Ely Hardriders Race Report
Fifteen CUCC riders signed up to ride 2018’s Ely Hardriders event despite its reputation for foul, cold weather. Perhaps the draw of the cakes was too much to resist? The weather on Sunday morning was clear without a frost, but unfortunately very breezy with gusts exceeding 30 mph. Disastrously CUCC’s resident megawatts machine, Ali Golby, choppered himself on the ride out to the course when some road detritus jammed in his front wheel. Jali Packer and Rob Walker were there to pick up the pieces and even a trip to A+E could only keep Ali from intervals on Bottisham for a matter of hours.
Michaelmas Retrospective – CUCC Hill Climb
04.11.17
The first CUCC Hill Climb in club memory was held on a wet day in early November, but the damp weather didn’t stop 34 entrants lining up to take on the mighty Gog Magog. A strenuous 900m at 4.2% reaching the heady heights of 67m, it’s about the best Cambridge has to offer. Of course, that was no reason to take it easy! However, the committee were disappointed by the lack of vomiting at the top – clearly the racers weren’t trying quite hard enough. Ffion James took the win (and the QOM! (from Laura Massey!)) for the women in 1:53.1 with President Jess close behind in 1:53.8. Alice Bittleston completed the women’s podium. John Hale stormed the win in the men’s competition in 1:32.6, with Espresso Library’s John William Gull 3 seconds down at 1:35.4 – was he weighed down by the Zipp disc? We will never know. Tom Simpson was first club member in 1:37.6.
Honourable mentions go to Felix Barker (6th) and Luke Fisher (18th) for riding fixed, Felix on his pursuit setup for BUCS track and Luke on his Simpson-built machine (shameless plug), and to Tom Wade for riding town-bike.
BUCS Hill Climb Results, Report and Photos
After missing last year’s event in Stirling (lovely spot, a very long way from Cambridge), CUCC were back with a strong presence in 2017. The race was held on October 28th on Pea Royd Lane in Stocksbridge near Sheffield, a steep sub-3 minute climb that was used (in a 400m longer format) for the 2014 Nationals. The women were first up, with President Jess Atkinson coming in 14th and Carrie Bedingfield following in 17th in a competitive field. Felix Barker (8th), Seb Dickson (13th) and Rob Walker (17th) made up the Cambridge men’s team who placed second on the day, while Tom Simpson had their backs in 18th. Toby Cowell was 36th, Luke Fisher 59th, fresher Jack Brown managed 70th despite having his start botched and Seán Irving was 83rd. Full results can be found below.