To offer teams the chance to practice tapering for the rarely seen 4-Up format as preparation for the Shropshire 50km 4-Up Championship, Wrekinsport ran their 2nd annual 10 mile 4-Up utilising part of the Championship course just four days in advance. Seven teams, most with involvement in the Championship keenly took the opportunity to fine tune their changes and strategy using the simple ‘out and back’ Waters Upton – Hodnet course on a fine evening – with the Aerologic RT squad of Scott Palmer, Dean Callister, Jonathan Mills-Keeling and Andrew Lacon taking the win in 19 minutes 56 seconds. That equates to over 30mph, showing the beneficial effects of drafting, as the teams spurred each other on and riders got a rest from the maximum effort required when on the front.
Aerologic’s nearest challenge came from the promoting club; with Tomos Hales, Phil Roberts, Oli Freeman and Hayley Wells searing around the course in 20:22, 30 seconds ahead of a mixed Paramount/Wrekinsport squad of Chris Riley, Rob McGregor, Ben Southgate and Mason Durant. Times throughout were impressive on a glorious evening, with the chance to test in anger as a team seeing a real buzz around headquarters post-race, with all times significantly faster than for solo efforts.
