R9 BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series: Aerologic RT Lincoln Hill, Ironbridge climb

The proverb ‘Great oaks from little acorns grow’ appears true when related to the inaugural running of Round 9 of the BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series; Aerologic RT’s fearsome climb of Lincoln Hill, Ironbridge – as the overall BBR Series Silver was won on the day. At just 0.3 miles this is by far the shortest, but arguably the hardest on the County calendar. A legendary local climb among Shropshire cyclists, just never before being used competitively; it briefly touches 33.1% in the middle; with riders favourably comparing its brevity and toughness to Monsal Head Hill Climb in the Peak District, a classic fixture on the UK hill climb calendar for over 95 years.

A drizzly morning sadly put off 40% of the entrants from starting, but the 12 who did were all full of enthusiasm for a climb that should gain popularity once word gets around. Two inaugural course records were set, with Ludlow Brewery RT rider Ed Copeland surprising himself to beat National standard riders to the top to take the overall win; whilst Becky Pugh set the benchmark for the females at 3:19.5.

2026 BBR Hill Climb Champion Copeland powered up the climb in 1 minute, 31.1 seconds to see off strong challenges from Magspeed Racing’s Steven Prince and Elevate RT’s Josh Coyne; and as someone who believes he is more suited to climbs over one mile victory came as a bit of a shock: “Short climbs aren’t my preferred but it seems that I can perform on them. Shortest climb this year for me and being dubbed ‘The Midlands Monsal’ I can really see that coming true. This climb is just relentless: you start on a slope, so no run in. With a damp surface it meant grip was hard to find, and I had to spread my weight out on the bike to reduce wheel slip. I feel I paced it well; just started hard and tried to hold it. With this being an Open event there was some top competition. With short climb specialists like Steven Prince and Josh Coyne racing, it was really a massive surprise to win, let alone a podium place. What a great event put on by Aerologic RT; I really do hope it grows after a successful launch, with everyone being very positive about it”. These are two major scalps for Copeland in a glittering hill climb season where he has proven he can mix it with top riders.

Taking the runner-up spot was Steven Prince, now riding for Magspeed Racing, but BBR Veterans Champion in 2022 and 2023; taking overall Silvers in those same years. Prince won the Veterans race overall on the day in an impressive 1:35.4. A former team mate of Copeland, he was full of praise for the event organisation, the climb and Copeland’s improvement: “It was a great event on a brute of a climb. This event deserves to grow as it has everything you need to be a classic on the calendar. I was pleased with my effort at my age! Well done Aerologic for organising, and a massive well done to Ed, who’s flying this season”.

National standard rider Josh Coyne took third spot on the morning in 1:37.2. Hailing for Oakhampton in Devon, the lure of a new climb at his short and sharp preference saw him happy to travel to represent his West London-based team. Coyne is on the comeback trail after a late start to his season due to injury, and was full of praise for the climb, stating: “It was a really well run event, and one that has a lot of potential in the coming years, with this being the inaugural edition. It was a damp morning, but the hill was clear and surprisingly grippy, with probably one of the hardest start lines of events on the calendar; real steep! I had a good ride for my first event of the season, my first race back after an untimely collarbone break a few weeks ago, so a podium was a great start. Hopefully the event continues to grow and I’ll be back next year”!

Pugh set the benchmark for females in 3:19.5, and showed how difficult it is to get the measure of this hill. The Paramount rider lies in the Bronze medal position currently, and felt she could have done more: “It was a great event and atmosphere lead by the Aerologic team! Lincoln Hill is a welcome addition to the Hill Climb calendar, being a steeper challenge. I think I held back for the first half, so I’m excited to come back next year and give it another shot”!

First-time entrant to the Series Ben Bramford-Hale of Newport Shropshire CC took the County runner-up honours in 1:51.5, pushing out Jack Young into County 3^rd in 1:55.7. Young’s ride however was enough to secure overall Silver in a fine end of season for the Oswestry-based rider, riding for Dave Scott Racing. Young revealed that he has thrown the kitchen sink at the Series as another rider affected by a truncated season due to illness: “It’s quite a sharp climb because you start on a steep bit, and then you pretty much have to sprint the whole thing. I didn’t expect to win the Silver, I was going for Top five in the Overall. I’d been off my bike for four months with sepsis, but I was happy with that. I always thought I preferred the long ones, but I’ve done well on the short ones this year, so I’m not sure anymore”!

Stuart Proctor has to be content with being runner-up in the BBR Veterans on the day in 2:17.6, but had never seen this climb before. He was impressed by the atmosphere, which saw locals curious to know what was going on soon get involved, along with support from team mates. His comments show it’s all about hitting full speed and hanging on hoping for the best: “Wow, what a short but ‘sweet’ one Lincoln Hill was! A great atmosphere from the off, with a camper van HQ keeping people dry in the initial mizzly morning weather. I was a little concerned about traction in the damp conditions, but fortunately my tyres and the excellent quality tarmac proved to be up to the task! Fantastic support, including various Dave Scott Coaching team mates half way up offering ‘encouragement’; and then it was over! No real time to pace or have a strategy apart from hammering it from the off! It was great to come away with second Veteran and first SCCA Veteran too. Great organisation by Aerologic, hopefully there will be a repeat next year, ideally with a larger field, it certainly deserves it”!

Full:

Veterans:

Females:

Juniors:

Cumulative standings after nine rounds

Overall:

Veterans on Actual:

Females:

Juniors: