Round 6 of the Mower Mec 2-Up Series offered up a very different challenge for riders around the tight 3.75 mile Long Lane circuit. The Wrekinsport promoted event features 11 turns over its 10 miles, breaking up rhythm and particularly home pairing of Tomos Hales and Oli Freeman who know the nuances of this course like the back of their hand. Hales and Freeman took their second win in as many races entered the Series late, which means these two shoo-ins for medals are only mathematically capable of an outside chance of a Bronze in the final event. Incredibly no medals were settled on the night thanks to a supremely tight contest and everything is to play for in the Bridgnorth CC event.
Hales and Freeman stopped the watch on 21 minutes 18 seconds, exactly half a minute ahead of the previous evening’s winners, Phil Roberts and Ben Southgate, also on their home course. Hales thought there was something left in the tank from that effort however, as he explained: “Me and Oli started off very well with a quick opening lap. We worked well as a team and could have gone a lot quicker. Thanks for Wrekinsport and marshals for putting on the event”. Freeman put part of that time loss down to being slowed by traffic, but was still happy with the win: “Pleased to have taken the win with Tomos, even with a little bit of traffic to contend with. A personal thanks to all involved at Wrekinsport for making sure these events go smoothly”.
In a packed end of Series; Roberts and Southgate have clearly started to click, with smooth transitions and knowing each other’s riding style key to taking marginal gains. Roberts explained: ”The third 2-Up in the space of a week with Ben, and we have learnt how we both worked well together. We broke the three-lap course down into sections that would suit our strengths and repeated them each lap. The A442 was a particular favourite with the big tailwind taking a Strava King of the Mountains along the way. We were hoping to sneak under 22 minutes and did so. An extremely strong result for the two of us, and I am looking forward to the final event of the series in Bridgnorth”. Southgate added: “I thought me and Phil put a great effort into the 2-Up and am proud of our performance”.
The Mower Mec Series seems draw new pairs to partner up and find they have ability at this enjoyable format, and that was true of Paramount pairing Paul Duncan and Alvydas ‘A.J’ Janusauskas, who showed how well road bikes can compete on a technical circuit as they took third place in 22:41 – just two seconds better than the Mixed Team winners Hayley Wells and Chris Riley. Duncan’s comments graphically showed the advantage of road bikes whilst cornering, which there is certainly plenty to contend with: “A first time partnership for A.J and myself in a 2-Up and it won’t be the last, I was really pleased with how we went. I felt that we squeezed every bit of performance out on the night, and although the TT bikes were faster on the straights the course suited the road bikes well and we were able to claw some time back in the bends. I don’t think we left anything on the table and third place in amongst a field of time trial bikes is testament to that”. Janusauskas’ comments echoed Duncan’s, but showed by the end of the race he was beginning to flag, which is exactly where having a partner can assist by taking longer turns on the front: “When road bikes take a podium between time trial bikes, I think the performance question is answered by the fact! On the last half of the lap I started running out of gas and had to take longer rests behind Paul, so it could be even better. Next time we will ensure that there’s no stones unturned! I’m not a big fan of this course, a lot twist and turns, but I guess is helped to hold back the time trial runners”.
Janusauskas wasn’t the only one put in difficulties by a partner on a flyer as Chris Riley suffered for the second night in a row in the lee of a flying Hayley Wells. The pair posted an excellent 22:43 to rise to the top of not only the Mixed Team standings but also the Overall ones as well after, in both cases pushing out Sorrel Williams and Karl Lombardi, who finished in 25:14; and Mark Hill and Jan Davies, a further 20 seconds back and who had held the joint lead in an exceptional Series for Mixed pairings. Riley knew he had been in a race, stating: ”My partner in the 2-Up calamity certainly proved the stronger set of legs over the Wrekinsport three-lap raceway. The elastic almost snapped on the last lap but I clung on. A brilliant performance from Hayley, and an exciting evening by Wrekinsport on what is a difficult course for highly strung 2-Up pairings”. Wells added: “Another great evening of racing. A technical course meant lots of disruption to rhythm, but we held it together well and I was delighted to take another Mixed win. Great to see a good turnout of pairs racing”!
