Hafren CC

The finale of The Coaching Revolutions 2-Up Series saw the destination of five pairs of medals still outstanding from the nine pairs on offer. Chief amongst those medals was the settlement of Overall Gold and Silver, with the ball pre-race very much in the court of Bryn Davies and Bryn Thomas. The only way they could be overtaken by the Nova Raiders pair of Scott Harris and Matt Gibbons was with a very specific set of circumstances. Harris and Gibbons would need to win the event and Davies and Thomas would have to finish third or lower to tie on points and hope the Hafren CC pair wouldn’t beat 20 minutes 50 seconds in the final round, Hafren’s own event taking place on the fast Welshpool – Four Crosses course.

In the end an Ill-timed holiday put paid to a late challenge and a sizable win from Davies and Thomas on their home course rendered the outside chance a moot point. They beat the nearest challenge by 1:50 with their 21:12 effort, showing their dominance as they retained the 2-Up Championship for a second year on the trot. Davies, making it two Championships in two nights after sealing the SB Sports Injuries Series the previous evening was delighted, commenting: “I was super-chuffed to finish off with a win and to seal the 2-Up Series win. It’s been a great competition and some close racing throughout the season, thanks everyone involved for a great season’s racing“. Thomas added: “Thanks to everyone involved, both organisers and competitors for making it such a great series to compete in, and of course Bryn for all the ‘beastings’! Hope to see you all again next year“.

Hafren CC dominated their own event, not only taking the Overall win but the runner-up spot as well as Mixed and Women’s Team wins. With Davies and Thomas sealing Gold team mates Neil Vose and Mark Hill took the runners-up position on the evening in 23:02. Vose and Hill already had the Bronze medals in their pockets having won them in the penultimate 9th round and showed why they have become such an effective pairing in their first season together – although their final ride together wasn’t without it’s issues. Hill explained: “Warming up had us wondering on the wind direction as it was quiet blustery. Off the start was good until I moved over after about 1 kilometre – no Neil behind me! His right cleat had snapped on take off. He soon appeared and we got up to pace into a steady headwind. Many thanks to all clubs this year, it was a cracking season for us“. Vose added: “I lost a cleat at the start but managed to catch Mark after about a mile. A tough wind going out but tailwind coming back. We beat our best time on this course by 25 seconds and consolidated 3rd place. Looking forward to next year already“.

Whilst Vose and Hill have had a season to get used to each others’ styles there was no such familiarity in the Women’s Championship with a first-time pairing of Emma Sarjeant and Louise Downward. Nervous about working together the pair listened to the solid advice given to them by team mates and not only took the Women’s win, they did enough to take Women’s Bronze too. Pre-race that position had been occupied by Revolutions Racing’s Pauline Hughes and Amanda Whitmore, but with Sarjeant and Downward tying on points the pairs were split on second count back with Sarjeant and Downward having posted the faster time. Sarjeant stated: “I was apprehensive at the start as I’m not experienced at 2-Ups but enjoyed the race. We’re looking forward to competing in the Series next season. I’d also like to thank the guys at Hafren CC for their words of advice prior to the race and their support and encouragement“. Downward also made mention of the encouragement of team mates adding: “Myself and Emma teamed up for our first 2-Up together. Other Hafren members offered us some great tips and encouragement, and although a little nervous about the changeovers and close riding we went out and gave it a good go. We were really pleased with our time and are looking forward to doing more 2-Ups in the near future“.

Four teams were in competition in the Mixed Team Championship, with another Hafren CC pairing of Lucy Davies and Rob Finch posting a dominant time of 23:54 on the night, 2:17 ahead of the nearest competition offered by Marches CC’s Paddy Crisp and Claire Bryan. The pair had ridden together before, but a while ago, and Finch was in no doubt who had done the lion’s share of the work in his complementary comments post-race: “This was our first 2-Up outing together for some time, so it was good to get the win. Lucy is in great form at the moment and was by far the strongest in our partnership, so all credit to her for towing me round to a great time“! Davies added: “It was quite a tough night, quite windy. It was our first 2-Up for a while, we were pleased with a Personal Best for a 10 mile 2-Up. I think everyone did good times on the night“.

Whilst focus was on the overall race the Silver and Bronze medals in this Series were still up for grabs, with the Paramount CRT pair of Ceris Eslava and Gary Duncan taking Silver despite not riding the final race. Eslava stated: “I was pleased with this result. It’s a pity we didn’t enter more! A big thanks to Gary and The Coaching Revolutions team“. The Bronze medals meanwhile went to the husband and wife pairing of Steve and Tina Elcocks, who posted a huge personal best of 27:37 to beat Stuart Proctor and Louise Beddoes in a straight head-to-head for those medals. The Elcocks sliced a giant 1:56 off their previous best with this ride, with Steve over the moon and putting the success down to the hard work of his wife who is new to time trialling, commenting: “I’m chuffed for Tina, she’s put in lots of hard work and only hopes to get faster. I’m really pleased for her“.

Result:

Women’s Team:

Mixed Team:

Final Cumulative Standings after ten rounds

Overall

Women’s Team

Mixed Team