Hill climbs and cyclo-cross
Autumn in the United Kingdom is hill climb season and Saturday 12th October saw a double-header. The morning’s event was the East Sussex Cycling Association (ESCA) Hill Climb up Firle Beacon and formed Round 3 of the South Downs Hill Climb Series. In dank drizzly conditions Peter Baker recorded a time of 5 minutes 53.07 seconds to finish 30th from 50 finishers.
The points gained from that event counted towards the ESCA Points Competition. Based on finishing positions for qualifying riders in the Hill Climb plus ESCA Spring 10-mile and 25-mile time-trials, the ESCA 50, Sussex Cyclists’ Association 100, ESCA Autumn 10 and 25 Peter claimed a superb runners-up spot on the podium, just 3 points off top spot.
Neil Edwards placed 5th overall, Alex Steer 11th, Paul Fletcher joint 13th, Richard Burchett (Crawley Wheelers) equal 44th and Kate Parrish tied in 60th.
Not content with his morning’s efforts Peter returned to short, sharp action that afternoon for the Beachy Head Cycle Club hill climb up Butts Brow on the outskirts of Eastbourne. He placed 25th from 38 in a time of 5 minutes 28.08 seconds.
The following lunchtime Darren Haynes was in Dover for Round 2 of the East Kent Cyclo Cross League. The Grand Prix Alex Paton was held in the undulating grounds of Astor School on a cold, but bright afternoon.
An early spill didn’t seem to have hampered Darren’s progress, but as he tired on the penultimate lap of half-a-dozen he tried to change down to his smallest gear to tackle one of the steep ramps on the circuit and his chain came off into the spokes. He managed to extricate it and get going again, but lost almost a minute and several places in doing so. Darren finished 23rd from 49 overall and 20th from 36 men over 50.
Peter Baker by Peter Benians
The Strada TMC South Downs Hill Climb series concluded with a triple-header of events over the weekend of 19th and 20th October. Saturday’s events were both promoted by Brighton Mitre CC and involved the ascent of essentially the same hill, but from different sides.
The morning saw the traditional ascent from Steyning village to the summit of Steyning Bostal; a 0.96-mile test featuring 17% ramps in the closing stages. Peter Baker was Lewes Wanderers’ only entrant and he crossed the finish line after 5 minutes 43.48 seconds to place 23rd from 37 finishers.
He was on his lonesome again in the afternoon as the 27 entrants tackled the same road from the south, which actually involves a steep ramp to a crest then descending to a valley before a stiff drag to the finish after 2.80 total miles of effort. Peter’s time of 10 minutes 37.61 seconds granted him a fine 13th place.
The eighth and final round was early Sunday morning as Sussex Nomads CC hosted the event up the (in)famous Ditchling Beacon. Peter was joined by 48 others on the start line including clubmates Neil Edwards and Alex Steer.
Peter showed his pedigree by outstripping his younger colleagues with a time of 6 minutes 23.70 seconds that placed him 29th from 49 and also made him fastest over 65. Alex was 36th in 6:38.50, while Neil was fastest over 60 male and 40th overall in 6:45.10.
Peter’s consistently strong performances over the series granted him a superb 6th place from the 31 men over 40 to score points.
