Following on from the success of the Time Trial Series, a Hill Climbs Championship was organised by the Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT to finish off the season. Conditions were again favourable; the wind had dropped, and the sun came out to shine on the competitors.
First up was Lynch Lane in Brighstone – a short, punchy climb with a couple of steep ramps along the way. The second challenge was Brook Shute, a longer climb with a sharp incline to the finish line.
Who would be ‘King or Queen of the Mountains’?
Riders from the Wightlink-Wight Mountain team, various Island clubs including, Team Spy, Wight Tri, IOW Triathlon Club, West Wight Wheelers and several independent cyclists, joined together to compete in the various categories. The combined times of the two climbs would determine who would be the ‘King or Queen of the Mountains’.
Although most of the riders were not natural climbers, they got into the spirit of the day and gave it their best shot and there were some fast times set.
Overall winner
Kev Chant, (Wightlink-Wight Mountain CRT), proved that not only is he the fastest TT rider on the Island this year, he can also climb! He was the Overall Winner with a combined time of six minutes 35 seconds – powering up Lynch Lane in under three minutes just giving him the edge over his team mate James Veal who came in second with 6.48 and Henry Farrell (Full Gas) who took third place with 6.59.
Henry
Farrell also took the title in the Non-WLWM category and the fastest
lady was the inimitable Liz Dunlop (Wight Tri) in 10.29 – taking a
well-deserved win. Sean Williams, one of the Vet 50+ riders who had
competed in every round of the TT Series, came home first in a time
of 7.34.
In the Junior categories, Lottie Van Der Helstraete, put in an impressive ride on Lynch Lane which helped to secure her the win with a combined time of 10.15.
Ewan Cook pulled off two incredible rides to take the Junior title in 7.50 – a combined time which put him in 8th place overall on the day – a young star in the making and one to watch for the future.
Trophies were provided by CutLaserCut (aka Russ Mellor of Wight Tri) and our sponsors, Wightlink, Wight Mountain and Chessell Pottery were again very generous with their voucher donations for the event which was much appreciated by the podium winners.
There
was also a free raffle for the competitors which was supported by
local businesses – hampers provided by Caffe Isola and Farmhouse
Fayre, a delicious cake baked by Anna Davidson (Chessell Café), a
pair of mitts from Wight Mountain and some cycling paraphernalia
provided by WLWM CRT.
All
in all, the TT Series and the Hill Climbs Championship have proved to
be a great success and showcased how amazing the spirit is amongst
the IOW cycling community who either competed in or supported the
events. It has been brilliant to see our young IOW Triathletes
competing in all the events and it’s hoped that they will continue
to train hard in the cycling discipline to improve their times.
Hopefully, next year will lead to bigger and better things with a full schedule of events for the 2021 season and will again be supported by our fantastic Island cyclists and athletes.
News shared by Julie on behalf of Wightlink-Wight Mountain Cycle race Team. Ed
