Today was the 2015 Jack Clements Memorial Little Mountain Time Trial organised by Beacon R.C. It was also the third round of the RTTC classic time trial series.
It is a 39 mile hilly time trial. The first loop is rolling with no major hill, but the second loop takes in two significant hills; it is not a pure climbers course, but it isn’t one for the rouleurs either – it’s a good blend of terrain offering a bit for most riders. It was good to see a big field with close to 150 riders entered. I was last to 3rd man off – no. 154.
Firstly, it was really hard to decide which race to do this weekend. Riding the Beacon meant missing my favourite race on the calender Bristol South Megahilly. It’s obviously a popular weekend for hilly time trials as there is the Teeside Mountain TT and Wrexham R.C. all on the same day.
Anyway I wanted to support the National series and the Beacon is always a great event. I did it back in 2013 and have done parts of the course in other events.
I haven’t raced for four weeks, and since then have had quite a bit of time off the bike, but think I did enough to hold some of the good early season form. Nevertheless, I wasn’t overjoyed to be starting two minutes ahead of Matt Bottrill. Before the race, I guessed he would take around two minutes out of me on the flat opening lap, but then over the last hilly lap, would be just marginally faster.
That is exactly what happened. After a mere 15 miles, Matt came flying past on his way to setting a new CR of 1:32:29 – smashing a 10 year old course record, set by Stuart Dangerfield back in 2005. I held back a little to let Matt drift out of sight, but on the first major hill (Stanford Bank), I was catching up quite quickly. It meant I had to think a lot about keeping back a good distance. On the descents and flat, Matt would disappear from view, but when it became very hilly, I would catch a glimpse of Matt at the top of the hill. It was a funny race because I spent a lot of time thinking about and looking out for the rider in the front.
It is a good course to race on because the roads are relatively good, and the descents quite fast, but not too tricky. I was really flying down some long descents on 56*11 – though, however fast as I was going, I knew other riders were going even faster.
After the long descent from Bringsty, you turn off the main road and head up Ankerdine Hill. This is a real test – 7% average gradient for 1 miles and over 11% for half a mile. At this point, I didn’t hold anything back and went really quick up the hill.
I finished in 1.35.22 which was 3.50 faster than my previous time. It was obviously a good day because quite a few other people made similar improvements.
- Average speed – 24.9mph
- Time: 1.35.22
- Position 3rd
- Average power – 286 watts (I did last 7 miles from Ankerdine to finish 299 watts)
No Pinz
By the way, today I was trying the nopinz stick on wallets for the first time. I used both back number and side arms. They worked well and stayed in place. They were quite easy to fit and must be more aerodynamic than a flapping number. I might do more of a review later.
Results
| Placing | Number | Name | Club/Team | R | Cat | PB | Time | PB imp |
| 1 | 156 | Matthew Bottrill | www.drag2zero.com | M | 01:36:18 | 1:32:29 | 3:49 | |
| 2 | 152 | Joshua Williams | Revolutions Racing | M | 1:34:08 | |||
| 3 | 154 | Tejvan Pettinger | Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team | M | 01:39:12 | 1:35:22 | 3:50 | |
| 4 | 146 | Dean Robson | Cheltenham & County CC | M | 01:40:05 | 1:35:39 | 4:26 | |
| 5 | 148 | Christopher Fennell | Banks/Catford CC Equipe | E | 1:38:19 | |||
| 6 | 158 | Matt Clinton | Mike Vaughan Cycles | M | 01:35:32 | 1:39:25 | ||
| 7 | 133 | Mark Nulty | Glossop Kinder Velo | M | 1:41:06 | |||
| 8 | 142 | Scott Walker | MG Decor Carbon Bike Technics | M | 1:41:11 | |||
| 9 | 74 | Mark Corbett | Worcester St. Johns CC | V40 | 01:44:20 | 1:41:18 | 3:02 | |
| 10 | 139 | Peter Nicholls | Team P B Performance | M | 1:41:48 | |||
| 11 | 79 | Mark Turnbull | Torque Performance | V40 | 1:43:13 | |||
| 12 | 138 | Tim Ashton | Royal Sutton CC | M | 01:45:39 | 1:43:42 | 1:57 | |
| 13 | 77 | Paul Robinson | Lyme Racing Club | V50 | 01:43:09 | 1:43:50 | ||
| 14 | 111 | Henry Sleight | www.drag2zero.com | M | 1:43:52 | |||
| 15 | 126 | Chris Spencer | Royal Leamington Spa Cycling Club | M | 02:02:21 | 1:45:08 | 17:13 | |
| 16 | 144 | Jack O’Neill | Mike Vaughan Cycles | E | 01:43:02 | 1:45:23 | ||
| 17 | 140 | James Middleton | Media Velo | M | 1:46:36 | |||
| 18 | 75 | Stephen Price | Worcester St. Johns CC | V40 | 01:43:20 | 1:47:28 | ||
| 19 | 69 | Peter Greenwood | Team Swift | V60 | 1:47:46 |
1st lady Emily Robertson CC Luton.
There were many prizes for different categories, sponsored by Islabikes. I got to stand on a podium, which was a nice touch. When I left there were still working out results of King of the Mountains competition, but, I have a feeling I might have won that one!
Other results at CTT / Beacon RC
Previous results
- 2013 – 1.39.12 (3rd)