NANAIMO HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP 121020
NANAIMO ROAD HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP
October 20th. 2012
On what turned out to be a beautiful but brisk morning, only eight riders showed up to compete in the Nanaimo Hill climb Championship. This contrasts with last year's staring field of fifteen.The Bellingham cyclo-cross and the provincial CX championship kept a few riders away.
The riders were seeded in reverse order of anticipated times. First of was Brodie Hay who rode steadily and managed to keep ahead of Patrick Burnham, who had taken time during his lunch hour and wasriding on his customary fixed wheel. He had had upped his gear to gain time on the three kilometre run up to Wiegles Road but he was over-geared and struggled on the steep bits to keep the pedals going round. Next off and first to finish was Laurie Baildham who managed to improve on her personal best and was almost totally exhausted at the top of the climb. Menno Jongsma passed Brodie just before the finish and Ron Hewitson, who started one minute later, passed Patrick. The three fastest riders all had trouble stopping their rear wheels from spinning in the last kilometre as the road surface was quite wet . In fact, winner Paul Auton lost time, eventually winning the event but finishing seventeen seconds outside his record for the climb. Iain Hay. After the race, Menno, Ron and Laurie joined timekeeper Peter at the Black Bear for some beverages and a well-earned plate of he pub's delicious nachos. Photos here
It's just a month to the Cross on the Rock cyclo-cross championship which MIVA is organising. And then the club's weekly indoor trainer sessions start.Watch for details of these on bikeracing.ca.