R8 BBR Hill Climb Series – Propel CC Swayney Cliff climb

A day of largely appalling weather took its toll on entries for Round 8 of the BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series as Propel CC organised with their usual military level of precision for an extremely rare Sunday afternoon event to be greeted by just four riders – although ironically the course stayed dry throughout the 40 minutes leading up to and throughout the event itself at Swayney Cliff. Climbing from Coalport towards Broseley there is a sting just after crossing a bridge where the course rears to 17%; then again at the horseshoe bend nearing the top where things finally starts to level off. At just over half a mile long this is an event that requires ‘full gas’ effort throughout.

Bridgnorth CC’s Paul Bailey became the first over-40 winner of this year’s Series in a close fought battle on one of his training climbs, so knows intimately just where to maximise effort. That local knowledge paid dividends as he snuck a three second margin over Wrekinsport Junior Ben Southgate, stopping the watch on 2 minutes 31 seconds – and elevating himself up to the Silver medal position in the Veteran’s standings, narrowing the lead of an injured Will Witterick who had to sit the race out to 24 points just 24 hours after he had stretched that lead to 40 points. Bailey’s post-race comment graphically shows how being familiar with a climb gives an advantage: “I enjoyed the Propel hill climb as it’s local to me and I ride it a lot. It undulates quite a lot, so I just ground the big ring round on the steeper sections and rolled it on the flatter parts”.

Southgate put his light weight to his advantage by taking the runners-up spot and the Junior win, moving into sole lead of the BBR Junior Series on the strength of his 2:34 effort as well as creeping into the Top 10 overall. The chilly conditions didn’t help, as he explained: “I raced well considering the weather. Disappointed with the turnout, but still happy to take the Junior win”.

It was a battle between Paramount’s Rob McGregor and Oswestry Paragon’s Jack Young for the final podium position, with McGregor snaffling it in 2:49 eight seconds ahead of Young – despite haven ridden the Friction Series VTTA 25 that morning in awful conditions. This also moved him into the overall BBR Top 10, just two points ahead of Southgate. McGregor’s comments show the effort Propel put into these events, which always show the club coming out mob-handed: “I like the Swaney Cliff climb; and Propel CC always host a great event with lots of volunteers despite the rain. I was really happy with my ride after doing the 25 in the morning”. With three Rounds remaining just one medal has so far been sealed in a tight Series.

Full:

Veterans:

Juniors:

Cumulative standings after eight rounds

Overall Top 10:

Veterans Top 10:

Female standings:

Junior standings: