The fearsome Mount Road in Oswestry saw the Women’s Course Record broken and a narrow win for Mule CC’s David Scott in Round 4 of the Little Sweetpea Gardens/BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series promoted by Oswestry Paragon. The 1.65 mile course is one of the longest in the Series – but it’s the approach to the last half mile that makes the heart sink, unusually rearing up dead straight and giving riders a sense of dread for the 17% test to come. With a rolling first mile and even a stretch of downhill pacing on this climb is all, and Scott got it right with a fine effort of 6 minutes 5.33 seconds to take the win by just over three seconds from Fibrax Wrexham RC’s Ben Goodfellow.

Scott, a latecomer to the Series hauled himself not only up the climb but up the standings too under the watchful eye of Series leader Kirk Vickers who was keeping his powder dry for the second event ina  double-header weekend, as the 2019 Series Champion makes a late challenge for the title. He stated: “I was pleased to win, it’s always a hard climb to judge but got it about right. Great to have so many local riders enter on the line”.

Goodfellow stopped the watch on 6:05.36 and was pleased with runner-up spot, stating: “The Oswestry hill climb was a great event. It was only my third ever hill climb and the others were three years ago. It’s a very different kind of fun (pain) to my normal long distance Triathlon’s. I hope to do more similar events this year and definitely plan on returning next year to close those three seconds to first”. Goodfellow was caught in the middle of a Mule CC pincer attack as Junior Louis Lermite took a solid third spot Overall as well as the Junior victory in a fabulous 6:15.81, just seeing off another Junior Ben Pierce by a narrow 0.98 seconds. Lermite advanced to 6th in the Overall standings on the strength of his ride as the Llangollen-based 16 year-old showed just why hill climbs are perfectly suited to lightweight youngsters. After taking two straight wins in the Juniors Lermite has also advanced into the Bronze medal position in that Championship; and the relatively long length of this ride clearly suited his style as he stated: “The climb was longer than the others so far, so better for me. I tried to put effort in on the steep bits and then recover a bit on that flat downhill section. Well done Dave, and also Rebecca for the course record”.

Lermite’s comments referred to Rebecca Richardson who showed off her form – and her new lightweight wheels with rarely seen polyethylene spokes weighing in at just 750 grams and which she firmly attributes her personal bests to this year. Richardson sliced nearly 11 seconds off the Women’s Course Record previously held by National Champion Becky Lewis in a fantastic 6:39.43 with a huge effort that shows her preparation for the 2021 Nationals is right on track: ”I was very happy with the 11 seconds off the Course Record and taking it off previous National Champion Becky Lewis. I was dying at the end to the line – I could have stopped 20 metres to the line! It was brilliant to see so many riders and spectators on Mount Road, thank you for the hard work of the organisers”.

Taking the honours for the County was Market Drayton CC’s Alison Dockney, ending her afternoon on 7:30.46 and pull out a large 22 point lead at the top of the Women’s standings. This is Dockney’s first season at hill climbing, and she has clearly taken the format to heart: “A great event hosted by Oswestry Paragon. I was happy with how I paced it and with the time. Well done Dave Scott; and Rebecca for the women’s course record”!

In the Veteran’s standings Series leader John Hines didn’t take the win for the first time after being usurped by another Mule CC rider, James Davies. Davies has experience on this hill and having local knowledge paid dividends as he crossed the line in 6:37.12, just 3/100’s of a second off 7th spot, with Hines happy to have stretched his Veteran’s Series lead to 24 points making the journey for the Newport CC rider worthwhile. He was impressed by the organisation and was generous in his post-race comments: “A tough one! A great event and fantastic support, good conditions and there were some really fast times. I feel like I got my best effort out on the day so congratulations to James who put in a brilliant ride”!

Full:

Pos’nNameClubCatTimePoints
1David ScottMule CCS06:05.3320
2Ben GoodfellowFibrax Wrexham RCS06:08.36.
3Louis LermiteMule CCJ06:15.8118
4Ben PierceMid Shropshire WheelersJ06:16.7916
5Adam BakerSCCA Private MemberS06:16.8614
6Rick BaileyTeam Lifting Gear ProductsS06:36.05.
7John WoodwardUnattachedS06:37.10.
8James DaviesMule CCV06:37.1212
9Jack YoungOswestry Paragon CCJ06:39.3010
10Tomos HalesWrekinsport CCS06:39.368
11Rebecca RichardsonBrother UKW06:39.43.
12Ben GoodwinFibrax Wrexham RCS06:47.83.
13John HinesNewport Shropshire CCV07:09.406
14Rob KerrOswestry Paragon CCV07:11.204
15Phil RobertsWrekinsport CCS07:18.202
16Haydn JonesFibrax Wrexham RCV07:28.46.
17Alison DockneyMarket Drayton CCW07:30.462
18Adam RileyOswestry Paragon CCV07:34.902
19Neil ColesOswestry Paragon CCV07:43.122
20Jan KardaszFibrax Wrexham RCV07:54.04.
21Ben SouthgateWrekinsport CCJ07:57.992
22Rob McGregorParamount CRTS08:02.372
23Andy PerryMule CCV08:03.812
24Peter JukesMid Shropshire WheelersV08:03.842
25Ben ThompsonWrekinsport CCS08:20.612
26D.J FanningFibrax Wrexham RCV08:40.04.
27Sally EllisUnattachedW08:44.20.
28Joseph LycettMid Shropshire WheelersJ09:13.132
29Elizabeth BreezeMule CCWV10:24.582
30Stephen DaviesOswestry Paragon CCV10:29.122
31David A JonesFibrax Wrexham RCV11:08.83.

Veterans on Actual:

Vets Pos’nNameClubCatTimeVets Points
1James DaviesMule CCV06:37.1220
2John HinesNewport Shropshire CCV07:09.4018
3Rob KerrOswestry Paragon CCV07:11.2016
4Haydn JonesFibrax Wrexham RCV07:28.46.
5Adam RileyOswestry Paragon CCV07:34.9014
6Neil ColesOswestry Paragon CCV07:43.1212
7Jan KardaszFibrax Wrexham RCV07:54.04.
8Andy PerryMule CCV08:03.8110
9Peter JukesMid Shropshire WheelersV08:03.848
10D.J FanningFibrax Wrexham RCV08:40.04.
11Elizabeth BreezeMule CCWV10:24.586
12Stephen DaviesOswestry Paragon CCV10:29.124
13David A JonesFibrax Wrexham RCV11:08.83.

Women:

Women’s Pos’nNameClubCatTimePoints
1Rebecca RichardsonBrother UKW06:39.43.
2Alison DockneyMarket Drayton CCW07:30.4620
3Sally EllisUnattachedW08:44.20.
4Elizabeth BreezeMule CCWV10:24.5818

Juniors:

Junior Pos’nNameClubCatTimeJunior Points
1Louis LermiteMule CCJ06:15.8120
2Ben PierceMid Shropshire WheelersJ06:16.7918
3Jack YoungOswestry Paragon CCJ06:39.3016
4Ben SouthgateWrekinsport CCJ07:57.9914
5Joseph LycettMid Shropshire WheelersJ09:13.1312

Cumulative standings after four rounds

Overall Top 10:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Kirk Vickers Holohan Coaching RT S 60
2 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 58
3 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC J 54
4 David Scott Mule CC S 38
5 Robbie Disney Ludlow CC S 36
6 Louis Lermite Mule CC J 34
7 John Hines Newport Shropshire CC V 32
8 Luka Stolic Wrekinsport CC J 26
9 Ben Pierce Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 16
10 Adam Baker SCCA Private Member S 14

Veteran’s Top 10:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 John Hines Newport Shropshire CC V 78
2 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 54
3 Peter Jukes Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 50
4 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 42
5 James Davies Mule CC V 20
=6 Mark White Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 16
=6 Rob Kerr Oswestry Paragon CC V 16
=8 Adam Riley Oswestry Paragon CC V 14
=8 Jon Bradley Nova Raiders V 14
10 Dave Moore Wrekinsport CC V 12

Junior standings:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC J 74
2 Joseph Lycett Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 58
3 Louis Lermite Mule CC J 40
4 Luka Stolic Wrekinsport CC J 36
5 Ben Pierce Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 18
6 Noah White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 16
7 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 14

Women’s standings:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Alison Dockney Market Drayton CC W 40
=2 Clare Cotterill Wrekinsport CC WV 18
=2 Elizabeth Breeze Mule CC WV 18
4 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC WV 16