ESCA Hill Climb
Saturday 10th October saw the annual hill climb double-header of Firle Beacon in the morning and Butts Lane in the afternoon. The 48 competitors in the morning event were treated to beautifully sunny conditions with just a cool wind, and a fearsome hill to contend with.
Peter Baker by Joe Benians
Half-a-dozen Wanderers took to the start with Lewes riders making up over a quarter of the women’s field. Fastest of the six was Gareth Ormerod, who powered up the 800 metre, 10% gradient ramp in a time of 5 minutes 12.2 seconds for 23rd place.
The race between the next two Wanderers was tight. Alex Steer 5:51.1 (33rd) beat Peter Baker by just 0.3 seconds and one position. It was nearly as close a call between the pair of Lewes women as Emma Simpkins (6:30.5 and 41st) just edged out Alice Gilmore by one place and 1.7 seconds.
David Padwick’s time of 6:50.1 meant that Lewes appeared in both 4th and 7th places in the team rankings. Teams are based on the fastest three riders from each club and our six gave us two teams.
Butts Lane Hill Climb
Peter and Alice were among 34 taking part in the afternoon event up the possibly even harder climb of Butts Brow. The road from the Wilmington suburbs rises defiantly to the top of the South Downs overlooking Eastbourne.
Peter’s time of 5 minutes 32.5 seconds was good enough for 19th place, while Alice recorded 6:18.9 for 26th overall and 4th from the six women racers.
L&SE Cyclo-Cross League Rd 5
Round 5 of the Challenge Tyres London & South East Cyclo-Cross League took place on the beautifully sunny afternoon of Sunday 11th October. The 180-acre grounds of Bedfont Lakes Park in Feltham provided a new venue for league, where promoting club Kingston Wheelers laid out a mainly grass course, with some gravel, changes in elevation and off-camber sections thrown in for added interest.
The race for men over 50 started on a whistle at 1:50 pm, and Dan Street, Alex Steer and Paul Horta-Hopkins (Handsling Racing) were among the 68 on the grid.
From the third row, Dan found himself in ninth place at the end of the first lap. He held this position through the second circuit, but fought his way up to seventh on lap 3. He was demoted back to ninth the next time around, but made up a place to eighth on lap 5 where he remained to the finish for his fourth 8th place from five races this season.
In the same contest, with only one previous race under his belt, Alex Steer was forced to start way down the field. He made good progress on the opening lap to lie 35th from 55, and held onto this place the next time around. He was still in 36th at mid-race, but was demoted to 39th on lap 5 where he stayed until he met the chequered flag after seven circuits, one lap down on the winner.
In the race for men in their sixties, Paul was threatening the podium on the opening two laps, but found himself in sixth from 10 at the conclusion of his seven lap race.