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The 6^th and final round of The Mower Mec 2-Up Series at last saw the Series Champions beaten as the remaining medals were settled at Shawbirch in Wrekinsport CC’s 10 mile 2-Up in an event marred by a nasty post-race crash leaving Angela Boycott with a  broken collarbone. Boycott unfortunately caught the wheel of her partner 20 metres beyond the finish line resulting in a heavy fall and a trip to PRH.

Wrekinsport's Tomos Hales and Phil Roberts took a fine win by 46 seconds in their second ever pairing in this format, stopping the watch on 21 minutes 50 seconds. Hales was pleased with the way the pair worked together despite being 14 seconds slower than in 2021, with Roberts' height a big advantage to hide behind, acting as a wind break in the breezy conditions, meaning Hales could put the power own on his turns at the front: “Very happy with the win in the 2-Up with Phil. We were a lot smoother than last year, and Phil is an awesome wind block for a quicker breather behind him. Hopefully next year we can go even quicker. Thanks for Wrekinsport for organising”. Roberts meanwhile was already looking forward to one of the highlights of the calendar, the Coaching Revolutions Shropshire Championship 4-Up adding: “A really great event, and super enjoyable to ride with Tomos at such high speeds. A major tailwind on the back straight meant some serious speed. Two years in a row riding with him in the 2-Up, so we were confident of who would take turns where and the plan was well executed. Looking forward to the next team at the 4-Up, thanks for organising as always”.

Series Champions Chris Riley and Rob McGregor ha to be contented with runner-up spot for once, but still registered a fine effort of 22:36, beating Sarah Grant and Mark Milton into third place by 16 seconds. Riley has enjoyed the Series and was full of praise for the winners, commenting: “Rob and I were racing on some high spirits after being informed that we had an unassailable lead in the Mower Mec 2-Up Series. However, despite us having a good run on a breezy evening around the Cotwall circuit, the Hales/Roberts express train was way out of our league and they whooped us by 46 seconds - respect. The Mower Mec Series has been a lot of fun, and both Rob and I have enjoyed the events promoted by the different clubs; thanks to all the organisers and the SCCA”.

Grant and Milton did enough to not only be crowned 2-Up Mixed Team Champions; they also took Overall Silver too thanks to a fine 22:52. This saw the beat Hafren CC’s Emma Serjeant and Mark Hill as they also took double bubble, capturing Overall Bronze and Mixed Team Silver to push Oswestry Paragon’s Adam Riley and Vikki Jones into the Mixed Bronze position. Grant was happy with the performance on a very different evening to that encountered in Round 5: “What a difference a day makes! Cool and very windy meant a challenging trip round the Wrekinsport course. I was pleased with our performance following on from the Ludlow event. A great event by Wrekinsport with lots of their riders”! Milton added: “What a big change in conditions overnight from a heat wave in Ludlow to 18 degrees and a stiff headwind to make things choppy. Sarah and I worked hard to gain another great result. However, our thoughts are with Angela who had a nasty fall at the finish of her run. We wish her a speedy recovery. Thanks again to the organisers especially with the care they gave to Angela”.

The Women’s Championship saw an unusual result with the same rider, Olivia Hughes taking both Gold and Silver after riding with a different partner and having to be split on count back rules. Hughes shared the trophies with Jan Davies, whilst she took Silver with Karen Proctor.

Tandem:

With the SB Series joint leaders Jonathan Mills-Keeling and Tomos Hales both absent chasing riders took the opportunity to make up lost ground in Round 12, Wrekinsport CC’s Gordon Davies 19. Held over two laps of the club’s normal Shawbirch – Cotwall Bank circuit, riders faced a tough time with a north-westerly breeze hampering progress on the ‘mile straight’ and the toughest part of the course, the 1.8 mile climb of Cotwall Bank. Dan Watt took a fine win by 1 minute 12 seconds in a solid 42 minutes 27 seconds, beating off a strong challenge from the promoting club’s Chris Halford. Watts looked to be trying with all his might as he strained to reach the finish line, but his 10 mile split showed he faded a little on the second lap having already taken 56 seconds out of Halford. He confirmed this in his post-race comments: “A hard fought win with the ‘wind’ leg having to be ridden three times. 19 miles is an odd distance to pace, I had a good first lap but started to tighten up on the second, so I’m pleased to have brought the win home”.

Halford is having a quiet season by his standards, entering a limited number of races, but still took Overall runner-up spot with 43:39 as well as being Veterans winner by a huge +3:50 margin from Bridgnorth CC’s Christopher Wood with a fabulous +7:44. He stated: “I’m only riding to stay fit this year, so it was unexpected to get in the top three. Big kudos to me for not getting lost or having a bike related issue”!

There was a real battle for third spot with Ian Bond holding a 12 second lead over Phil Roberts at the 10 mile point. However Roberts came back strong, stopping the watch on 46:32 to push Bond into fourth by 26 seconds.

In the Women’s race Emma Horne took a great win of 2:57 from Wrekinsport’s Clare Cotterill, as well as third spot in the Veterans with +2:14; but Horne’s 54:24 left her disappointed due to being 2:06 down from her 2021 effort around the same course. This she put down to the after-effects of a bout of Covid-19: “It felt like hard work all the way round. I had forgotten my bike computer so no idea how I was doing so a bit disappointed to see two minutes slower than last year, but I’m just getting over Covid-19 so I should be pleased! Thank you to all the volunteers, and nice to see some other riders I know including Telford Triathlon Club”.

In the SB Junior Series Ben Southgate took Gold after taking another 20 points and putting himself into a mighty 110 point Series lead with his 48:01 effort – good enough for 6^th spot overall. He stated: “Conditions were tough; however I pushed through the pain”. When told of his Series win he added: ”I’m very happy with my result, ready to push harder next time”.

Southgate also went home with Wrekinsport Gordon Davies Silver after the handicaps were applied, losing out to Ashley Kirkham who took Gold in an adjusted 37:04.

Handicaps to follow

Solo:

Tandem:

Private 10 mile trials:

Phil Roberts headed to the top of the standings following Round 11 of the Decathlon Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport on a tricky evening marred by a block headwind on the trickiest part of the course – the climb of Cotwall Bank. Roberts overtook long time Series leader Tomos Hales who was defending his lead just over the border in the SB Series thanks to his effort of 23 minutes 15 seconds, helped by having Ben Southgate as a carrot on the long finishing straight. Southgate, who had started a minute earlier just stayed away, crossing the line two seconds in front of Roberts to take the runner-up spot in 24:13.

In only his third ever time trail Jon Evans appears to be taking to the sport like a duck to water with a fine 24:53, beating a number of more experienced hands. If the event was about anything it was new riders both racing and checking out the event and enjoying the simplicity of the format, with first-timer Billy France setting himself a benchmark to beat with 36:32.

Roberts wasn’t the only rider taking over the lead of a Series with Ben Wood taking over from club chairman Dave Moore in the Road Bike Series with his 25:46 effort. Meanwhile Clare O'Donnell narrowed the gap at the top of the Women’s Series to four points after ending the evening on 32:44.

Decathlon Series by Wrekinsport Cumulative Standings after eleven rounds

Road Bike Series Cumulative Standings after eleven rounds

Women’s Series Cumulative Standings after eleven rounds

Heavy localised rain over Shawbirch and Crudgington saw three riders fail to start the Wrekinsport CC 25, Round 10 of The SB Sports Injuries Series. They missed a treat because thankfully that rain abated by 7:10pm to gift a searing fast night, with practically still conditions and easy passage through the air. Held the evening before the Shropshire Championship 25 the leading riders were perhaps to be forgiven for leaving a little something in the tank - not that you would have known it from the blistering times set by the first two. Won by Revolutions Racing's Dean Callister in a fabulous 53 minutes 49 seconds, he saw the potential of an evening with lots of available oxygen: “Pouring down with rain bouncing off the road when I was riding to start made me think what was I doing, but a few minutes into the race it stopped and actually dried up very quickly. With Tern Hill being dry it made for a fast night, a little warmer and would have been possible to PB. I enjoyed the race in the end and was pleased with the result - thanks to Wrekinsport for standing in the rain and putting the race on”.

Callister beat off a strong challenge from Wrekinsport's Tomos Hales, 42 seconds back on 54:31 and equalling his all time personal best set in the 2021 Shropshire Championship 25. This saw him move up to the head of the SB Series by a slim two points over Jonathan Mills-Keeling, great consolation for failing to set a new personal best. He stated: “The build up to the race didn't look too promising with some huge black clouds around. The first five miles of the course had a lot of water on it; however it soon cleared up to become a quick night. The legs felt very good on the night, but I knew I needed to hold some back for the SCCA Championship 25 the following night - thanks to Wrekinsport for organising; and all the marshals that stood in the rain for us”.

15 year old Ben Southgate did set a personal best, but agonisingly missed out on beating the 25mph/hour benchmark by just nine seconds with a still fabulous time of 1:00:08. Southgate moved up to fourth in the Overall SB Series behind Callister, and now has a commanding lead of 90 points in the SB Junior Series in a season of rapid improvement. He was delighted with his performance, commenting: “That was a PB, it was good, but it was harder on the way back”.   

In the SB Veterans Series a newcomer came to the fore with Wrekinsport's Jon Evans surprising himself with a win in only his second ever time trial, setting a +7:49 against Veteran's standard to beat Nova Raiders' Jenny Newton by five seconds. Evans has taken to time trialling like a duck to water, which given the initial conditions was probably an advantage as he set a very respectable actual of 1:01:34. He is clearly enjoying the experience: “All I’d like to say is I'm very happy with the first two time trials I’ve ever entered, the first being the Wrekinsport 10 on the Tiddly course where I got a top 10 finish and this 25 where I managed a Top 5 finish overall and top Veteran. It gives me huge encouragement to carry on and try and add to the points tally for Wrekinsport who are a great club with a great membership and a long and distinguished history”.

AS well as taking the runner-up spot in the Veterans Jenny Newton also took the win in the SB Women’s Series with a solid 1:07:09, beating team mate Karen Sherriff by 6:10. Newton hasn’t been racing much in 2022 and had promised herself not to race in the rain, but explained why she relented: “Firstly thanks to the timekeepers and all marshals for taking a soaking of your own. I've raced very little this season and thought about not starting, but I didn't want to let team mate Karen down. Glad I did in the end despite the rain; I felt good and paced it well. Nowhere near my fastest times but happy with my effort”.

Tandem

Heavy localised rain over Shawbirch and Crudgington saw three riders fail to start, but abated by 7:05pm to gift a searingly fast night – practically still and easy passage through the air.

Full:

Veterans:

Women:

Junior: