Club Hill Climb 2010

With falling leaves and Mother Mature winding down any thoughts of autumnal inactivity were put aside by the Wheelers who competed in the Club's annual Hill Climb Champs at Cults Brae, Blanefield. Many were resurrecting race legs from storage while others had been competing in the recent round of regional hill climbs or even international competition! There was no doubt however that it was no easy task to pick a winner. Amongst the contenders were Kristoff, silver medallist in the Scottish championships and winner of the WOSCA competition earlier in October. David Griffiths had also performed strongly in these competitions, with a 2nd place at Kingscavill last Sunday. Grant Stevenson was the defending champion and despite being short on competitive hill climbing practice had the form from training for and competing in Le Criterium de Levallois in Paris the previous weekend. Robbie Hassan and Jason Roberts also fell into this category. Darkhorses emerged in the forms of Andy Underwood and Jon Clarke who have finished their seasons strongly with good results at the Trossachs and other hill competitions. In short the field for the Club's own competition was probably stronger than these regional events!

The rest of us just turned up for something to do on a beautiful Sunday morning!

Conditions were good except for the cool air, a slushy patch of ice on the lower slopes also indicated the overnight freeze. Thirteen riders took to the line with minute intervals between them. Despite not being a huge climb the slopes of Cults Brae have the desire effect - the lung-gasping 2 minute efforts from the competitors were enough to provoke a high dose of lactic acid and jelly legs.

Riding strongly out the saddle and clearly quicker than any of the previous efforts, Grant Stevenson posted a storming 1m40s time which placed him a full 7 seconds ahead of second placed David Griffiths. There were a number of great efforts with Andy Underwood and Jon Clarke only separted by hundredths. As a bookend to the season, Jamie got some revenge over Liam Hassan who gave him a pasting on the Gifford climbs at Musselburgh's 3-up TTT in March! First Lady Alix Drever could afford a smile as she ascended towards the line – maybe because she knew she was the only lady. Many thanks to organisers Eric Cruickshank and Tommy Banks and spectating photographer Michael Nicolson.

A west-end source confirmed Jon Clarke failed in his attempts for calibration tests on the stop watches to upgrade his 5th place. He is also already analysing where he can improve for next year's event. With two wins out of two following his title defensive, Grant is now the holder of two Club cups, with plenty of time to become the leading Hill Climb winner.....if he goes easy on the well earned beer that is!