Victor Chetta clocks up the miles to secure Shropshire Championship 100 triumph

Held over four-and-a-half laps of the Shawbury-Shawbirch-Hodnet triangle, riders had to batter their way through a gale multiple times up the A442 in round 15 of the Friction Hydraulics Series.

But that didn't stop Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ Chetta securing a fine overall victory after a couple of years away from the sport and seeing his name engraved on The Jack Parker 100 Mile Trophy again.

Chetta clocked a fabulous time of three hours, 52 minutes and 50 seconds to beat Bridgnorth CC’s Jonathan Mills-Keeling by 4:29 – although Mills-Keeling reversed that in the 100 Mile Veterans’ Championship after the age adjustment factors were applied, seeing him take victory by 25 seconds in +51:45.

Chetta knew he had been in a race, struggling at times to control the bike in the brutal wind that caused issues for many along the top part of the circuit and involved in traffic hold-ups when looking to wind things up for the finish.

“I have mixed feelings about the race, very pleased to be county 100 mile champion again but disappointed with my performance overall, so I need to up my game considerably," said Chetta.

"The strong wind was particularly challenging on the A53, blasting me sideways across the road at times. I had some very frustrating delays getting stuck in slow traffic on the final lap a few times when I wanted to push hard to the finish."

Mills-Keeling took overall silver and Veterans' gold, and was the only other county rider to beat the four hour/25mph mark in an event incorporating the West Cheshire TTCA Championship and VTTA National Championship.

Overall bronze was taken by North Shropshire Wheelers’ James Neale in 4:26:23, but like Mills-Keeling he displayed pre-race nerves that nearly saw him pull out given the tough morning in the saddle that lay ahead.

His comments graphically display the issues riders faced later in the race, when naturally weakening things just got tougher.

He said: “It was one of those races where I was 50/50 about starting, but afterwards thinking I could have pushed harder and wondering how I would have faired on a slightly calmer day.

"The headwind off the Espley roundabout was okay on the first lap, but by the end it was like a brick wall. I struggled to adjust my pacing in some sections despite having plenty of practice on the circuit this year, but gained some useful experience I think."

In the Women’s 100 Championship, a first time entrant came away with the silverware as Paramount’s Hayley Wells took The Women's 100 mile Trophy.

Like all the riders, she suffered in the second half of the race, but came out through the bad patch to finish strongly in 4:33:53 for a superb fourth place overall.

Wells beat reigning Women’s 100 Mile champion Helen Tudor, finishing in 5:04:15 and who had a superb consolation of taking Veterans' bronze in +17:19.

Wells said: “I was unsure if I would make the start line for this event due to an injury I picked up the weekend before, but determination was not going to stop me trying.

"I felt great during the first 50 miles, but during the second half I started to flag, especially with the wind picking up. However, I am delighted to have taken the win at my first century."

But spare a thought for Paramount’s Chris Riley, who was on for bronze but punctured at High Ercall at around 69 miles. Walking to the next marshal point, Riley persuaded a marshal to drive him back to Ellerdine HQ and then desperately searched for anyone who could loan him a spare wheel.

This took quite a time, but Riley managed to locate a wheel then ride back to rejoin the circuit at the point he punctured.

“Back on the course, I had to ride down to Shawbirch and seek some assistance from Wrekinsport’s Dave Moore as my new front wheel was very loose," said Riley.

"I estimate I was on for about 4:04ish which would have been a personal best. Having lost the best part of 50 minutes in the excitement I was determined to finish inside five hours, which was a good consolation prize”.