The first of three events on the by now familiar Prees – Battlefield 25 mile course to bring the Friction Hydraulics Series to a close saw Oswestry Paragon’s Dave Griffiths take his first win in an Open event for two years in Round 16, the North Shropshire Wheeler’s 25. Griffiths managed to blast his way around the tricky, rolling course despite strong winds in 54 minutes 43 seconds – as Tomos Hales’ runner-up spot did enough to seal the Overall Series and all three medals in the Friction Veterans Series were settled.

Griffiths, a GP admits to struggling with maintaining fitness consistently due to catching illnesses from his patients, but here he finally got the better of Hales who had performed better in both of their previous head-to-head meeting this season. Griffiths stated: “Good to get a win and worth getting out of bed early for. I felt terrible during the ride, but managed to go 6 seconds faster than I did in Round 4 for significantly less power. Hopefully this is the start of some consistency before the end of season objectives – thank you organisers for putting the event on”.

Hales recorded a fine 57:15 to put himself into an unbeatable position after beating Chris Riley by 55 seconds, taking over at the top of the standings from Simon Romei who captured Overall Silver. Hales was delighted to win the Series, although was sad about the road work issues that lost both long-distance events from the calendar and saw a restricted course selection, commenting: “Very happy to take the Series win, I’ve always enjoyed this Series and I like the early year hilly time trials. I’ve had a great battle with Simon this year, and well done to him. I was disappointed not to have any 100 mile races this year and a few more races on Battlefield than I would have liked. However, great support for the Shropshire races. and thanks for all the clubs involved for hosting and everyone that helped out. Racing could not happen without them and it’s much appreciated”. Turning to the morning’s racing he added: “I struggled to get going on the Battlefield course; a tough headwind out to the turn then only seemed to get a cross-tail on the return. Thanks to North Shropshire Wheelers for running the event, they are as organised and as keen as ever”.

Romei had the consolation of taking Friction Veterans Series Gold ahead of Paramount’s Riley, who took Veterans Silver, and Hafren CC’s Bryn Davies who captured the Bronze. Romei was thrilled with his brace of medals, stating: “Super happy to have claimed the Overall Silver and Veterans Gold in the Friction Hydraulics Series; thank you once again to all the marshals who make these races happen, you do an excellent job”.

Riley had a good morning’s work with third spot Overall on the day in 58:10 ahead of Davies by 1:14; and ahead of the same rider by +2:37 as runner-up in the Veterans behind Deb Hutson-Lumb in +11:06. He expressed satisfaction at both his efforts and winning that Veterans Silver medal: “A nice tailwind run for home on the Battlefield express. It was a good buzz, but you had to have your A49 head on to get anything out of this one. A well run friendly race by the North Shropshire Wheelers; thanks everyone. A medal behind Super Simon is one I am certainly proud of. It’s been a difficult year for the Friction Hydraulics Series, but a lot of hard work and determination ensured we had a good selection of races – thanks to all the promoting clubs and SCCA”.

Hutson-Lumb took victory on the day in both the Friction Female Series with 1:02:18 and in the Veterans with +13:12. This is not one of her favoured courses, but one she has learnt to pace after repeated use this year. Her efforts captured the final Bronze medal in the Female Series as well as beating her previous course best by 1:20. She commented: “Not a course I find easy to pace, but I made a better job of it than usual. I took it relatively easy on the way out despite the headwind, keeping the harder efforts for the climbs. Then I found I had enough left to push on for the return leg. I was very pleased to get a course personal best; thanks to everyone involved in running the event. I was pleased to be in the medals despite missing a good few Friction races; I’m looking forward to not doing Battlefield next year! Many thanks to everyone involved in running the Series”.

Friction Road Bike Series winner Mark Fenn had his eye on comparing himself to a known fast rider in the Open event, Mark Lovall of Congleton CC, who finished in an incredible time of 56:56. Fenn coped much better with the return leg, finishing in an adjusted 1:04:20 and whilst full of awe for Lovall’s performance also showed his preparation and negative split tactics at play: “Mark Lovall took eight minutes out of me which is very impressive; but I’m happy with my race – I was three minutes down on my target at halfway, and happy to pull back two of those on the return, showing how the weather needed to be allowed throughout the race. I was happy with my process for the event”.

There was one final medal settled on the day as Wrekinsport’s Ben Southgate can no longer be caught in the Friction Junior Series. He expressed satisfaction at his performances in the Series, commenting: “I was very happy with my performances and the effort I put in”.

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series – Round 16

Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Time Points
1 David Griffiths Oswestry Paragon CC S 0:54:43 60
2 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 0:57:15 55
3 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V 0:58:10 50
4 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 0:59:24 45
5 Alvydas Janusauskas Paramount CRT S 0:59:27 40
6 Adam Mumford Wrekinsport CC S 1:01:22 35
7 Mark Hill Hafren CC V 1:01:54 30
8 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC FV 1:02:18 25
9 Richard Nickless Shropshire CCA V 1:03:09 20
10 Neil Vose Hafren CC V 1:04:40 15
11 Mark Fenn Shropshire CCA V 1:05:21 10
12 Simon Jones Hafren CC V 1:08:18 5
13 Jamie Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:09:45 5
14 Jan Davies Hafren CC FV 1:11:12 5
15 Benjamin Nickolls Paramount CRT V 1:11:47 5
16 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC FV 1:12:34 5
17 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:12:47 5
18 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 1:17:42 5
19 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:18:40 5
20 Terry Price North Shropshire Wheelers V 1:28:30 5
. Robert Garbett Wrekinsport CC V DNF .
. Ellie Langley North Shropshire Wheelers F DNS-A .
. Robert McGregor Paramount CRT S DNS .

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship – Round 16

Vets Pos’n Forename Surname Club Vet +/- Vets Points
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC +13:12 60
2 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT +11:06 55
3 Bryn Davies Hafren CC +8:29 50
4 Mark Hill Hafren CC +7:22 45
5 Richard Nickless Shropshire CCA +4:44 40
6 Neil Vose Hafren CC +4:00 35
7 Jan Davies Hafren CC +2:07 30
8 Mark Fenn Shropshire CCA +1:40 25
9 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC +1:36 20
10 Jamie Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers +0:31 15
11 Simon Jones Hafren CC -1:06 10
12 Les Boughey North Shropshire Wheelers -1:47 5
13 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers -3:55 5
14 Benjamin Nickolls Paramount CRT -5:47 5
15 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC -10:41 5
16 Terry Price North Shropshire Wheelers -20:37 5

Friction and Hydraulic Services Female Championship – Round 16

Female Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat Time Female Points
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC FV 1:02:18 60
2 Jan Davies Hafren CC FV 1:11:12 55
3 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC FV 1:12:34 50
. Ellie Langley North Shropshire Wheelers F DNS-A .

Friction and Hydraulic Services Road Bike Championship – Round 16

RB Pos’n Forename Surname Club Cat RB Adj Time RB Points
1 Mark Fenn Shropshire CCA V 1:04:20 60
2 Benjamin Nickolls Paramount CRT V 1:11:47 55
3 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 1:16:41 50
. Ellie Langley North Shropshire Wheelers F DNS-A .

Top Club Award – Round 16

Pos’n Club Points
1 Wrekinsport CC 120
2 Hafren CC 100
3 Paramount CRT 95
4 Oswestry Paragon CC 65
5 North Shropshire Wheelers 20

Cumulative Standings after sixteen rounds

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 685
2 Simon Romei Paramount CRT V 640
3 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 525
4 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V 495
5 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Aerologic RT V 390
6 Hayley Wells Wrekinsport CC F 345
7 Robert McGregor Paramount CRT S 305
8 Dean Callister Aerologic RT S 295
9 Alvydas Janusauskas Paramount CRT S 275
10 Paul Horton Bridgnorth Cycling Club S 200

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship

Vets Position Name Club Best 12
1 Simon Romei Paramount CRT 700
2 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT 665
3 Bryn Davies Hafren CC 620
4 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 465
5 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Aerologic RT 460
6 Mark Fenn Shropshire CCA 335
7 Colin Wells Paramount CRT 325
8 Ian Connolly Ludlow CC 305
9 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 285
10 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC 170

Friction and Hydraulic Services Female Championship

Female Pos’n Name Club Best 12
1 Hayley Wells Wrekinsport CC 740
2 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 585
3 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 390
4 Emma Brown Paramount CRT 190
5 Thea Osmund-Smith Paramount CRT 150
6 Jan Davies Hafren CC 135
7 Sorrel Williams SCCA Private Member 90
8 Jayne Powell Paramount CRT 75
9 Caitlin Burke Paramount CRT 35
10 Kathryn Rossiter North Shropshire Wheelers 35

Friction and Hydraulic Services Road Bike Championship

Road Bike Pos’n Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Mark Fenn Shropshire CCA V 575
2 Ian Townsend Paramount CRT V 285
3 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 280
4 Paul Duncan Paramount CRT V 175
5 David Cannell Paramount CRT V 155
6 Emma Brown Paramount CRT F 140
7 Benjamin Nickolls Paramount CRT V 130
8 Jonathan Goh Paramount CRT V 120
9 William Preston Paramount CRT S 105
10 Douglas Brown Paramount CRT V 85

Friction and Hydraulic Services Junior Championship

Junior Pos’n Name Club Best 12
1 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC 180
2 Chester Romei Paramount CRT 60

Top Club Award

Position Club Total Points
1 Paramount CRT 2375
2 Wrekinsport CC 1615
3 Aerologic RT 935
4 Hafren CC 760
5 Bridgnorth Cycling Club 315
6 Oswestry Paragon CC 290
7 Newport (Shropshire) CC 250
8 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 165
9 North Shropshire Wheelers 145
10 Ludlow CC 130