OUCC hill climb – Wytham Woods

Today was the Oxford University CC hill climb. It was on a private road from the attractive village of Wytham up through the woods used by Oxford University research teams. I wanted to do the race because it is probably the only climb in Oxfordshire I haven’t ever done – it is usually closed to the public. It had a lovely smooth tarmac which felt great to ride on.

The climb does not rank in the epic category but makes a reasonable four-minute effort. The steepest section is at the bottom, just after the start and then there are several false flats with slight rises every now and then. It means you have to go pretty hard from the off and try and maintain your speed in the last half of the climb. You can’t really get into a rhythm as the gradient is never constant; it was an interesting climb to do. Probably perfect for my current shape.

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I only entered the event on an impulse after bumping into an OUCC rider at some traffic lights in Oxford. After putting the entry form in, I regretted it almost immediately. In the end, it was kind of worth it, but it felt a bit weird not only to be doing a hill climb but to be even riding a proper road bike. Sometimes when cyclists say ‘they haven’t done any training’ you have to treat it with a pinch of salt. But, in my case, it’s a pretty fair assessment. I was in bad shape three weeks ago, but since then haven’t touched the road bike at all. I’ve spent a year trying to ride through a minor injury but now have given up until it is better. There’s only so much motivation you can muster to ride through aches and pains.

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It was strange to enter a hill climb when the primary motivation was to catch up with some fellow cyclists. My warm-up consisted of cycling from home to Wytham. I never imagined I’d be able to ride to an open hill climb by riding up the A34. At least it is a nice change from driving to the other end of the country. There was no thought of the traditional hill climb weight weenie efforts, I rode with my training wheels (though one of my training wheels is a Zipp 202 so not exactly a handicap). I did make the effort to remove my saddle bag – you have to keep up appearances. Though I couldn’t be bothered to shave my legs so I rode in leg-warmers. I thought that overall – leg warmers are less offensive than hairy legs and lycra.

My warm-up consisted of going to the toilet a few times and standing by a radiator. I did a few random circles around the village just to finish it off. It’s a really nice village Wytham – very little thru’ traffic just a lot of dead-ends and private roads.

At the start, I vagued out and at 10 seconds to go was almost dozing off during the countdown. But, when I came to attention, the race was OK; I did a pretty good effort, and probably paced the effort as well as I could. I hadn’t been as hard since probably last year in Nat HC 2016. It was good to get the old buzz of racing back.

Richard Gildea (Didcot CC) won in a very good time of 3.39 (or something) I was half a minute back in 4.09 – respectable enough, but well off the podium. Richard may be an outside flutter for the podium in next weeks national hill climb. One of top southern hill climbers this year. 1st lady was Anabell Orenz (North Cotswold CC)

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I’m not sure if this will prove to be a come-back ride or a final slinking off into the sunset. I hope the former, but at the moment, racing at top-form seems like a real mountain to climb. This year I have missed the hill climb season quite a lot.

Big thanks to Oxford University CC for organising the event. It was a good promotion and a great find to be able to use this private road. Over 60 riders entered – many of them from local clubs – which I feel is a pretty good turnout for an open hill climb.

Results:

Pos      Name   Team   Time

• 1          Richard Gildea            Didcot Phoenix CC    Male    3:38
• 2          Greg Fitzek     Cowley Road Condors CC     Male    3:42
• 3          David Ross     LFGSS CC     Male    3:46
• 4          John Mulvey   Cambridge University CC      Male    3:59
• 5          Angus Fisk      Oxford University CC            Male    4:01
• 6          John Hunt       Beacon Roads CC      Male    4:02
• 7          Tejvan Pettinger          Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team     Male    4:05
• 8          James King      Oxford University CC            Male    4:06
• 9          David Pearson Oxford University CC            Male    4:06
• 10        James Haworth           Univ of Warwick Tri & Road CC      Male    4:06
• 11        Matt Kerin      Oxford University CC            Male    4:09
• 12        Joe Baker        Bolsover and District CC       Male    4:11
• 13        Vincenzo Pratley         Oxford University CC            Male    4:15
• 14        Nathan Woodhouse    Leighton Buzzard Road Cycling Club           Male    4:16
• 15        Matthew Grey Spokes BPC Racing    Male    4:16
• 16        Oliver Withers Reading CC    Male    4:17
• 17        Peter Fry         Cowley Road Condors CC     Male    4:19
• 18        Eddie Rolls     Oxford University CC            Male    4:20
• 19        Oliver Bent     Oxford University CC            Male    4:21
• 20        James Scrivener           Reading CC    Male    4:21
• 21        Matthew Peters           Oxford University CC            Male    4:21
• 22        Nic Stevenson Westerley Cycling Club          Male    4:21
• 23        Simon Hunt     Farnborough & Camberley CC           Male    4:22
• 24        Bryn Davies    Oxford University CC            Male    4:26
• 25        Alex Byrne-Smith       LFGSS CC     Male    4:30
• 26        James Beechey            Baines Racing Silverstone Cycle        Male    4:30
• 27        Jack Brent       Oxford University CC            Male    4:30
• 28        Andrew Pollard          Cowley Road Condors CC     Male    4:31
• 29        Jonathan Groves         Rapha Cycling Club    Male    4:32
• 30        Joe Morrow     Oxford University CC            Male    4:32
• 31        Peter Cowan   Didcot Phoenix CC    Male    4:35
• 32        Jon Cox           Oxford University CC            Male    4:36
• 33        Joshua Long    Oxford University CC            Male    4:37
• 34        Simon Abram  Oxford University CC            Male    4:38
• 35        Dan Neal         Aylesbury CC Male    4:40
• 36        Jack Pinchin     A5 Rangers CC           Male    4:40
• 37        Matthew Ridley          Oxford University CC            Male    4:41
• 38        Tianyou Xu     Oxford University CC            Male    4:41
• 39        Simon Bromfield        Charlotteville Cycling Club    Male    4:43
• 40        Jack Smith       Brighton Mitre CC      Male    4:44
• 41        Anabell Orenz North Cotswold CC   Female 4:45
• 42        Valentin Sulzer           Oxford University CC            Male    4:50
• 43        Tamara Davenne         Oxford University CC            Female 4:56
• 44        Mark Shepherd           Banjo Cycles.com/Raceware/Specialized       Male    4:57
• 45        David McCann           Beacon Roads CC      Male    4:59
• 46        Robert McCraith         Oxford University CC            Male    5:06
• 47        Aimee Lane     Wyre Forest Cycle Racing Club         Female 5:19
• 48        Michael Kaye  100% ME        Male    5:21
• 49        James Schofield          Maybush Cycle Club  Male    5:31
• 50        Justin Strauss  Oxford University CC            Male    5:32
• 51        Dan Batute      Newbury RC   Male    5:33
• 52        Hermione Harrison      Oxford University CC            Female 5:36
• 53        Alice Gatland  Tuff Fitty Tri Club      Female 5:48

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