Mower Mec 2-Up Series R2: North Shropshire Wheelers 10

It was a case of ‘As you were’ in Round 2 of the Mower Mec 2-Up Series, the North Shropshire Wheelers 10 as the same winners rose to the top as in the opening round – and the same four second gap persisted between the overall winners and the runners-up. Chris Riley and Rob McGregor doubled their lead to four points on a cool, windy evening, stopping the watch on angel number 22 minutes 22 seconds to once again foil the strong pairing of Dave Scott and Jack Young of Dave Scott Coaching. The Paramount pair are previous Series winners but haven’t raced together since 2022, but have quickly fallen back into the routine.

The choice of machines proved vital, with Riley and McGregor choosing dedicated time trial bikes, as Riley explained the margin: “Aero versus power. The Dave Scott Coaching road bike boys both have big engines, but we have aero bars and disc wheels. I suspect they will improve their pacing strategy and win in the end, but for now that four seconds must be frustrating. Well done boys on a very blustery evening, a great event from North Shropshire Wheelers as usual – thanks everyone”.

Whilst Riley put the different down to technology, that aero advantage can however sometimes become a distinct disadvantage if conditions aren’t right; and with riders having to fight the bike at times that can see time lost, as McGregor explained: “It was a challenging evening with strong gusty winds, which made the bike quite twitchy at times. Dave and Jack were strong again, but we just managed to hold them off by maintaining our speed into the headwind on the final leg. I’m really enjoying the Mower Mec Series; and a great event by North Shropshire Wheelers”.

Scott and Young seem to be forming a strong alliance, crossing the line in 22:26, with Scott very complimentary about Young’s growing ability to punch through the air, commenting: “Jack and I had a good ride in tough blustery conditions. Jack was the stronger of our pairing, and he carried us to the finish in the final brutal headwind stretch. Slightly slower than our previous time despite higher power, it definitely wasn’t a fast evening”! Young added: “It went well despite the wind, I really enjoyed it; I’m looking forward to the next one”.

Young’s former 2-Up partner Peter Fletcher went one better than in Round 1 with new partner Karl Lombardi, crossing the line in 24:38 to push namesakes Mitchell and Evie Fletcher down to fourth on the night in 25:19, almost unbelievably swapping their times. After riding a road bike in the previous round Fletcher struggled to control the disc wheel at times, but came good: “Not the best conditions to ride a disc and it was as bad as I can remember, especially in the exposed sections. Karl and I generally worked relatively well together as we are a new partnership, working on minute intervals early on and saw how it went and thankfully it seemed to gel quite well. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the organisation, time keepers and marshalling team as I’m fully aware it regularly goes without a thank you and a quick thumbs up and thank you when passing hopefully went some way to show how appreciated they are, without whom we don’t get to come out and play”. Lombardi added: “All went well I think. I teamed with Pete this season and our experience in Round 1 wasn’t optimal as Pete was on his road bike due to his TT being out of action that day. For Round 2, we were both on our time trial bikes, but the weather was challenging to say the least, and I was blown around quite a bit, fighting to turnover numb legs in a meaningful way. We settled in pretty well considering, bleating encouragement, with some confusion of navigation and a few jokes along the way – thanks to the organisers”.

The husband and wife Fletcher team also suffered in the conditions, but opened up a 22 point lead in the Mixed Team standings, with the nearest challenge coming from Elaine Beckett and Terry Price of North Shropshire Wheelers in 31:45. This is a course the couple know well, so than knowledge helped them score their second maximum in this competition, with Evie stating: “It was nice to be back on a familiar course that me and Mitch rode together in our first 2-Up time trial last year. The conditions this year were slightly tougher, but never so bad when I have Mitch to block the wind for me! We are both happy to pick up maximum points, and set a 2-Up personal best on the course together. I look forward to continuing with this Series; and thank you to everyone for such amazing organisation”. Mitchell’s comments graphically displayed the disruptive force of the wind, which affected effort as it turned: “The conditions for Round 2 proved tougher than the first, with a tricky cross-headwind on the out leg. Due to this wind, it made it hard to manage the watts and keep self and partner together, but I feel that Evie and I did well as a team to stay as close as possible. However, everyone did get a good laugh as Evie dropped me off the line, motoring off down the road! We have ridden that course a lot, so it was very familiar grounds for us and we look forward to riding it again in the future. Thank you to North Shropshire Wheelers for hosting a great event, and it was even nicer to go home with maximum points”.

Another team going home with the maximum 40 points across the two rounds so far were Sophie Edge and Thea Osmund-Smith, who took the Female category win in 25:58 ahead of Jane Morris and Jo Evans of Market Drayton CC in 27:54. Edge has made a great start in her maiden season, only starting since May, with three straight wins, as highlighted by Osmund-Smith: “Another great outing with Sophie on a new course for us both, although it would be great if the race organisers could arrange warmer weather for the upcoming races! It was great to see more riders this week, and another Women’s team competing, especially in such cold and windy conditions. The downhill south of Prees was the best bit before a brutal, leg sapping headwind to the finish. I was pleased to take the win with Sophie who is having a stellar start to her racing career: 3/3 wins for her – thanks to North Shropshire Wheelers for hosting the event”. Edge however wasn’t initially looking forward to the race given the conditions, but soon settled into a fine rhythm in a quickly developing partnership. She stated: “Motivation was low going into the event: the cold blustery weather was not very inspiring! However, once we got going, we got into a good rhythm. Cheered on by Jack and Dave as they flew past us, we managed to dig deep up the climb, and although the last couple of miles were a slog into the headwind, Thea was super strong to the finish. We were marginally slower than the previous round, but happy with the time given the conditions”.

Full

Mixed Team

Female Team

Private solo time trial

Cumulative Standings after two rounds

Overall

Mixed Team

Female Team