SCA Hill-climb and cyclo-cross

Peter Baker was the lone Lewes Wanderer taking part in the Sussex Cyclists’ Association Hill Climb on the morning of Saturday 30th September.  The event formed Round 2 of 8 in  the Strada Wheels - TMC South Downs Hill Climb Series and was run up the steep ramps of Steyning Bostal, overlooking the village.  Peter’s time of 5 minutes 36.9 seconds placed him 19th of the 32 competitors.

With the proposed Gatwick venue unavailable, Pippingford Manor Park returned as the host venue for Round 4 of the Challenge Tyres London & South East Cyclo-cross League, which also served as the 3rd Round of the Aeight Bike Co Sussex League.

With other events taking place at the venue the organising club Crawley Wheelers hastily improvised an alternative course utilising much of the previous version with some challenging new sections that provided great racing.

Unlike the damp showery conditions of a fortnight earlier this time the race for men over 60 took place on a humid, breathless afternoon, although there was still some treacherous mud lying in wait amongst the trees.  Sadly this was possibly the cause of the race being delayed by 20 minutes as a competitor in the preceding women’s event crashed heavily on the last lap.

Darren Haynes by Tony Izzard

6th place from his last race here elevated Dan Street to the second row of the grid this time around.  Darren Haynes was advanced a few places, but still in the middle of the field of 61 racers, while Paget Cohen and Stephen Burgess were on the same row near the rear.

Dan struggled to match his great start from two weeks ago, but was still in a strong 9th place at the end of the first lap. A pair of swift laps saw him regain the two places he had ceded at the start and he held 7th place to the chequered flag at the culmination of the sixth circuit.

Darren repeated his rapid getaway from the last round to improve to 18th place at the end of lap 1.  His forward progress continued on the next circuit as he improved to 15th.  From here his race was a constant battle as he slipped back to 19th only to recover to 16th, a new personal best that he secured thanks to a sprint finish.

For once Paget made a good start and climbed from 50th on the grid to 39th the first time across the finish line.  He gained a couple more spots next time around and four more following his fastest lap next time through.  Progress was harder from here on, but he managed to pick up a further two places to claim 31st from 53 finishers, albeit a lap down.

Having jostled with Paget on the opening circuit, Stephen found himself 7th among the men over 60 at the end of lap 1.  He made up a spot on the second tour and crossed the line still in 6th place, with one non-finisher.

With one round of the Sussex League to come Stephen is 11th in those standings and 8th in the London and South East League.  Dan finds himself in the same position in the Sussex League standings, but 9th in the London League.  Darren and Paget haven’t registered in the Sussex standings, but sit 20th and 33rd respectively on the L&SE scoreboard.