22nd September 2020
Last Sunday saw the running of Birdwell Wheelers Open Hill Climb. This year the club had Green Moor Cricket Club as the picturesque setting for their outdoor headquarters.
With a rare tailwind on the hill fast times were expected. Third rider off was 15 year old Oliver Akers of Garden Shed UK/Scott Verge Sport who flew up the hill in 2m 22.5s, less than 8 seconds off the course record of 2m 14.7s set last year. His time remained fastest until the last two riders finished.
Tenth rider off was 17 year old Junior Lucy Ellmore from Otley CC who finished in 2m 59.9s which proved good enough for the fastest ride by a woman.
Fastest Male Veteran was Jon Wild from Veloviewer in 2m 33.3s and fastest Woman Veteran was Sonia Insley from Bolsover in 3m 59.3s.
Fastest Birdwell rider on the day was Dan Emery in 2m 41.8s who consequently won the club’s hillclimb trophy. 2nd was Trevor Mayne in 3m 20.2s and 3rd was David Jarvis, a previous winner of the Open Event, returning after a number of years, in 3m 25.0s.
Penultimate rider Marcus Cram from Blaydon CC in 2m 20.7s knocked Oliver off top spot only to be beaten by last man off, 2018 winner Andy Nichols who finished in 2m 14.3 seconds-a new course record by 0.4 seconds!!
The previous day Paul Heggie rode in the VTTA(Yorkshire) 10 mile Open Time Trial at Gilberdyke in the East Riding. A 15 mph tailwind made for a fast ride out but meant riders struggled against the wind on the return leg. Heggie recorded a time of 26m 28s placing him 69th out of 100 finishers. The time was a new club record for the distance at 67 years old.
Heggie on his way to club age record ©www.ianchapmanphotography.com
Due to the restrictions on maximum gatherings of 6 people the club have currently suspended their Sunday club rides. These will resume when government guidelines allo
More details on all the above can be foundin the above links
