Planned as a 21 mile event for the second year running Bridgnorth CC’s Hilly event taking in Bridgnorth – Much Wenlock – Shipton – Morville had to be truncated to 18 miles again; in this case due to a vintage tractor run rather than traffic lights. Won by event organiser Tim Beardmore for the promoting club, Bridgnorth made big strides to take over the lead in the Top Club Award in Round 2 of the Friction Hydraulics Series. This is a tough, rolling course made all the harder by wet conditions that meant twisting descents had to be taken cautiously. Beardmore stopped the watch on 44 minutes 23 seconds for a 24 second victory over Wrekinsport’s Tomos Hales, but didn’t stop there, making it a brace with a win in the Friction Veteran’s Series too in +4:25.
Beardmore is already setting out sterling defences of his dual Friction Series and Friction Veterans Series Championships as he returned to the top in the former and stretched his lead in the latter. He stated: “The weather conditions weren’t the best with wet roads, but thankfully all riders got round safely. I had to take it super easy on the descents. I felt better on the bike than my previous race and was very happy to take the County win. Thanks to everyone who helped out to make the race happen, shame more riders don’t enter what is such a fun challenging course”.
Hales was making his first appearance of the Series after being unable to ride the first round but quickly made up for lost time with a fine ride of 44:47. Like Beardmore, he knew that taking the tricky downhill sections at pace would potentially result in a spill, so put the hammer down on the climbs: “The challenging, hilly course was made even harder with the wet roads. “I went hard on the uphill but was cautious on the down. Well done to Tim with a cracking time and organising the event; and thanks to Bridgnorth CC for marshalling”.
Beardmore’s team mate Jonathan Mills-Keeling took the final podium spot Overall in 45:23 to see off the attentions of Ludlow CC’s Robbie Disney by 44 seconds, with Disney moving up to second in the Friction Series as a result of his ride. Mills-Keeling also made it a Bridgnorth CC 1-2 in the Veteran’s competition with a fine +3:15. Conditions seemed to affect him however as the cold and damp made things difficult: “It was a really cold and wet morning and my head wasn’t really into it, I tried to focus but couldn’t really get a decent pace. Well done to Tim and Tomos, and thanks to Bridgnorth CC for putting on”.
Bridgnorth had a cracking morning with Catherine Coley taking the Women’s honours exactly three minutes ahead of Wrekinsport’s Bethan Till in 53:15. She was effusive in her post-race comments and is looking forward to future events: “It was a great event for testing early-season form or lack of it, and fantastic organising and riding by Tim. Thank you to all the marshals who stood out there in the rain and wind, to Tim’s mother for manning the kitchen and to Mick Smith for doing the sign on and helping with all the pins. Well done the Bridgnorth! The course was pretty testing with a strong north-easterly headwind, a lumpy section into Wenlock and a big climb out of it. There were some technical twisty sections on the Wenlock to Shipton road which were well sketchy on 22mm tubular tyres, and the headwind after the turn back onto the Corvedale road was like a wall. Roll on the spring! Having said that I thoroughly enjoyed it and having not done much in the way of time trials am now planning a couple more”!
SCCA:
| Pos’n | Forename | Surname | Club | Cat | Time | Points |
| 1 | Tim | Beardmore | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | 00:44:23 | 60 |
| 2 | Tomos | Hales | Wrekinsport CC | S | 00:44:47 | 55 |
| 3 | Jonathan | Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | 00:45:23 | 50 |
| 4 | Robbie | Disney | Ludlow CC | S | 00:46:07 | 45 |
| 5 | Simon | Romei | Paramount CRT | V | 00:47:25 | 40 |
| 6 | Christopher | Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 00:48:18 | 35 |
| 7 | Tim | Cullinan | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | 00:48:40 | 30 |
| 8 | Robert | McGregor | Paramount CRT | S | 00:49:16 | 25 |
| 9 | Peter | Jukes | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 00:51:23 | 20 |
| 10 | Jonathan | Dickens | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | 00:51:26 | 15 |
| 11 | Catherine | Coley | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | WV | 00:53:15 | 10 |
| 12 | David | Drew | North Shropshire Wheelers | V | 00:55:40 | 5 |
| 13 | Ian | Connolly | Ludlow CC | V | 00:55:53 | 5 |
| 14 | Bethan | Till | Wrekinsport CC | W | 00:56:15 | 5 |
| . | Chester | Romei | Paramount CRT | J | DNF | . |
| . | Paul | Duncan | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | DNS-A | . |
| . | Jason | Arnold | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | DNS-A | . |
Veterans:
| Vets Pos’n | Forename | Surname | Club | Cat | Vet +/- | Vets Points |
| 1 | Tim | Beardmore | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | +4:25 | 60 |
| 2 | Jonathan | Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | +3:15 | 55 |
| 3 | Christopher | Riley | Paramount CRT | V | +1:00 | 50 |
| 4 | Catherine | Coley | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | WV | +0:44 | 45 |
| 5 | Simon | Romei | Paramount CRT | V | +0:38 | 40 |
| 6 | Tim | Cullinan | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | -1:24 | 35 |
| 7 | Peter | Jukes | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | -2:05 | 30 |
| 8 | David | Drew | North Shropshire Wheelers | V | -3:07 | 25 |
| 9 | Jonathan | Dickens | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | -3:14 | 20 |
| 10 | Ian | Connolly | Ludlow CC | V | -6:46 | 15 |
| . | Paul | Duncan | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | . | . |
| . | Jason | Arnold | Oswestry Paragon CC | V | . | . |
Women:
| Women’s Pos’n | Forename | Surname | Club | Cat | Time | Women’s Points |
| 1 | Catherine | Coley | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | WV | 00:53:15 | 60 |
| 2 | Bethan | Till | Wrekinsport CC | W | 00:56:15 | 55 |
Junior:
| Junior Pos’n | Forename | Surname | Club | Cat | Time | Junior Points |
| . | Chester | Romei | Paramount CRT | J | DNF | . |
Top Club Award:
| Pos’n | Club | Points |
| 1 | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | 165 |
| 2 | Paramount CRT | 100 |
| 3 | Wrekinsport CC | 60 |
| 4 | Ludlow CC | 50 |
| 5 | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | 20 |
| 6 | North Shropshire Wheelers | 5 |
Cumulative Standings after two rounds
Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series
| Position | Name | Club | Cat | Best 12 |
| 1 | Tim Beardmore | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | 115 |
| 2 | Robbie Disney | Ludlow CC | S | 100 |
| 3 | Mason Durant | Paramount CRT | S | 60 |
| 4 | Tomos Hales | Wrekinsport CC | S | 55 |
| =5 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | V | 50 |
| =5 | Peter Jukes | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 50 |
| 7 | Paul Duncan | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | V | 45 |
| =8 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | J | 40 |
| =8 | Simon Romei | Paramount CRT | V | 40 |
| =10 | Adam Mumford | Wrekinsport CC | S | 35 |
| =10 | Christopher Riley | Paramount CRT | V | 35 |
Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship
| Position | Name | Club | Best 12 |
| 1 | Tim Beardmore | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | 120 |
| 2 | Peter Jukes | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | 80 |
| 3 | Ian Connolly | Ludlow CC | 60 |
| =4 | Jonathan Mills-Keeling | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | 55 |
| =4 | Paul Duncan | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | 55 |
| 6 | Christopher Riley | Paramount CRT | 50 |
| 7 | Catherine Coley | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | 45 |
| =8 | Simon Romei | Paramount CRT | 40 |
| =8 | Victoria Doran | Wrekinsport CC | 40 |
| 10 | Tim Cullinan | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | 35 |
Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship
| Women’s Pos’n | Name | Club | Best 12 |
| 1 | Bethan Till | Wrekinsport CC | 115 |
| 2 | Catherine Coley | Bridgnorth CC | 60 |
| 3 | Victoria Doran | Wrekinsport CC | 55 |
| 4 | Helen Blake | Wrekinsport CC | 50 |
Friction and Hydraulic Services Junior Championship
| Junior Pos’n | Name | Club | Best 12 |
| 1 | Ben Southgate | Wrekinsport CC | 60 |
Top Club Award
| Position | Club | Total Points |
| 1 | Bridgnorth Cycling Club | 220 |
| 2 | Wrekinsport CC | 205 |
| 3 | Paramount CRT | 160 |
| 4 | Ludlow CC | 115 |
| 5 | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | 95 |
| 6 | North Shropshire Wheelers | 5 |