R5 BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series: Mid Shropshire Wheelers Stiperstones Hill Climb

For once Ed Copeland didn’t have things his own way as Course Record holder Kirk Vickers blasted his way up the Stiperstones hill climb in Round 5 of the BBR Hill Climb Series promoted by Mid Shropshire Wheelers. Vickers missed out on equalling that record in his first appearance of the Series in 2026 on his local climb by exactly 2½ seconds in a fabulous effort of 3 minutes 57.5 seconds, flying up the one mile climb – but just avoiding coming to grief on Bergham Corner at 0.9 miles due to the presence of gravel. Vickers was Series Champion from 2016-2018, and again in 2021; and despite this not being his fastest he was pleased with his performance: “My legs were good and I paced it pretty well; probably my best ever performance up there. It was nice to see a really good turn out at the hill climbs, thanks to Mid Shropshire Wheelers for another great event”.

For Copeland, this Series has been a voyage of discovery as all the hills he has so far ridden have been new to him. The Ludlow Brewery rider posted a fine effort of 4:07.2 to narrow the gap to Series leader Jack Young to 20 points after Young finished 6^th on the night. Copeland was impressed with the hill, which proved much to his liking, as he revealed: “Probably my favourite climb so far of the BBR Series; and the first climb over a mile which I prefer, and with a lovely smooth road surface. I felt like I paced it really well and I enjoyed the climb even with a head wind. Very well done to Kirk, who was in a class of his own; I tried my hardest to get as close as I could. Well done also to Tomos, who once again pushed me and kept me honest”.

For 2022 BBR Champion Hales this is not a distance he prefers; rather it’s the short, sharp and explosive efforts; so this is not one to his taste. Nevertheless, he still recorded a fine 4:12.5 to take third spot, despite a technical challenge after the shallow descent before things really ramp up at Bergham Corner and forgetting that he had posted a personal best 4:04.1 in his Championship winning season: “I always found The Stiperstones climb a difficult one. This year it was made even harder with the ‘compression’ required as Bergham Corner was covered in gravel. I believe I got a personal best, but it wasn’t good enough to beat Ed and Kirk, with the later looking good in a TT helmet on a hill climb! Thanks for Mid Shropshire Wheelers for hosting; and to Dave and Jenny York, who do a great job”. Compression is a term from mountain biking inferring applying loading by pushing hard down into the bike during a turn to generate extra traction at speed on a sketchy corner rather than the more usual ‘dancing on the pedals’ style more associated with hill climbing.

Vickers and Hales weren’t the only ones finding life after Bergham Corner hard as the reigning BBR Junior Champion Evie Charles made her first appearance of the season on her local course to take the Female win. The 13 year old charged up the hill in 5:52.2 to beat Round 4’s winner, Lauren Turley of Bridgnorth CC by 7.1 seconds. She stated: “The second ramp after the gravel corner was tough. It was a challenging hill climb well worth doing”. After the slight downhill the course almost immediately ramps up over 12%, briefly touching 14% to sting the legs. This was the only category to see a new leader as 12 year-old Isla Furniss of Newport Shropshire CC took over at the top of the standings after finishing third on the night in 6:41.4.

There has been a great level of interest amongst Juniors this year which is a very welcome trend, and in the BBR Junior Series itself 15 year old Jude White took a dominant win by nearly 25 seconds with a fabulous effort of 4:40.2 to take 5^th spot overall among a field of 29 riders. He has bigger ambitions in his sights however, as he revealed: “A great evening for The Stiperstones hill climb, which has always been a favourite of mine – the chip butties afterwards are always good too! I was happy with my time, although I would like to go for the record; maybe next year with some practice and a lighter bike. A fantastic evening with a great turnout, thank you to Dave, Jenny and the volunteers for putting on a great night”.

In the BBR Veterans category Stuart Proctor extended his lead at the top to 26 points, but the only rider to have beaten him so far did so for the second time this year, as Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ Dave Saunders took a 1.8 second win over Proctor in 5:00.1. 

Full:

Veterans on Actual:

Females:

Juniors:

Cumulative standings after five rounds

Overall:

Veterans on Actual:

Females:

Juniors: