MIVA MEADOW DRIVE/JAMIESON ROAD HILL CLIMB 120830

MIVA HILL CLIMB NO. 2, 12 08 30 Meadow Drive/Jamieson Road, Nanaimo           PHOTOS HERE

Pleasant evening – 18 deg. C., no wind. This was the first massed start hill climb the club has run to date. Almost immediately, Paul Auton surged ahead of the group and stayed there. Behind him, Paul Thompson, Steven Crowley and Kirby Villeneuve stayed together for the first part of the climb, with Jason Hare, Lorrie Baildham and Dave Kenny about fifteen seconds behind them, Patrick Burnham was having difficulty turning his fixed wheel but stayed fairly close. Bringing up the rear were the two junior riders, with Abigail Hare already well ahead of brother Aiden.

After the initial one kilometre steep grade, the road flattened out for the next seven hundred metres before kicking up again for the final kilometre. The order stayed the same, with Auton about half a minute clear of second placed Thompson and Crowley and Villeneuve pulling ahead of Hare. Lorrie managed to stay a couple of seconds behind him. Dave Kenny was now well over half a minute behind the leading woman, with Patrick a further fifteen seconds back.

In the final steep climb to the line, Paul A consolidated his lead and finished over forty-five seconds ahead of the other Paul.with Steve Crowley a further seven seconds back in third place and Kirby coming fourth a further ten seconds down. It was forty seconds before Jason Hare rolled in, with Lorrie only five seconds behind. Master F, Dave Kenny finished a further forty seconds back but his age-corrected time would have placed him in fifth place overall. Patrick managed to keep his fixie churning but would have been faster with a lower gear. The Hare kids both did creditable rides, with Abigail's time especially good for her age.

Of special note was the fact that Paul Auton rode from Duncan for the event established a course record and rode back home afterwards – over one hundred kilometres in all!

Thanks to all who helped with set up and tear down.

Next week's hill climb is another new course, starting at the bottom of East Wellington Road, just past the Holland Road junction, and finishing just before the junction with Jingle Pot Road. Registration will open at 6pm and first off will be at 6.31pm.