With the SB Series joint leaders Jonathan Mills-Keeling and Tomos Hales both absent chasing riders took the opportunity to make up lost ground in Round 12, Wrekinsport CC’s Gordon Davies 19. Held over two laps of the club’s normal Shawbirch – Cotwall Bank circuit, riders faced a tough time with a north-westerly breeze hampering progress on the ‘mile straight’ and the toughest part of the course, the 1.8 mile climb of Cotwall Bank. Dan Watt took a fine win by 1 minute 12 seconds in a solid 42 minutes 27 seconds, beating off a strong challenge from the promoting club’s Chris Halford. Watts looked to be trying with all his might as he strained to reach the finish line, but his 10 mile split showed he faded a little on the second lap having already taken 56 seconds out of Halford. He confirmed this in his post-race comments: “A hard fought win with the ‘wind’ leg having to be ridden three times. 19 miles is an odd distance to pace, I had a good first lap but started to tighten up on the second, so I’m pleased to have brought the win home”.

Halford is having a quiet season by his standards, entering a limited number of races, but still took Overall runner-up spot with 43:39 as well as being Veterans winner by a huge +3:50 margin from Bridgnorth CC’s Christopher Wood with a fabulous +7:44. He stated: “I’m only riding to stay fit this year, so it was unexpected to get in the top three. Big kudos to me for not getting lost or having a bike related issue”!

There was a real battle for third spot with Ian Bond holding a 12 second lead over Phil Roberts at the 10 mile point. However Roberts came back strong, stopping the watch on 46:32 to push Bond into fourth by 26 seconds.

In the Women’s race Emma Horne took a great win of 2:57 from Wrekinsport’s Clare Cotterill, as well as third spot in the Veterans with +2:14; but Horne’s 54:24 left her disappointed due to being 2:06 down from her 2021 effort around the same course. This she put down to the after-effects of a bout of Covid-19: “It felt like hard work all the way round. I had forgotten my bike computer so no idea how I was doing so a bit disappointed to see two minutes slower than last year, but I’m just getting over Covid-19 so I should be pleased! Thank you to all the volunteers, and nice to see some other riders I know including Telford Triathlon Club”.

In the SB Junior Series Ben Southgate took Gold after taking another 20 points and putting himself into a mighty 110 point Series lead with his 48:01 effort – good enough for 6th spot overall. He stated: “Conditions were tough; however I pushed through the pain”. When told of his Series win he added: ”I’m very happy with my result, ready to push harder next time”.

Southgate also went home with Wrekinsport Gordon Davies Silver after the handicaps were applied, losing out to Ashley Kirkham who took Gold in an adjusted 37:04.

Full:

Pos’nNameClubCat10 mile TimeTimePoints
1Dan WattsSCCA Private MemberS22:1642:2720
2Chris HalfordWrekinsport CCV23:0443:3918
3Phil RobertsWrekinsport CCS24:2646:3216
4Ian BondWrekinsport CCS24:1446:5814
5Christopher WoodWrekinsport CCV24:4347:1012
6Ben SouthgateWrekinsport CCJ25:0348:0110
7Allan HendersonWrekinsport CCS25:3548:548
8George CoombesSCCA 1st ClaimS25:4749:116
9Ben WoodWrekinsport CCS26:3250:574
10Simon TharzWrekinsport CCS27:4453:082
11Emma HorneUnattachedWV28:4254:24.
12Ashley KirkhamWrekinsport CCV28:2954:342
13Clare CotterillWrekinsport CCWV30:2957:212
14Karen SherriffNova RaidersWV30:4159:022
15Sue WilliamsTelford Tri ClubWV33:151:03:37.

Veterans:

Vets Pos’nNameClubCatVet +/-Vets Points
1Chris HalfordWrekinsport CCV+7:4420
2Christopher WoodWrekinsport CCV+3:5418
3Emma HorneUnattachedWV+2:14.
4Clare CotterillWrekinsport CCWV-2:0716
5Karen SherriffNova RaidersWV-3:4814
6Ashley KirkhamWrekinsport CCV-3:5712
7Sue WilliamsTelford Tri ClubWV-5:55.

Women:

Women’s Pos’nNameClubCat10 mile TimeTimeWomen’s Points
1Emma HorneUnattachedWV28:4254:24.
2Clare CotterillWrekinsport CCWV30:2957:2120
3Karen SherriffNova RaidersWV30:4159:0218
4Sue WilliamsTelford Tri ClubWV33:151:03:37.

Juniors:

Junior Pos’nNameClubCat10 mile TimeTimeJunior Points
1Ben SouthgateWrekinsport CCJ25:0348:0120

Cumulative Standings after twelve rounds

Overall

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
=1 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 178
=1 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 178
3 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 80
4 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 66
=5 Dan Watts SCCA Private Member S 56
=5 George Coombes SCCA Private Member S 56
7 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 44
=8 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 42
=8 Darren Shaw SCCA Private Member V 42
10 Mark Pritchard Revolutions Racing S 40

Veterans

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth CC V 190
2 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 100
3 Darren Shaw SCCA Private Member V 58
4 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 50
5 Karen Sherriff Nova Raiders WV 48
6 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 46
7 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth CC V 38
=8 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 36
=8 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 36
=10 Chris Halford Wrekinsport CC V 34
=10 Christopher Wood Bridgnorth CC V 34

Women’s

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 100
2 Karen Sherriff Nova Raiders WV 58
=3 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC WV 44
=3 Jenny Newton Nova Raiders WV 44
5 Jan Davies Hafren CC WV 42
6 Clare Cotterill Wrekinsport CC WV 40
7 Clare O’Donnell Wrekinsport CC WV 36
8 Elaine Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers WV 26
=9 Nicki Doherty Ludlow CC W 20
=9 Vikki Jones Oswestry Paragon CC WV 20

Juniors

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 130
=2 Cerys Greaves SCCA Private Member WJ 20
=2 Chester Romei North Shropshire Wheelers J 20
=2 Harry Corney North Shropshire Wheelers J 20