wells | Wrekinsport CC | F | 36 |
| =7 | Andrew Wakefield | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | S | 26 |
| =7 | Neil Coles | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 26 |
| 9 | Jack Young | Oswestry Paragon CC | S | 24 |
| =10 | Mason Durant | Paramount CRT | S | 22 |
| =10 | Phil Roberts | Wrekinsport CC | S | 22 |
Veterans Top 10:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 6 |
| 1 | William Witterick | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 118 |
| 2 | George Kirby | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 78 |
| 3 | Paul Bailey | Bridgnorth CC | V | 74 |
| 4 | Neil Coles | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 66 |
| 5 | Chris Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 36 |
| 6 | James Elgar | Paramount CRT | V | 34 |
| 7 | Claire Blackwell-Smyth | Paramount CRT | FV | 28 |
| 8 | Andrew Dawson | Paramount CRT | V | 26 |
| 9 | Steven Prince | Ludlow Brewery RT | V | 20 |
| =10 | Matt Davies | Holohan Coaching RT | V | 18 |
| =10 | Rob Kerr | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | 18 |
Female standings:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 6 |
| 1 | Hayley Wells | Wrekinsport CC | F | 120 |
| 2 | Claire Blackwell-Smyth | Paramount CRT | FV | 72 |
| 3 | Becky Griffiths | Paramount CRT | F | 18 |
| 4 | Emma Richards | Paramount CRT | F | 16 |
Junior standings:
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 6 |
| =1 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | J | 20 |
| =1 | Jude White | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | J | 20 |
| 3 | Connor Gatfield | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | J | 18 |