Brighton Mitre Hill Climbs 2020

Saturday was Brighton Mitre CC hill climbs on Steyning Borstal and Mill Hill. I raced these hills back in 2004-2006, but haven’t been back for 14 years.

First up is Steyning Borstal, a tough climb with three distinct sections. Steep, flat and then steep again.

It is a technical climb in that pacing is not straightforward because of the variable gradient. I had a good warm up and was reasonably pleased with the effort. I thought I paced it relatively well. I wanted to go fairly fast on the first and second part but make the biggest effort on the last section where it gets to 17%. I finished in a time of 4.06. I believe there was a slight headwind at the top of climb, though Alice Lethbridge set new women’s course pb of 4:55.3 and Lukas Nerurkar set junior record 3:54.2.

My time: 4.06. Power: 421 watts. Av speed 14.0 mph. max speed 2.4

After Steyning, there is quite a long break until next climb in Shoreham in the afternoon. The virtual HQ was by a rugby field in Shoreham. Whilst warming up on my Trek Speed Concept on rollers, a chap with a couple of kids started asking me what I was doing. I replied I was warming up for a race on nearby Mill Hill. He was very polite and interested. I’m so rusty riding on rollers that unfortunately, I didn’t dare turn my head to the left to meet his eye in case I fell off. Anyway, as he walked off he said to his kids, in a very matter of fact way “that’s the craziest thing I’ve seen in a car park!”

Mill Hill

Mill Hill is a funny hill climb in that there a two quite significant down hill sections so, at parts on the climb, you can be going quite fast. I think when I did it in 2004/05, I used road bike with clip on tribars, but this year brought a TT bike, which is heavier than the Emonda, but definitely faster on the downhill. The hardest part is the first section where it briefly gets up to 10%. It’s hard to pace this kind of climb as there is a bit of freewheeling and ‘easy sections’. After the second downhill, there is a sharp right turn before final run to the line. I ended up breaking quite hard for this corner. The climb was OK, though I maybe should have gone harder at the start because there is quite a bit of recovery during the middle section. I did around 7.40.

Time: 7.40. Av power – 363 watts. Max power – 704 watts. Av. speed 20.9mph, Max speed 34.7 mph

On the start sheet I noted the name of Lukas Nerurkar my minute man – because in my first athletic career I was part of Bradford Grammar School cross country team. Under Selby Brock and Tony Kingham, BGS took cross country running really enthusiastically. Though unfortunately, their enthusiasm didn’t always manage to rub off on to my teenage self – my first athletic career was not exactly covered in glory, I saw it more as a slightly better option than having to play rugby. After fading away, and coming last in one race, I managed to ‘retire’ – deciding competitive sport was not for me – which it was for another 10 years. The reason I mention all this is that Richard Nerurkar was the star product of BGS cross country – going on to finish 5th in the men’s marathon at the 1996 Olympics in Athens. So this is the difference – when I was 16 I was coming last and retiring from sport. But, it’s never too late to get into sport and I’m enjoying trying my best to maintain my form as the years keep accumulating.

Overall the event was good and I enjoyed the day trip to the south coast. During these difficult Covid days it’s always nice to get out and briefly meet other cyclists, even if hanging outside by a rugby field and public toilets in Shoreham is not quite as cosy as being in a village hall with a cup of tea and results board.

It was also good to see a big field of nearly 60 riders on startsheet with quite a few riders getting ready for the Nationals in two weeks time. I heard that there were 459 entrants to the national and everyone got a place! I also noted start timekeeper was Robin Johnson, I remember when Robin organised the hill climbs back in 2005, I remember Robin because I left my bag at HQ and he kindly put it in the post –  I thought it was well – above and beyond the call of duty for a race organiser!

Ditchling Beacon

After Mill Hill, it was getting late but I made a short detour to go home via Ditchling Beacon. (three hill climbs for the price of two) It is a hill I have heard a lot about but have never ridden up. When I was descending, I saw a long line of cars stuck behind cyclists (most of whom were walking). There was some kind of charity ride or sportive and the hill was full of cyclists. I managed to time my run to avoid the walking cyclists. Traffic notwithstanding, it’s a great climb, not too steep, nice corners and a great view.

There was a big group of cyclists at the top cheering on the struggling cyclists. They were enjoying their hill climb challenge, just in a slightly different way to those of us racing up Mill Hill and Steyning. To be fair to the cyclists on Ditchling Beacon, I bet they didn’t waste time warming up on rollers in some obscure car park.

Dowsett and the Giro

Since cycling came back on tv, there have been some great days racing to watch. By far my favourite was Saturday’s stage. I had it on record and when I got home I watched the last hour. Like many who follow UK racing, I was really rooting for Alex Dowsett. I remember in the 2005 national 25 mile TT (when he was still a junior) we both did 54.00 and because he really likes the UK domestic scene, it’s been great watching his career progress. It’s also a reminder that even if you are super-talented, it’s really difficult to win pro races. Seven years after Dowsett’s Giro TT victory, this road stage was a very well deserved win and hopefully will secure him a good contract for next year.

Previous races in Brighton Mitre CC hill climb

Steyning

2004 – 4.21 (4/42)
2005 – 4.02 (3rd/60)
2006 – 4.17 (2nd)
2020 – 4.06 (2nd)

Mill Hill

2004 – 7.?? (2nd/42)
2005 – 7.26 (2nd/60)
2006 – 7.21 (1st)
2020 – 7.40 (3rd/)

---

Results from Steyning Bostal 2020

Position	First Name	Last Name	Gender	Category	Club	Precise Time
1	Lukas	Nerurkar	Male	Junior	VC de Londres	03:54.2
2	Tejvan	Pettinger	Male	Vet	Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team	04:06.8
3	Matthew	Houlberg	Male	Junior	Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col RT	04:11.8
4	Nicholas	Candy	Male	Espoir	North Road CC	04:14.3
5	Oliver	Hurdle	Male	Espoir	University of Southampton RC	04:14.8
6	Mark	Aldred	Male	Senior	Kingston Wheelers CC	04:18.5
7	Mark	Arnold	Male	Vet	VTTA (East Anglia Group)	04:21.0
8	David	Ross	Male	Senior	LFGSS CC	04:21.4
9	Richard	Cartland	Male	Vet	HuntBikeWheels.com	04:25.4
10	Dylan	Green	Male	Senior	Bigfoot CC	04:34.5
11	John	Bland	Male	Senior	VC de Londres	04:38.3
12	Michael	Sleeman	Male	Senior	Horsham Cycling	04:40.6
13	George	Harvey	Male	Juvenile	Brighton Excelsior CC	04:41.3
14	Cris	Coxon	Male	Vet	Brighton Mitre CC	04:44.1
15	Tom	Haines	Male	Vet	East London Velo	04:45.8
16	Laurence	Rose	Male	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	04:46.2
17	John	Blight	Male	Senior	Rapha Cycling Club	04:46.9
18	Glen	Whittington	Male	Senior	Southborough & Dist. Whs	04:49.8
19	Joe	Walker	Male	Espoir	Brighton Mitre CC	04:50.0
20	Tony	Boness	Male	Vet	Blazing Saddles	04:50.5
21	Dave	Brothers	Male	Vet	Four4th	04:51.7
22	Alice	Lethbridge	Female	Senior	Torelli	04:55.3
23	Alex	Harvey	Male	Junior	Brighton Excelsior CC	04:56.2
24	Kelvin	Newman	Male	Senior	Worthing Excelsior CC	04:56.3
25	Mark	Smith	Male	Vet	Crawley Wheelers	04:56.6
26	Jack	Smith	Male	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	04:58.1
27	Paul	Barnard	Male	Senior	South Downs Bikes / Casco Pet	04:58.9
28	Connor	Backhouse	Male	Espoir	Kingston Wheelers CC	05:03.2
29	Jack	Hartrey	Male	Junior	Kingston Wheelers CC	05:09.2
30	Leo	Downing	Male	Senior	Kingston Wheelers CC	05:23.5
31	Martin	Gibbs	Male	Senior	Team TMC	05:26.5
32	Martin	East	Male	Vet	Wealden Cycle Club	05:28.1
33	Olivia	Webb	Female	Vet	Eastbourne Rovers CC	05:34.1
34	Laura	Senior	Female	Senior	Velo Club Godalming & Haslemere	05:40.1
35	Ben	Bryant	Male	Senior	Elite Cycling	05:41.2
36	Harrison	Fay	Male	Junior	Welland Valley CC	05:41.4
37	Gary	Record	Male	Senior	West Kent RC	05:42.3
38	Ian	Anderson	Male	Vet	York Cycleworks	05:43.2
39	Kate	Palmer	Female	Senior	1904RT	05:49.6
40	Henrietta	Aitken	Female	Senior	Rapha Cycling Club	05:49.7
41	James	Flint	Male	Vet	Beachy Head CC	05:54.3
42	Megan	Anderson	Female	Senior	York Cycleworks	06:05.6
43	Debbie	Percival	Female	Vet	Kent Velo Girls/Boys	06:12.7
44	John	Marinko	Male	Vet	Brighton Mitre CC	06:18.8
45	Becca	Drake	Female	Senior	BellaVelo cc	06:34.6
46	Edd	Saunders	Male	Senior	Brighton Excelsior CC	06:36.3
47	Andrew	Bailey	Male	Vet	Wealden Cycle Club	06:44.3
48	Cathy	Wallace	Female	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	07:29.7
49	Rose	Moncrieffe	Female	Juvenile	VC de Londres	07:46.2
50	Maria	David	Female	Vet	Serpentine Running Club	08:05.8
51	Brian	Jones	Male	Vet	Horsham Cycling	08:17.9

CTT results

Women

1	Alice	Lethbridge	Senior	Torelli	04:55.3
2	Olivia	Webb	Vet	Eastbourne Rovers CC	05:34.1
3	Laura	Senior	Senior	Velo Club Godalming & Haslemere	05:40.1
4	Kate	Palmer	Senior	1904RT	05:49.6
5	Henrietta	Aitken	Senior	Rapha Cycling Club	05:49.7
6	Megan	Anderson	Senior	York Cycleworks	06:05.6
7	Debbie	Percival	Vet	Kent Velo Girls/Boys	06:12.7
8	Becca	Drake	Senior	BellaVelo cc	06:34.6
9	Cathy	Wallace	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	07:29.7
10	Rose	Moncrieffe	Juvenile	VC de Londres	07:46.2
11	Maria	David	Vet	Serpentine Running Club	08:05.8

Mill Hill overall

Position	First Name	Last Name	Gender	Category	Club	Precise Time
1	Oliver	Hurdle	Male	Espoir	University of Southampton RC	07:31.7
2	Lukas	Nerurkar	Male	Junior	VC de Londres	07:37.0
3	Tejvan	Pettinger	Male	Vet	Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team	07:40.3
4	Nicholas	Candy	Male	Espoir	North Road CC	07:46.2
5	Mark	Arnold	Male	Vet	VTTA (East Anglia Group)	07:51.3
6	Matthew	Houlberg	Male	Junior	Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col RT	07:56.6
7	Marek	Shafer	Male	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	08:00.8
8	David	Ross	Male	Senior	LFGSS CC	08:02.0
9	Mark	Aldred	Male	Senior	Kingston Wheelers CC	08:08.8
10	Mark	Smith	Male	Vet	Crawley Wheelers	08:09.7
11	Jon	Hughes	Male	Vet	Velo Club Godalming & Haslemere	08:14.1
12	Richard	Cartland	Male	Vet	HuntBikeWheels.com	08:18.9
13	George	Harvey	Male	Juvenile	Brighton Excelsior CC	08:29.9
14	Alex	Harvey	Male	Junior	Brighton Excelsior CC	08:32.1
15	Dylan	Green	Male	Senior	Bigfoot CC	08:34.8
16	John	Blight	Male	Senior	Rapha Cycling Club	08:37.7
17	Alice	Lethbridge	Female	Senior	Torelli	08:41.7
18	Dan	Ellis	Male	Senior	BTNRT	08:42.3
19	Michael	Sleeman	Male	Senior	Horsham Cycling	08:44.2
20	Connor	Backhouse	Male	Espoir	Kingston Wheelers CC	08:45.8
21	Paul	Barnard	Male	Senior	South Downs Bikes / Casco Pet	08:55.7
22	Dave	Brothers	Male	Vet	Four4th	08:58.0
23	Martin	Gibbs	Male	Senior	Team TMC	09:06.2
24	Glen	Whittington	Male	Senior	Southborough & Dist. Whs	09:07.1
25	Jack	Smith	Male	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	09:08.2
26	Simon	McLeod	Male	Senior	BTNRT	09:08.9
27	Jack	Hartrey	Male	Junior	Kingston Wheelers CC	09:12.1
28	Craig	Smith	Male	Senior	New Forest CC	09:20.3
29	Ian	Anderson	Male	Vet	York Cycleworks	09:26.7
30	Kate	Palmer	Female	Senior	1904RT	09:33.1
31	James	Trigg	Male	Vet	Redhill CC	09:34.3
32	Laura	Senior	Female	Senior	Velo Club Godalming & Haslemere	09:41.8
33	Ben	Bryant	Male	Senior	Elite Cycling	09:49.0
34	Tobias	Bunyan	Male	Vet	Eastbourne Rovers CC	09:49.2
35	Gemma	Hobson	Female	Vet	URDT	09:49.7
36	Alfred	Bunyan	Male	Juvenile	Preston Park Youth Cycling Club	09:52.0
37	Megan	Anderson	Female	Senior	York Cycleworks	09:54.7
38	Harrison	Fay	Male	Junior	Welland Valley CC	10:01.1
39	Katie	Simmonds	Female	Senior	URDT	10:04.8
40	Vikki	Filsell	Female	Vet	BellaVelo cc	10:16.5
41	James	Flint	Male	Vet	Beachy Head CC	10:24.2
42	Kathryn	Alty	Female	Senior	BellaVelo cc	10:38.3
43	Becca	Drake	Female	Senior	BellaVelo cc	10:39.5
44	Debbie	Percival	Female	Vet	Kent Velo Girls/Boys	10:46.4
45	Brian	Jones	Male	Vet	Horsham Cycling	12:08.2
46	Cathy	Wallace	Female	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	12:28.7
47	Maria	David	Female	Vet	Serpentine Running Club	13:48.7

CTT

Mill Hill Women

1	Alice	Lethbridge	Senior	Torelli	08:41.7
2	Kate	Palmer	Senior	1904RT	09:33.1
3	Laura	Senior	Senior	Velo Club Godalming & Haslemere	09:41.8
4	Gemma	Hobson	Vet	URDT	09:49.7
5	Megan	Anderson	Senior	York Cycleworks	09:54.7
6	Katie	Simmonds	Senior	URDT	10:04.8
7	Vikki	Filsell	Vet	BellaVelo cc	10:16.5
8	Kathryn	Alty	Senior	BellaVelo cc	10:38.3
9	Becca	Drake	Senior	BellaVelo cc	10:39.5
10	Debbie	Percival	Vet	Kent Velo Girls/Boys	10:46.4
11	Cathy	Wallace	Senior	Brighton Mitre CC	12:28.7
12	Maria	David	Vet	Serpentine Running Club	13:48.7