Friction Hydraulics Series Round 2: Ludlow CC Scenic 20

A new course guaranteed inaugural course records in Round 2 of the Friction Hydraulics Series, with riders doubling the distance in the Ludlow CC Scenic 20, held on the beautiful Long Meadowend – Purslow – Hopton Heath triangle. A testing 10 mile circuit previously only used for club events and in the SB Sports Injuries Series until a permissions upgrade was made even tougher by adding a lap – and throwing in a rising wind and bitterly cold conditions for good measure; although the one saving grace was that things remained dry. ‘Technical and varied’ is an understatement for this course, which really gives competitors a workout. The reigning Friction Series and Friction Female Series champions, both newly signed to Aerologic made the running; with Tomos Hales moving to the top of the overall Series standings, whilst Hayley Wells extended her Female Series lead as both set out their stalls with superb efforts.

Hales stopped the watch on 47 minutes 36 seconds for a excellent winning margin                       of 4:18 over nearest challenger Chris Riley, having only entered the event last minute, but opening up a 55 point Series lead as a result. Hales explained his initial reticence, but came away with a different perspective: “I was a bit apprehensive about an early spring race on this course as the weather could have been anything. Fortunately it was just a cold spring morning; however I would have preferred the usual weather on this course when we race in August and only have to do one lap. I attacked the hills hard and didn’t really get warm until the second lap. I was happy to average over 25mph over the two laps and take the win. I was super impressed with the Ludlow CC organisation, with a fantastic village hall for the HQ and so many marshals out in the cold. Well done Ian Conno lly for running a great event; and I’m hoping it becomes a permanent feature on the calendar”.

The event attracted some quality riders from outside the SCCA orbit with Wells taking the major scalp of ex-professional Lauren Creamer, just one year Wells’ senior by 1:53. Having already lower a course record in Round 1 Wells set the inaugural female benchmark at 52:49 to take sixth spot overall with a supreme effort, opening up her lead over Paramount’s Thea Osmund-Smith to 15 points. Like Hales, Wells was extremely impressed with the event, commenting: “A chilly Sunday morning which meant pushing hard up the hills to get warm! I started off conservatively knowing this wasn’t an easy course; then found a little more confidence in the second lap. Superb support from the marshals on course – a very well organised event by Ludlow CC. It would be great to see this one in the diary again next year”.

The battle for overall runner-up was split by just 10 seconds as Paramount’s Chris Riley got the better in the overall standings over Stuart Proctor – but lost out in the Veterans to the same rider when the age-related standards were applied. Riley crossed the line in 51:54, but the one year older Proctor got the better of things by five seconds in the Veterans class with +4:04. Riley had been looking forward to this event with a keen sense of anticipation and it did not disappoint: “A fantastic Ludlow CC event; two laps of the Scenic course is genuinely twice as good as the one lap SB race later in the year. It was brilliant, but the temperature was bitter and the wind did get up throughout the event. It is a cracker of a course with so many different bits to get your head around. I particularly looked forward to this new event and despite the cold it didn’t disappoint; it has the right sort of climbs for a sporting time trial course. A great effort from all the riders on such a cold day, and hats off to Ludlow for a superbly organised event – thanks to the loads of marshals and helpers. This is a classic for the future”.

Aside from taking the winner’s spot in the Veterans class and third overall, Dave Scott Coaching rider Stuart Proctor also took the win in the Road Bike category too in a handicap time of 49:03, ahead of Ludlow CC’s Hannah Lancaster on 54:58 in his first season back since 2018. Like many riders he appreciated the effort that went into promoting a successful new event whilst lamenting the wind chill factor: “It certainly was a fresh morning, more suited to winter kit than a skin suit! A great new course addition to the Series, and having raced the route on local 10’s some years ago I knew what to expect, and didn’t think there’d be much between road bikes and time trial bikes on the course: apart from Tomos! That said, I was really chuffed with my time, I think the cold conditions helped by making me want and need to work harder than normal, and it paid off for me on the day. Superbly organised by Ludlow CC; and a nice bit of banter on the start line too – much kudos to all”.

SCCA:

Veterans:

Females:

Road Bikes:

Top Club Award:

Cumulative Standing after two rounds

Overall

Veterans

Females

Road Bikes

Top Club Award