This has been my main aim of the season so I’ve been fully focussed on prepping of this race for a while. I did it last year and came 19th, respectable considering I’d just turned cat 3 a week before.
This year however was different, with good focus my training has been going really well and I was on great form, probably my best ever. My weight was also in check, just half a kilo above what I was last hill climb season. With all this I knew I could do well under the right circumstances.
The course was 7, 18 km very rolling laps. Each of which had 3 main hills: Bulmer Bank, by far the steepest peaking at 1/6, the climb through Terrington which was a 2.4 km drag with very little respite and the final short sharp climb at the finish of the circuit. All this summed up to 124 km and 1750m of climbing!
The first lap was at a good pace but not too extreme, but the worst part was the choppers up Bulmer Bank. The climb comes immediately after a quick descent before hitting the 1/6 slopes, this meant that everyone fought for the front on the descent, including the awful climbers who promptly cracked when the climb hit slowing everyone down causing me to come practically to a halt before I could get around. It was a nightmare so from then on I tried to be towards the front for this climb. There was also one funny moment when a Cardiff rider hit a pothole and lost his water bottle during the neutralised start, not how you want to begin a national race.
The second lap was by far the hardest, it really kicked off on Bulmer Bank, again there were a few choppers giving me a poor run up the hill but once I’d got around them I was in good shape to follow the leaders. The pace was high, really high, especially over the top of the climb where I found myself having to do 500w for a minute and a half just to hang in. It didn’t stop there of course, some of the real strong riders were driving the pace over the top and they didn’t let up for about 10 minutes. Eventually it did let up a bit and I managed a sneak a look around to see that the field had completely split in two, leaving literally 40 riders left out of 80 starters. I knew it was hard but not that hard!
The pace eased up a bit for lap three and I accidentally found myself in a breakaway for a couple of kilometres. I was moving to the front and tucked in behind Andy Nichols just as he was riding away from the bunch and I somehow joined him off the front. We were joined by Jack Stanton-Warren who I was in a breakaway with in Bill Jinks RR so I knew the company was good, but it was too early for me to make a move and I made them aware of that. I pulled a few turns and we got maybe 10 seconds maximum at the base of Bulmer Bank before riding gently up it. This was a good call as it meant I avoided the scrum of riders and could take it at a nice pace not tiring myself out as much. We were caught at the top and I tucked back into the pack which suited me.
In lap four the first break went, Harry Tanfield a Pedal Heaven elite rider, Andy Nichols and Alex Dalton, who I was in a breakaway with at Out of the Saddle RR got away and we never saw them again. This lap was basically us 15-20s behind them, not really chasing, while they worked well and kept pulling out a gap.
Each hill got harder and harder as the laps ticked on and I could feel my calves cramping up on the climb into Terrington with two laps to go. The descent from Terrington was huge and by the looks of it I hit in excess of60-70mph several times, a massive PB. Just after the descent I saw Thomas Travis-Pollard and Max Steadman make a move, I made a big effort to get across to them but I think I dragged too many people with me and it was lost. Immediately after I bridged a guy attacked, Thomas Travis-Pollard jumped on with someone else but I hadn’t got the legs to chase them again so I missed the second break. I knew it was going to make it but I couldn’t get to it.
The next two laps the pace was steady but there weren’t many left in the bunch, 25 maximum. I was with a few familiar faces in Kieran Savage and Paddy Clark from Sheffield uni but Kieran seemed to be hurting a lot. At one point he looked like he was getting distanced, but some light encouragement from me kept him intact.
For the climb up Bulmer Bank I was the rider keeping the pace and I was always at the front as the laps ticked on, the final time up shelled a few more riders and there must have been no more than 15 riders left in the peloton. With half a lap to go and 11 riders up the road I spoke to the Pedal Heaven rider Max Steadman. I said “How are you feeling? Or do you have a teammate up the road?” to which I got the reply “The race is overmate”.
It wasn’t for me though; I really wanted a top 20 and knew I was stronger than a lot of the riders left in my group. So I sat in, even as the pace ramped up over Terrington for the final time, I stayed in contact and bode my time. The circuit finishes on a nasty short ramp and I was in 4th wheel at the base. I went fairly early following another rider before my legs gave way, I was in total collapse. My legs were screaming, cramping up. I’d given everything and came 18th overall. One place higher than last year!
Over the line I simply got off my bike and lay down, in what was an effort similar to a hill climb it took me over 5 minutes to come around and ride back to the HQ. In all, this race was great; I was in awesome form and really felt like I could compete at this level. I was always towards the front and there was no point where I was even getting distanced never mind dropped. Considering only 25 people weren’t dropped I did very well to place and I’ll come back next year even fitter.
This year however was different, with good focus my training has been going really well and I was on great form, probably my best ever. My weight was also in check, just half a kilo above what I was last hill climb season. With all this I knew I could do well under the right circumstances.
The course was 7, 18 km very rolling laps. Each of which had 3 main hills: Bulmer Bank, by far the steepest peaking at 1/6, the climb through Terrington which was a 2.4 km drag with very little respite and the final short sharp climb at the finish of the circuit. All this summed up to 124 km and 1750m of climbing!
The first lap was at a good pace but not too extreme, but the worst part was the choppers up Bulmer Bank. The climb comes immediately after a quick descent before hitting the 1/6 slopes, this meant that everyone fought for the front on the descent, including the awful climbers who promptly cracked when the climb hit slowing everyone down causing me to come practically to a halt before I could get around. It was a nightmare so from then on I tried to be towards the front for this climb. There was also one funny moment when a Cardiff rider hit a pothole and lost his water bottle during the neutralised start, not how you want to begin a national race.
The second lap was by far the hardest, it really kicked off on Bulmer Bank, again there were a few choppers giving me a poor run up the hill but once I’d got around them I was in good shape to follow the leaders. The pace was high, really high, especially over the top of the climb where I found myself having to do 500w for a minute and a half just to hang in. It didn’t stop there of course, some of the real strong riders were driving the pace over the top and they didn’t let up for about 10 minutes. Eventually it did let up a bit and I managed a sneak a look around to see that the field had completely split in two, leaving literally 40 riders left out of 80 starters. I knew it was hard but not that hard!
The pace eased up a bit for lap three and I accidentally found myself in a breakaway for a couple of kilometres. I was moving to the front and tucked in behind Andy Nichols just as he was riding away from the bunch and I somehow joined him off the front. We were joined by Jack Stanton-Warren who I was in a breakaway with in Bill Jinks RR so I knew the company was good, but it was too early for me to make a move and I made them aware of that. I pulled a few turns and we got maybe 10 seconds maximum at the base of Bulmer Bank before riding gently up it. This was a good call as it meant I avoided the scrum of riders and could take it at a nice pace not tiring myself out as much. We were caught at the top and I tucked back into the pack which suited me.
In lap four the first break went, Harry Tanfield a Pedal Heaven elite rider, Andy Nichols and Alex Dalton, who I was in a breakaway with at Out of the Saddle RR got away and we never saw them again. This lap was basically us 15-20s behind them, not really chasing, while they worked well and kept pulling out a gap.
Each hill got harder and harder as the laps ticked on and I could feel my calves cramping up on the climb into Terrington with two laps to go. The descent from Terrington was huge and by the looks of it I hit in excess of60-70mph several times, a massive PB. Just after the descent I saw Thomas Travis-Pollard and Max Steadman make a move, I made a big effort to get across to them but I think I dragged too many people with me and it was lost. Immediately after I bridged a guy attacked, Thomas Travis-Pollard jumped on with someone else but I hadn’t got the legs to chase them again so I missed the second break. I knew it was going to make it but I couldn’t get to it.
The next two laps the pace was steady but there weren’t many left in the bunch, 25 maximum. I was with a few familiar faces in Kieran Savage and Paddy Clark from Sheffield uni but Kieran seemed to be hurting a lot. At one point he looked like he was getting distanced, but some light encouragement from me kept him intact.
For the climb up Bulmer Bank I was the rider keeping the pace and I was always at the front as the laps ticked on, the final time up shelled a few more riders and there must have been no more than 15 riders left in the peloton. With half a lap to go and 11 riders up the road I spoke to the Pedal Heaven rider Max Steadman. I said “How are you feeling? Or do you have a teammate up the road?” to which I got the reply “The race is overmate”.
It wasn’t for me though; I really wanted a top 20 and knew I was stronger than a lot of the riders left in my group. So I sat in, even as the pace ramped up over Terrington for the final time, I stayed in contact and bode my time. The circuit finishes on a nasty short ramp and I was in 4th wheel at the base. I went fairly early following another rider before my legs gave way, I was in total collapse. My legs were screaming, cramping up. I’d given everything and came 18th overall. One place higher than last year!
Over the line I simply got off my bike and lay down, in what was an effort similar to a hill climb it took me over 5 minutes to come around and ride back to the HQ. In all, this race was great; I was in awesome form and really felt like I could compete at this level. I was always towards the front and there was no point where I was even getting distanced never mind dropped. Considering only 25 people weren’t dropped I did very well to place and I’ll come back next year even fitter.