Burrington Combe 2020

Today was my 10th entry for the Bristol South CC promotion on Burrington Combe.

It’s always a hill climb I enjoy riding. A good long climb, nice scenery and, over the years, I have got to know quite a few riders and organisers from the Bristol scene. It also helps that the climb historically suited my riding style. The last eight times I have entered – going all the way back to 2005 – I came first. It was an unbeaten run that was more than overdue to be broken. Since I was last here in 2016, a lot has happened. And it’s not just me getting older.

I thought the conditions were quite good. 12 degrees, hardly any wind, maybe 1 mph headwind at the top, but not noticeable. My race went fairly well. I warmed up on the road, switched to the lighter racing wheels and went off to the start. I got into a good rhythm and I paced it reasonably well. I made quite a good effort, riding as hard as I could for 7+ minutes and making an extra effort at the steep bits. The only downside to the race was that my time was about 30 seconds slower than I would have liked. As a great French philosopher once said “That’s life, mate!”

My very first cycling blog was not cyclinginfo.co.uk, but an appendix to richardpettinger.com (so long ago I even had a different name). It was a pretty feeble first effort at writing about cycling. I mainly remember calling the blog “It’s all downhill from here” which, at the time, I thought was very amusing for a blog about cycling. I then moved to cyclinginfo.co.uk before settling on cyclinguphill.com. But, as I enter the more mature phase of life, perhaps the title “It’s all downhill from here” will prove increasingly apt.

Out of interest – this was the kind of blog I wrote from my 2005 event – Bristol South CC

In 2005, I remember spending hours getting the bike lighter, I think I ran a 44 single chainring, and all kinds of marginal gains. I was really proud at how light the bike was – something in the region of  6kg for a scandium Ribble frame. These days, taking off my bottle cage is my main concession to bike preparation. Though the Emonda is a pretty good starting point.

Interesting of note – in 2005, there were only three riders under 8 minutes; today there were nineteen. (though James Dobbin went on to win Nat HC in 2006/07). I imagine in 2005 there were very few juniors or women on the startsheet as they were a rare breed in that era. These days the hill climb scene is attracting a greater diversity of riders which is a very good thing, even if does mean us older folk see ourselves slipping down the standings.

The other blog of note from rp.com was a report from the 2005 National Hill Climb.

In the past few weeks, I have had a small dip in form. I have especially struggled (comparatively) on the longer climbs. I used to do better on the long climbs, but these days it is the other way around. I think part of the reason may be due to the fact I don’t train as much as I used to. On short climbs, you can get by on quite low mileage and a few efforts. For the longer climb, it seems to make a bigger difference how fit you are. It would be interesting to see what would happen if next year I tried training like I used to. But, I now realise that to do 10-15 hours of training is a really big commitment of time, energy and enthusiasm. Whether I will ever have that time or inclination to train, I doubt.

At the race, I saw a few people I hadn’t seen for quite a while. Including Nick Pashley who was the club captain during my days at Oxford University CC. I was club treasurer and Nick was a larger than life presence. He mainly rides cyclo-cross, but with that being cancelled for 2020 – he made a sideways jump (or should that be vertical) jump into the hill climb scene. He made a very creditable time for a first effort at hill climbs, and he’s definitely not a whippet like me.

Time: 7.31 – 369 watts

Previous results on Burrington Combe

• 2004 – 7.12 – 2nd / 43 – winner D.Axford (7.02 CR)
• 2005 – 7.06 – 1st / 61  – (2005 blog)
• 2008 – 7.21 – 1st / 50
• 2009 – 7.20 – 1st / 55
• 2010 – 7.10 – 1st / 51 – (blog 2010)
• 2011 – 6.51 – 1st  /48 – CR (blog 2011)
  
• 2014 – 6.57 – 1st / 118 – blog 2014
• 2015 – 6.58 – 1st / 110 – blog 2015
  
• 2016 – 7.17 – 1st / 113 (386W) – blog 2016
• 2020 – 7.31 – 8th / 113 (369 W)

Thanks to Bristol South CC for putting on the event in these testing times.

Of note

• Photos 2020 Phil J Photography
• Hill Climb Rankings Spindata

Photo by Paul Jones. I should add that I haven’t put on any weight – I had just stuffed a skinsuit up my cycle top.

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Vale Street

On my way back from Burrington Combe, I made short detour to Vale Street, Bristol. I read about it in Simon Warren’s Another 100 Climbs. It claims to be the steepest residential street in Europe. It’s a bit of a gimmicky climb being very short. But, it is very steep and makes a good photo.

I run a 11-speed cassette (with one removed) on my old lightweight rear wheel (10 speed hub). When I went for the climb, I went down into lowest gear, only for chain to fall off, leaving me kind of stranded, horizontal to this super steep gradient. I was just stuck for a few seconds not knowing what to do or where to go. If someone had been watching, they might have found the predicament quite funny. Second time around, I chose gear more carefully. It’s a weird sensation, I could never let myself rip and try really hard as I feared I would fall off on the adverse camber. I should have tried the really hard way from the bottom of the hill, up the really steep left-hander section. But, my lowest gear was 39*23 and it wasn’t working very well  I felt I would not make it and probably fall over. So I gave it a miss. But, I did do it coming down the adjoining road and turning right.

So two hill climbs for the price of one. I’ve ticked it off my bucket list of climbs to do. It took me 21 seconds and went round the block three times.

Results Burrington Combe 2020

Position	First Name	Last Name	Gender	Category	Club	Precise Time
1	Carl	Jolly	Male	Espoir	University of Bristol Cycling Club (UOBCC)	07:11.3
2	Thomas	Arkell	Male	Espoir	East London Velo	07:13.0
3	Phil	Stonelake	Male	Vet	Bristol Road Club	07:17.7
4	Jake	Hollins	Male	Senior	Bath Cycling Club	07:23.8
5	Jacques	Coates	Male	Espoir	Team PB Performance	07:28.4
6	Nicholas	Candy	Male	Espoir	North Road CC	07:28.6
7	Ben	Millar	Male	Senior	Team Tor 2000 | KALAS	07:30.5
8	Tejvan	Pettinger	Male	Vet	Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team	07:31.3
9	Will	Duffy	Male	Espoir	Bath Cycling Club	07:31.8
10	Archie	Cross	Male	Senior	Team Lifting Gear Products/Cycles In Motion	07:32.6
11	Tom	Lowe	Male	Vet	Born to Bike – Bridgtown Cycles	07:34.2
12	Nick	Livermore	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	07:35.9
13	Andrew	Kirby	Male	Senior	73 Degrees Bicycles, WestSide Coaching rt	07:37.2
14	Tom	Williams	Male	Junior	Webbs 1902 CC	07:39.2
15	Ted	Cross	Male	Senior	University of Bristol Cycling Club (UOBCC)	07:43.4
16	Charlie	Lacaille	Male	Espoir	University of Bristol Cycling Club (UOBCC)	07:49.6
17	Jake	Sargent	Male	Espoir	FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Racing	07:58.3
18	Daniel	Eastment	Male	Vet	1st Chard Wheelers	07:59.6
19	Thomas	Hall	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	07:59.8
20	Jonathan	Heath	Male	Senior	NFTO CC	08:00.4
20	Andrew	Metherell	Male	Vet	Salt and Sham Cycle Club	08:00.4
22	Glyndwr	Griffiths	Male	Vet	73 Degrees Bicycles, WestSide Coaching rt	08:02.8
23	Adam	Whitehead	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	08:04.9
24	Joseph	Wright	Male	Juvenile	Team Zoyland	08:05.0
25	Steve	Thomas	Male	Vet	Bristol Road Club	08:05.2
26	Joe	Taylor	Male	Senior	Magspeed Racing	08:08.3
27	Harvey	Thomas	Male	Juvenile	Bristol Road Club	08:08.5
28	Carl	Dyson	Male	Senior	Leicester Forest CC	08:08.7
29	Daniel	Pink	Male	Senior	GS Avanti	08:12.6
30	Karl	Norris	Male	Vet	360VRT	08:13.5
31	Robert	Francis	Male	Espoir	Reflex Racing	08:18.7
32	Liam	Cahill	Male	Senior	Reflex Racing	08:22.4
33	Thomas	Southey	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	08:23.4
34	Charles	Coleman	Male	Senior	Rogue Racing	08:26.3
35	Jamie	Richardson Paige	Male	Senior	Magspeed Racing	08:27.9
36	Anthony	Clark	Male	Senior	FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Racing	08:28.3
36	Natalie	Grinczer	Female	Senior	CAMS -Tifosi	08:28.3
38	Matthew	Skeats	Male	Senior	University of Bristol Cycling Club (UOBCC)	08:30.1
38	Joe	Norledge	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	08:30.1
40	Junda	Niu	Male	Espoir	University of Bristol Cycling Club (UOBCC)	08:37.5
41	Nicole	Coates	Female	Espoir	Torelli	08:38.5
42	Josh	Griffiths	Male	Espoir	Bikestrong-KTM	08:39.4
43	Jon	Reilly	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	08:39.7
44	Richard	Bennett	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	08:43.5
45	Sam	Westlake	Male	Senior	PDQ Cycle Coaching	08:43.8
46	Jack	Luke	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	08:45.2
47	James	Harrison	Male	Senior	Sodbury Cycle Sport	08:46.0
48	Ben	Turner	Male	Vet	Wellington Wheelers Cycling Club	08:47.3
49	Tavis	Walker	Male	Vet	Rogue Racing	08:49.6
50	Gary	Fouracres	Male	Vet	Mendip Cycling Club	08:51.2
51	Scott	Chalmers	Male	Senior	Magspeed Racing	08:51.4
52	Jonathan	Marriott	Male	Espoir	University of Bristol Cycling Club (UOBCC)	08:51.6
53	Ash	Miles	Male	Vet	CC Giro	08:52.9
54	Tom	Taylor	Male	Juvenile	Avid Sport	08:56.0
55	Jon	James	Male	Vet	Mendip Cycling Club	08:57.8
56	Kate	MacTear	Female	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	08:58.2
57	Christopher	Britten	Male	Vet	Sodbury Cycle Sport	09:00.9
58	Luke	Browne	Male	Senior	BS10 Cycling Club	09:07.4
59	Jon	Wiggins	Male	Senior	PDQ Cycle Coaching	09:07.5
60	Edward	Trenchard	Male	Vet	Bristol South Cycling Club	09:12.2
61	Edward	Arnold	Male	Senior	Stroud Valley Velos	09:13.0
62	Felix	Smith	Male	Senior	Bristol South Cycling Club	09:13.1
63	Clare	Good	Female	Senior	PDQ Cycle Coaching	09:14.6
64	Christine	Wellington	Female	Vet	Birmingham Running, Athletics and Triathlon Club	09:15.6
65	Charlotte	Davies	Female	Senior	FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Racing	09:16.7
66	Paul	Jones	Male	Vet	Bristol South Cycling Club	09:18.7
67	Tommy	Barlow	Male	Vet	Clevedon & District Road Club	09:19.3
68	David	English	Male	Vet	Chippenham & District Wheelers	09:20.8
69	Nick	Pashley	Male	Vet	Bristol CX	09:24.2
70	Marc	Allen	Male	Vet	Swindon Road Club	09:26.7
71	Tomasz	Osinski	Male	Senior	BS10 Cycling Club	09:29.5
72	Leo	Guilfoyle	Male	Junior	Clevedon & District Road Club	09:30.2
73	Steven	Cottington	Male	Vet	Bath Cycling Club	09:33.3
74	Leon	Gierat	Male	Vet	Bristol CX	09:36.6
75	Daniel	Andres	Male	Senior	FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Racing	09:40.1
76	Emily Kate	Walton	Female	Senior	Beeston Cycling Club	09:41.4
77	Ben	Loxton	Male	Espoir	University of Bath Cycling Club	09:43.5
78	Naomi	Eaton	Female	Senior	Stroud Valley Velos	09:44.4
79	Charlie	Bird	Male	Senior	Rogue Racing	09:45.8
80	Louis	Wright	Male	Juvenile	Team Zoyland	09:49.3
81	Edward	Morris	Male	Vet	Okehampton CC	09:55.3
82	Evan	Griffiths	Male	Senior	North Essex Velo	09:55.5
83	Alan	Green	Male	Vet	Magspeed Racing	09:59.0
84	Richard	Burt	Male	Vet	Solihull CC	10:15.0
85	Oliver	Strother	Male	Vet	Bristol Road Club	10:15.3
86	Chris	McDonald	Male	Tan	PDQ Cycle Coaching	10:24.1
87	Jim	Dyke	Male	Vet	Bristol South Cycling Club	10:38.2
88	Becky	Dodds	Female	Senior	Rogue Racing	10:39.8
89	Haydn	Davies	Male	Vet	Giant CC Halo Films	10:45.4
90	Richard	Emery	Male	Vet	Severn Road Club	10:59.5
91	Pauli	Markkanen	Male	Vet	Bristol South Cycling Club	11:10.8
92	Gordon	Scott	Male	Vet	CC Weymouth	11:28.4
93	Sara	James	Female	Vet	Clevedon & District Road Club	12:22.3
94	Helen	Gray	Female	Vet	Rogue Racing	12:34.1
95	Joanna	Knight	Female	Vet	Bristol South Cycling Club	12:42.2
96	Rachel	Profit	Female	Vet	Clevedon & District Road Club	14:48.5
97	Bob	Symons	Male	Vet	PDQ Cycle Coaching	15:30.6

CTT Results

Women

1 Natalie Grinczer Female Senior CAMS -Tifosi 08:28.3
2 Nicole Coates Female Espoir Torelli 08:38.5
3 Kate MacTear Female Senior Bristol South Cycling Club 08:58.2
4 Clare Good Female Senior PDQ Cycle Coaching 09:14.6
5 Christine Wellington Female Vet Birmingham Running, Athletics and Triathlon Club 09:15.6
6 Charlotte Davies Female Senior FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Racing 09:16.7
7 Emily Kate Walton Female Senior Beeston Cycling Club 09:41.4
8 Naomi Eaton Female Senior Stroud Valley Velos 09:44.4
9 Becky Dodds Female Senior Rogue Racing 10:39.8
10 Sara James Female Vet Clevedon & District Road Club 12:22.3
11 Helen Gray Female Vet Rogue Racing 12:34.1
12 Joanna Knight Female Vet Bristol South Cycling Club 12:42.2
13 Rachel Profit Female Vet Clevedon & District Road Club 14:48.5