Hales beats the gales to claim Spring success

A roaring tailwind bowled riders along until the turn in the Shropshire CCA's second Spring 10, then it was a case of hanging on and digging into a fearsome headwind back.

And it was reigning SB Series Champion Tomos Hales who took the honours with a fabulous effort of 21 minutes 30 seconds.

The victory saw the Wrekinsport rider stretch his lead to six points and he graphically described the challenge that faced riders.

“I was pleased with my effort, never travelled so fast for the first section of the course as we had a huge tailwind.

"I definitely got a bit carried away as the return leg was horrendous into the wind, and I had used all my energy going out too quick."

Aerologic’s Jonathan Mills-Keeling took the runners-up spot in 22:44 as well as a strong Veterans' win in +4:07, opening up a 12-point lead at the top of the standings over North Shropshire Wheelers’ Geoff Edgerton.

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New Wrekinsport member Oil Freeman took the final podium position in his first appearance of the Series with a solid effort of 23:46, and again showed how making the most of flying up to Hodnet came at a price.

“Great ride, I enjoyed the strong tailwind on the way out; the return leg was much tougher. Impressed with my time and looking forward to the next one."

Ride of the day came from another new Wrekinsport member, Hayley Wells, who not only won the female race in 24:01 an impressive 3:46 ahead of nearest challenger Jan Davies of Hafren CC to open a gap of four points at the top of the ladies' standings; but also finished a superb fourth overall.

Like Hales, Wells is another triathlete benefitting in the bike discipline by racing time trails – and picked up a course personal best on the hardest day imaginable.

She said: “A very quick leg out thanks to a strong tail wind, but coming back was tough. I just got my head down and tried to maintain some rhythm. Chuffed to have picked up a personal pest on this course."

All standings in the five different categories are lead by riders on the maximum possible 40 points, with SCCA member Mark Fenn taking the win in the new Road Bike Championship.

Fenn does like to make it interesting, riding his gravel bike, a style which has more upright geometry than a pure road bike and so presenting a bigger target to the relentless wind.

He won in an adjusted time of 26:41 – 1:40 ahead of Oswestry Paragon’s Peter Everett.

Another Wrekinsport rider took the maximum 20 points on offer in the junior category, with Ben Southgate rounding out a top containing three other clubmates with a solid 25:07 to push out Hafren CC’s Mark Hill by nine seconds.

The event was honoured to receive special permission to allow Great Britain paralympian Nick Beighton the opportunity to race his hand cycle in npreparation for his forthcoming season.

The Shrewsbury based rider produced an impressive 280 watts and recorded a fine effort of 30:15.