R3 Little Sweetpea Gardens/BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series: Oswestry Paragon CC Mount Road climb

It was a close call between two visiting riders getting their first experience of Oswestry Paragon CC’s 1.65 mile Mount Road Hill Climb in Round 3 of The Little Sweetpea Gardens/BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series as Juniors came to the fore. Mount Road is not for the faint-hearted, with a down hill stretch after an initial climb that can catch out the unwary who can be in immediate trouble at the foot of the vicious final half mile thanks to pushing too hard on the approach. That final half mile can sap the legs and turn them to jelly, with sometimes only pride seemingly propelling the riders onwards and upwards.

Just over a second separated teenagers Will Truelove of Abergavenny RC and Halesowen A&CC 14 year-old Tomos Pattinson, with Truelove in awe of the climb in his first visit from Herefordshire, stopping the watch on 6 minutes 18.73 seconds – a mightily impressive effort given the pedigree of some of the competition amongst a field of 30 mountain goats. Truelove wisely kept something in reserve for the final 17% push revealing: “A close one! A brutal climb, the first time I’ve done it. I enjoyed the event; I’ll definitely be back to it again. I tried to pace myself for it and save everything for that last half mile to be honest”.

Pattinson has travelled to all three climbs so far and his light weight was a distinct advantage as he crossed the line in 6:20.06. He was impressed with his first sight of this fearsome climb, which suited his abilities well: “I was very happy with it, a hard climb that seemed to go on for ever – and the headwind didn’t help! It was a climb that suited me as it was quite long and quite steep, especially the last half a mile”.

Almost incredibly 2015’s Shropshire Hill Climb Champion Dave Griffiths was making his first ever appearance in the Hill Climb Series, inaugurated in 2016 rather than being run as an individual championship. Now in the Veteran’s category Griffiths won the Veteran’s event by nearly 30 seconds from 2018 Champion Mark Hammond, and knows Mount Road very well indeed, his local climb. The Clee Cycles rider took 4^th place overall with a fabulous effort of 6:36.06 showing he can still cut it at the sharp end of the field. He had the advantage of a continental climbing trip in his legs which set him up for the challenge. He stated: “It was really good to get a number on my back and race again. I was really pleased with my time; I’ve not long got back from 10 days in the Italian Alps so it was hard to pace a flat out six minute effort”!

Hammond meanwhile stretched his lead at the top of the Veteran’s Series by a further two points over Paramount team mate Chris Riley with a fine effort of 7:05.12 – a personal best. Hammond commented: “It’s always a tough effort to judge up Mount Road, I was really pleased with how I paced it – PB time! It was a good event as always”.

Whilst Hammond was busy stretching his Veteran’s Series lead a new rider climbed to the top of the Overall standings both metaphorically and physically – and it clearly showed how popular this Series has become with Junior riders as Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ James Satoor heading the standings. Satoor took over from former professional Liam Holohan by six points. He stated: “It was a much longer climb at Oswestry made tougher into the headwind. It was really hard at the end, but I’m happy to go into the Series lead, hopefully I’ll be able to wrap it up at the last few rounds. Thanks a lot to Oswestry Paragon for putting on such a well run event”!

Just one female took on the challenge, with another teenager Gwyneth Parry of JRC Shutt Ridley Race Team cresting the line in 8:54.54. She stated: “It was good to do my first hill climb of the season. I enjoyed the course, although the climb to the finish is a bit of a killer”!

Full result:

SCCA:

Veterans:

Juniors:

Women’s:

Cumulative standings after three rounds

Overall Top 10:

Veterans Top 10:

Junior Top 10:

Women’s standings: