SCCA Championship 4-Up

A stellar performance by Bridgnorth CC to better their 2024 time by 30 seconds in the most anticipated race on the Shropshire time trialling calendar, the SCCA Championship 4-Up saw them retain The John Farr 4-Up Trophy and The Road Bike 4-Up Trophy in a fantastic time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 56 seconds, beating Paramount CRT by exactly two minutes over a 50 kilometre T-shaped course taking in Edgmond, Crudgington, Shawbirch and Hodnet – all the more impressive for beating squads on dedicated time trial bikes designed to go faster. A revised squad retained Tom Herbert and Matt Clarke, but added 56 year-old ex-professional road racer Ian Gilkes and the audacious talent of 15 year-old James Saunders, who gained valuable experience of racing in a group in his first event of this type.

Gilkes had ridden his first time trial in 20 years with Clarke 12 days earlier in the Mower Mec 2-Up Series to get practice of riding with, rather than against other riders, and that seems to have made a big difference as he explained: “The practice paid off, and the team rode as a team, each rider committing more where they were stronger so we could maintain the momentum we built up over the whole course”. Clarke agreed that the vital element of team work came to the fore, with each putting in a shift: “The 4-Up went really well, I think we made the best of our abilities and communicated clearly to be able to sustain the very hard effort, with a nice rhythm all the way to the end”. For Saunders this was a hugely valuable opportunity to learn from older heads, and he was already anticipating a return for 2026 in this rarely seen format: “It was my first time riding an event like that, and the fastest I’ve been on a road bike over that sort of distance, but I enjoyed it a lot. It was great to have the other guys on the team who have plenty of experience and good advice for me. Definitely a hard ride, but lots of fun, and looking forward to doing another at some point”! Herbert added: “Thanks to all involved, a fantastic event again”.

An ominous forecast initially gave worries for the event; and with half an hour to go the thankfully warm rain was coming down like stair rods, but cleared for the start; leaving just a wet and slightly greasy surface but plenty of oxygen in the air; with rain only recommencing after the last team finished. The special atmosphere surrounding this event saw a good number of spectators spread around the course, all providing great encouragement; and a traditional, welcoming and well received post-race social at HQ, The Lamb at Edgmond.  

But the performance of the event came from Paramount Females who improved over their 2024 effort by a staggering 12:25 to retain The SCCA Female 4-Up Trophy thanks to two new members getting their first experience of the format – and putting in a fabulous effort to take 8th spot overall. The squad stopped the watch on 1:21:39, within touching distance of Nova Raiders’ 2018 female course record of 1:18:20 given the fabulous level of progress in just a year. Retaining Thea Osmund-Smith and Emma Brown; the addition of two first-timers Rebecca Woodvine and Gill Snelson saw some great team work as riders played to their strengths, as Snelson explained: “This was my first 4-Up time trial, and it was a privilege to be part of a new, strong, female Paramount team. Thea and Rebecca were powerhouses, with myself and Emma supporting. We really enjoyed the event which was very well organised and luckily the weather held out. Thank you to everyone for a fantastic event”. Brown gave a similar story of the work done by the stronger members, but her comments show the vital nature of team work and talking to one another throughout in this format; where the time is taken on the third rider: “Thank you to all the organisers & marshals. It was a great race, with Thea and Becca spending most of the time on the front and absolutely smashing it! Really good teamwork and communication, and good fun overall, resulting in an epic overall time”!

Woodvine is a talented rider but is more usually found in road race and cyclo-cross events at National level. Here however she got her first experience of the 4-Up format and seems to have enjoyed the experience: “I didn’t do it last year, so with some time spare in the calendar in between National races it was a good opportunity to push hard with some amazing ladies. It was so windy, but we all took our turns pushing hard and came away with a huge time improvement over last year. We even caught a few men’s groups who started minutes in front of us! Super looking forward to doing it next year”! That left the final word to Osmund-Smith, who was generous with her comments about her team mates: “It was great to be racing in an all female team on the final day of the Tour de France Femmes! The weather was kind, the support from spectators and marshals was immense and we had a great ride! I was delighted to deploy our MVP Becca Woodvine – her love of the bike (and speed) is infectious, and she was, as expected, super strong on the day. It was Gill’s first team time trial and she was amazing, as was Emz! It was a privilege to race with such strong, encouraging and brilliantly fun women. My only hope is that more women’s teams enter next year! Thanks as always to everyone involved in the organisation and running of the event”.

Paramount A had the unusual distinction of equalling their 2024 time of 1:06:56 to take the runner-up spot despite that event taking place over three laps of The Tiddly triangle course whilst Crudgington roundabout was under construction; with the team of Chris Riley, Rob McGregor, Simon Romei and Mason Durant having been set for three years and having taken the opportunity once again to get reacquainted just four days earlier in the Wrekinsport 10 mile practice event. Riley clearly enjoyed his morning out but was philosophical about the effort put in by the key opposition: “None of our excuses come anywhere near the two minutes thrashing by the Bridgnorth team. But 4-Up week was another brilliant series of outings, and I can’t thank my rapid team mates, the organisers and marshals enough. The best race on the county calendar by far; a brilliant race, and massive thanks to the organisers, the marshals, the timekeeping team and The Lamb – thanks to the weather as well”. Romei added: “Firstly a big thank you to David and his team of timekeepers and marshals for making the event happen – you all did a sterling job along with ordering some good racing weather. I was really pleased to have come second, myself and my team mates worked really hard to ensure we all stayed together until we crossed the finish line, with all of us doing some good strong turns on the front making it a smooth solid race. This is one of our favourite races on the time trial calendar, so it was great to come second”.

McGregor meanwhile noted the tough westerly wind, which made the first leg to Crudgington a matter of digging in but the last six miles a relative pleasure. The shape of the course however means that if its windy riders are going to have to endure at some point: “It was great to get back together with Chris, Mason, and Simon as a 4-Up team. We worked well together which made the event really enjoyable. It was nice to be back on the Edgmond course, we had relatively dry roads for our run, but the crosswind between the Espley and Crudgington islands made the bikes a bit unstable. Congratulations to the Bridgnorth team on a stellar performance on road bikes; and thanks to the organisers and marshals for putting on a safe and enjoyable event”.

Taking third spot were Wrekinsport A, with Oli Freeman and Phil Roberts returning, and joined by Ben Wood and Paul Edwards to stop the watch on 1:09:07. New member Edwards had gained first experience in the Wrekinsport practice, and was anticipating good team work, which proved to be the case: “I was excited to get underway at the SCCA 4-Up despite the less than ideal weather conditions. The team worked really well together on the day, something we were confident about heading into the event after midweek Wrekinsport 4-Up. I was really delighted with our performance and finishing time. Thank you to everyone involved in organising the event, taking photos and marshalling the course”. Wood however was slightly concerned that riders familiar with each other’s styles from racing the 2-Up format regularly would find that other riders didn’t click, and with the ability to drop a rider that didn’t prove to be the case: “I was a bit worried that I wasn’t going to keep up coming in to the team as Phil and Oli had been going really well all season in the Wrekinsport 2-Up, and Paul has kept on improving his 10 Mile times throughout the season, but we had a great ride. A fantastic, friendly and well organised team, with good dynamic and smooth transitions, I really enjoyed it. Well done to Paramount and the Bridgnorth team, and thank you to all of those that organise the event and make it happen by marshalling and keeping us safe”. Roberts had no qualms about working with others as he explained: “Always an enjoyable event and one of the first in the calendar each year. I have been doing a lot of 2-Ups with Oli this year, but it was great to get an additional two members. Everyone rode fantastically well, excellent team work, co-ordination and everyone gave their all – a huge ‘well done’ to all the squads who took part; and thanks to everyone who gave up their free time to put this event on”. That left the final word to Freeman: “A great team event at the SCCA 4-Up. We rode smoothly and worked well together throughout, with strong pacing and solid teamwork from start to finish. I was really happy with our overall performance and finishing time. Big thanks to everyone involved in organising and marshalling – your efforts made the day run seamlessly. Looking forward to the next one”!