A new course and near perfect conditions with a guaranteed course best for all finishers and the first County medals and trophies of the season on offer saw Tim Beardmore take the overall win and stretch his lead in the Friction Hydraulics Series in Round 6, the SB Sports Injuries Shropshire Championship 50 presented by Mid Shropshire Wheelers. Taking in two-and-a-bit circuits of the Hodnet – Shawbury – Shawbirch triangle. Beardmore stopped the watch on 1 hour 54 minutes 39 seconds to take the 50 Mile Trophy and Shropshire 50 Gold by 2:44 from team mate Jonathan Mille-Keeling in a Bridgnorth CC 1-2 that saw the club extend their Top Club Award lead to 175 points. With the rising heat and a drag to the finish line however it was a matter of digging in and pushing through the pain to get to the finish line as Beardmore commented: “A near perfect morning for racing with hardly any wind. I settled into a good rhythm after a few miles and just tried to ride to power and tick the miles off. I paced it pretty well, although the last five miles were very hard. Delighted to take the County win, big thanks to Mid Shropshire Wheelers and all the marshals who made it happen”.

Leading the Friction Veterans Series also, Beardmore did not have it all his own way in that classification despite recording a fabulous +24:30 thanks to Wrekinsport’s Deb Hutson-Lumb, who not only won 50 Veteran’s Gold but Women’s 50 Gold too, helping herself to The Jim Heath Trophy and The Women’s 50 Mile Trophy with +25:08 Standards and 2:11:29 Actual. This elevated Hutson-Lumb into third spot in the Friction Veteran’s Standings and saw her narrow the gap to Women’s Series leader Helen Tudor too. Like Beardmore though, Hutson-Lumb struggled later in the race, stating: “Great morning for a 50 on an interesting course. Tired legs – I really struggled with the second half of the race and lots of willpower was required to finish. Pleased to take the Women’s win, surprised to get the Veterans – thanks to Mid Shropshire Wheelers for organising”.

Mills-Keeling also helped himself to a brace of medals taking Overall 50 Silver in 1:57:23, and Veteran’s 50 Bronze with +21:17. With a rolling circuit to contend with he struggled to find his comfort zone as the morning warmed up and felt that it was time to ease off for a while and regain his strength: “It wasn’t my best ride, but still happy with Silver. I couldn’t get into a rhythm and found it harder than normal. Its time for a little break – thanks to Mid Shropshire Wheelers for putting it on”.

Having largely been unseen post-Covid there was a surprise entry from multiple-time Shropshire Best all rounder Victor Chetta, back with Mid Shropshire Wheelers. The lack of competitive miles showed, but muscle memory did enough to gain him Overall 50 Bronze, with Chetta revealing the distraction that took him away from a sport he excels at: “A lot of my time and focus has been on my new motorbike lately, and not so much on my bicycle, and that’s reflected in my slowest 50 since 2014”.

Helen Tudor remains at the top of the Friction Women’s Series by 35 points and took Women’s 50 Silver. Longer distances hold no fear for the Oswestry Paragon rider as she posted a solid 2:25:59 and moved up to 7th spot in the Friction Veterans standings, commenting: “A pretty much perfect morning for a 50, thanks to all the Mid Shropshire Wheelers marshals, and well done to Deb on the win”.

That left the final medal of the day going to Wrekinsport’s Victoria Doran, just getting back into time trialling after a fall earlier in the season which knocked her confidence somewhat, and has seen her struggle to relax on the bike. Despite this she took Women’s 50 Bronze in 2:53:22, and hopefully that win will help overcome the issues she has faced: “I’ve been really struggling psychologically with time trials since coming off my bike during one in April. I’m still very tense and unable to use my TT bars, so this was a real hard slog! Getting a Bronze is a lovely surprise though, and definitely made the effort worth it”!

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series – Round 6

Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Points
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 1:54:39 70
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 1:57:23 65
3 Victor Chetta Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 2:00:05 60
=4 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 2:03:01 55
=4 Robert McGregor Paramount CRT S 2:03:01 55
6 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 2:05:05 45
7 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC FV 2:11:29 40
8 John Westhead Paramount CRT V 2:18:32 35
9 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC FV 2:25:59 30
10 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC FV 2:53:22 25
. Christopher Riley Paramount CRT V DNS-A .
. Robbie Disney Ludlow CC S DNS .
. Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers FV DNS .

Shropshire Championship Team 50

No Team winners

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship – Round 6

Vets Pos’n Name Club Cat Vet +/- Vets Points
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC FV +25:08 70
2 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V +24:30 65
3 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V +21:17 60
4 Victor Chetta Mid Shropshire Wheelers V +16:25 55
5 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers V +13:29 50
6 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V +10:38 45
7 John Westhead Paramount CRT V +10:12 40
8 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC FV +8:04 35
9 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC FV -24:52 30

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship – Round 6

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC FV 2:11:29 70
2 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC FV 2:25:59 65
3 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC FV 2:53:22 60
. Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers FV DNS .

Top Club Award – Round 6

Pos’n Club Points
1 Bridgnorth Cycling Club 135
2 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 115
3 Paramount CRT 90
4 Wrekinsport CC 65
5 North Shropshire Wheelers 45
6 Oswestry Paragon CC 30

Cumulative Standings after six rounds

Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series

Position Name Club Cat Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 345
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club V 270
3 Robbie Disney Ludlow CC S 205
4 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 175
5 Bryn Davies Hafren CC V 120
5 Dean Callister Revolutions Racing S 120
7 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers V 110
7 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 110
9 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC WV 85
=10 Simon Romei Paramount CRT V 80
=10 Robert McGregor Paramount CRT S 80

Friction and Hydraulic Services Veterans Championship

Vets Position Name Club Best 12
1 Tim Beardmore Bridgnorth Cycling Club 355
2 Jonathan Mills-Keeling Bridgnorth Cycling Club 270
3 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 190
4 Paul Duncan Mid Shropshire Wheelers 175
=5 Bryn Davies Hafren CC 130
=5 John Westhead Paramount CRT 130
7 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 110
8 Christopher Riley Paramount CRT 100
9 Peter Jukes Mid Shropshire Wheelers 95
10 James Neale North Shropshire Wheelers 90

Friction and Hydraulic Services Women’s Championship

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Best 12
1 Helen Tudor Oswestry Paragon CC 225
2 Deb Hutson-Lumb Wrekinsport CC 190
3 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC 160
4 Bethan Till Wrekinsport CC 115
4 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT 115
6 Catherine Coley Bridgnorth CC 60
7 Helen Blake Wrekinsport CC 50
8 Linda Beckett North Shropshire Wheelers 40

Friction and Hydraulic Services Junior Championship

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

Top Club Award

Position Club Total Points
1 Bridgnorth Cycling Club 670
2 Wrekinsport CC 495
3 Paramount CRT 370
4 Mid Shropshire Wheelers 315
5 Ludlow CC 235
6 Hafren CC 145
7 North Shropshire Wheelers 135
8 Revolutions Racing 120
9 Oswestry Paragon CC 45