Author: Dave Fletcher

The finale of the 2025 Mower Mec 2-Up Series saw a narrow win for the Silver medallists and the destination of the remaining Series medals resolved as Wrekinsport CC hosted their 2-Up on a glorious sunny evening tempered by a tough northerly wind. Held on the club’s usual Shawbirch – Crudgington – Cotwall Bank circuit, Oswestry Paragon’s Peter Fletcher and Jack Young took their second win of the Series by just two seconds from the promoting club’s Chris Halford and Clive Middleton in 23 minutes 32 seconds. Fletcher enjoyed the sweeping new turn of Crudgington roundabout which allows more speed to be carried; however, things could have been very different for the pair due to a mix up over the start location, as he explained: “On exploration of the course we felt it was a much improved layout and so it proved, although we went to the incorrect start line within minutes of the kick off! Jack and I stuck to the plan and left it until the final round to finally nail it, and to find we triumphed by the slightest of margins made it feel all the more pleasing. Once again the platitudes are the same in thanking our fellow competitors, organisers, marshals and of course the time keepers who all played an important part in the usual smooth running of an excellent evening”.

Whilst Fletcher and Young have honed their abilities over all seven rounds of this Series at all corners of the County, the runners-up and third-placed pairings were not familiar at all with each other’s styles – and in the case of Wrekinsport’s Chris Halford and Clive Middleton, on different bike types. It’s usually best for both to either ride time trial or road bikes but not to mix them, and the issues caused were graphically stated by Halford: “It was a challenge keeping on a road bike, but we managed the situation as best we could having not ridden together before”. Meanwhile Middleton had an expensive evening and was lucky not to end up on the floor after hitting a missing drain cover hard. Thankfully he recovered enough to stay upright, but not without issues: “The race went great, but I lost my car key when I hit a hole and cracked both wheels. I didn’t find the keys and it cost £180 to get the car back home, £130 for someone to pick the lock, and £960 for two keys – and I can’t get them for two weeks”!

The welcome sight of two 15 year-old Junior riders saw Newport Shropshire CC’s Ben Bramford-Hale team up with Wolverhampton Wheelers’ Tom Oxley in their first ever experience of the 2-Up format – and they took to it well enough to get the better of Hafren CC’s Neil Vose and Mark Hill by a single second, finishing in 24:03. Bramford-Hale commented: “I really enjoyed my first 2-Up time trial with Tom. We quickly got into a good rhythm, and I’m really pleased we secured third overall – thanks to Wrekinsport for putting on a great and welcoming event”.

Vose and Hill had good consolation for being nudged down to fourth on the night as they sealed the Bronze medals in the overall Mower Mec Series on the strength of their 24:04 effort, with Vose commenting: “The Wrekinsport 10 mile course is excellent. It was a tough headwind out on the day; but a great tailwind back to Shawbirch. Mark was on fire and did most of the hard work down to Shawbirch; and we managed to get near our best time for this course. The 2-Up Series is a great way to improve your times on courses around Shropshire & Powys. We missed the first two, and this meant we were trying to catch Pete and Jack for the last five rides. We are already planning how we can improve for 2026 – thanks to all the clubs for putting on the events for 2025”.

That left the final medals to be settled from riders not competing on the night, with two Mid Shropshire Wheelers father and daughter pairs taking Mixed Team Silver and Bronze behind the already settled Gold medallists Sorrell Williams and Karl Lombardi. Silver went to 13 year-old Georgia and father Simeon Lloyd, with Simeon commenting: “It was good to be able to compete alongside Georgia. We have never raced together, so it was a great opportunity to test ourselves. We started strong, finished strong and both really enjoyed the event”.

Meanwhile Florence Parkinson just turned the minimum allowed age to compete of 12, and won a medal in her first ever time trial. Naturally she was delighted, and seems to have the bit between her teeth to go on to greater things, stating: “I am thrilled to win the Bronze, and with a bit more training for my Dad over the winter I think we can come back stronger next year to see if the Silver is in reach”! Dad Mark added: “Florence just turned 12 years old in May, so this was a perfect race to introduce her to time trialling, with a 2-Up together as a father-daughter team”.

In the Female teams competition Paramount’s Emma Brown and Liz Hagen had sealed Gold as early as Round 4, but the finale saw Silver settled by another first-time pairing, Jane Morris and Jenny Cooper of Market Drayton CC. Both decided the 2-Up format was the perfect introduction to time trialling, similar to the Parkinson’s decision; and Cooper’s comments show just how easy having a go is for the inexperienced and those without full aero equipment, which is not a barrier to competition: “It was the first time either of us had competed in a time trial – it felt a bit less daunting doing 2-Up to start with. Everyone was very welcoming, and it was a very relaxed environment to have a go. I haven’t got any specific aero kit and was just on a normal endurance road bike”.

Result:

Pos’n	Names	Club(s)	Time	Points
1	Peter Fletcher & Jack Young	Oswestry Paragon CC	23:32	20
2	Chris Halford & Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	23:34	18
3	Ben Bramford-Hale & Tom Oxley	Newport Shropshire CC & Wolverhampton Wheelers CC	24:03	.
4	Neil Vose & Mark Hill	Hafren CC	24:04	16
5	Rich Smith & Peter Jukes	Wrekinsport CC	25:06	14
6	James Elgar & Neil Wilson	Paramount CRT	25:12	12
7	Matt Price & Dave Seager	Wrekinsport CC	25:56	10
8	Paul O’Brien & Paul Coupe	Unattached	26:50	.
.	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	Wrekinsport CC	DNF-P	.

Final Cumulative Standings after seven rounds

Overall:

Position	Team	Club(s)	Best 5
1	Jonathan Mills-Keeling & Scott Palmer	Aerologic RT	98
2	Peter Fletcher & Jack Young	Oswestry Paragon CC	90
3	Mark Hill & Neil Vose	Hafren CC	82
4	Sorrel Williams & Karl Lombardi	SCCA & Oswestry Paragon CC	48
5	Emma Brown & Liz Hagen	Paramount CRT	42
6	James Elgar & Neil Wilson	Paramount CRT	38
7	Matt Clarke & Ian Gilks	Bridgnorth CC	20
=8	Chris Halford & Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	18
=8	Chris Riley & Rob McGregor	Paramount CRT	18
=8	James Neale & James Powell	North Shropshire Wheelers	18

Mixed Team:

Position	Team	Club(s)	Best 5
1	Sorrell Williams & Karl Lombardi	SCCA & Oswestry Paragon CC	80
2	Simeon Lloyd & Georgia Lloyd	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	18
3	Flo Parkinson & Mark Parkinson	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	16

Female Team:

Position	Team	Club(s)	Best 5
1	Emma Brown & Liz Hagen	Paramount CRT	80
2	Jane Morris & Jenny Cooper	Market Drayton CC	18

An old hand surprised team mates in Round 12 of The Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport as Chris Halford took a win on a warm evening an by a good margin. Coming back to time trialling after some time away, Halford has made marginal gains as the season has progressed and registered an impressive 22 minutes 33 seconds to see off Round 11 winner Oli Freeman by 34 seconds. Taking third spot was Freeman’s 2-Up partner Phil Roberts on 23:43.

The Road Bike category continues to be keenly contested with 50% of the field eschewing time trail steeds, Won overall by regular visitor Hamish MacLean of Musselburgh RCC in 25:25, interest was on the battle for club points and medals. Rich Smith took his fourth maximum six points in a row in 26 minutes exactly ahead of Peter Jukes 51 seconds back which sealed Series Gold in a season Smith has dedicated to this format.

In the Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series Dave Moore and Matt Price rode unopposed to a 26:02 time and can in theory draw level with Freeman and Roberts on 30 points – if they take six points from each of the two remaining events in this best of 5 Series.

Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport No.12

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	22:33	6
2	Oli Freeman	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:07	5
3	Phil Roberts	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:43	4
4	Ian laverie	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	24:15	17
5	Ben Bramford-Hale	Newport Shropshire CC	J	TT	24:52	15
6	Andy Fletcher	Royal Navy & Royal Marines CC	V	TT	25:12	14
7	Hamish MacLean	Musselburgh RCC	V	RB	25:25	13
8	Hayden Beebee	Total Tri Training	S	TT	25:55	18
9	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:00	3
10	Peter Jukes	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:51	7
=11	Dean Gapper	Unattached	V	RB	27:02	11
=11	Cameron Coley-Smith	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	27:02	16
=13	David Seager	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	27:28	9
=13	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	27:28	12
15	Paul O’Brien	Unattached	V	RB	27:32	10
16	Paul Coupe	Unattached	V	RB	28:41	8

Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series by Wrekinsport No.12

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Dave Moore & Matt Price	Wrekinsport CC	V/V	TT/TT	26:02	1&2

Cumulative Standings after twelve rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Best 12
1	Tomos Hales	48
2	Ben Wood	36
3	Oli Freeman	31
4	Hayley Wells	28
5	Chris Halford	23
6	Rich Smith	14
7	Peter Jukes	13
8	Paul Edwards	12
=9	Allan Henderson	11
=9	Phil Roberts	11

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Best 12
1	Rich Smith	55
2	Peter Jukes	41
3	Allan Henderson	39
4	Matt Price	36
5	David Seager	24
6	Chris Halford	12
7	Sarah Bradshaw	5
8	Dave Moore	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Best 12
1	Hayley Wells	48
2	Victoria Doran	20
3	Karen Sherriff	16
4	Sarah Bradshaw	8
5	Emma Horne	5

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Top 5
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	30
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	23

Traffic lights at Longdon on Tern saw a course change to the tight and technical Long Lane circuits for Round 11 of The Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport and which saw an impressive 69% of the field use road bikes, the growing area of time trialling –with the first Series medals taken without turning a pedal in the respective competitions. Oli Freeman and Phil Roberts can no longer be caught in the Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series, with the best five scores counting their maximum 30 points acquired by Round 10 can no longer be overhauled. This saw Freeman instead ride to victory in the solo competition in 23:23, exactly 30 seconds ahead of team mate Paul Edwards. Freeman commented how tough the race was, with riders facing a brisk northerly wind three times down the mile straight between Shawbirch and Long Lane.

With Series leader Tomos Hales absent Ben Wood made up some ground by finishing third in 24:15, seven seconds ahead of an impressive performance by overall Road Bike winner George Coombes of Newport Shropshire CC stopping the watch on 24:22. Best placed of Wrekinsport’s riders in this contest was Rich Smith, whose 26:05 meant he extended his Series lead to 10 points with a maximum 18 remaining after pushing Matt Price out by 10 seconds.

Despite Hayley Wells being absent, she can no longer be caught in the Women’s standings and takes a well deserved Gold medal. The only female in competition on a tough evening was unattached Megan du Toit in 28:24.

After a shortage of under-18 riders in competition three showed up at once – and all were closely matched, spread by just seven seconds. Best placed was Ben Bramford-Hale of Newport Shropshire CC registering 24:53 for 6^th place overall, and who pushed out Jude White of Mid Shropshire Wheelers by two seconds despite a superb third lap evidenced by split times; and Tom Oxley of Wolverhampton Wheelers CC by seven in a tight competition.

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	2.5 Miles	6.25 Miles	10 Miles	No.
1	Oli Freeman	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	5:59	14:46	23:23	3
2	Paul Edwards	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	6:07	15:02	23:53	6
3	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	6:05	15:00	24:15	8
4	George Coombes	Newport Shropshire CC	S	RB	6:00	15:17	24:22	12
5	Tim Burn	Sitwell CC	S	RB	6:12	15:26	24:49	16
6	Ben Bramford-Hale	Newport Shropshire CC	J	RB	6:16	15:40	24:53	15
7	Jude White	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	J	RB	6:35	16:18	24:55	14
8	Tom Oxley	Wolverhampton Wheelers CC	J	RB	6:22	15:45	25:00	13
9	Phillip Blackwell	Unattached	V	TT	6:23	16:00	25:35	11
10	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	6:34	16:14	26:05	2
11	Matt Price	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	6:34	16:23	26:15	4
12	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	6:33	16:33	26:27	1
13	Peter Jukes	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	6:41	16:48	26:47	5
14	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	7:02	17:18	27:37	9
15	David Seager	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	6:51	17:28	28:07	7
16	Megan du Toit	Unattached	F	TT	7:21	18:00	28:24	10

Cumulative Standings after eleven rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Best 12
1	Tomos Hales	48
2	Ben Wood	36
3	Hayley Wells	28
4	Oli Freeman	26
5	Chris Halford	17
=6	Paul Edwards	12
=6	Peter Jukes	12
=6	Rich Smith	12
9	Allan Henderson	11
10	Matt Price	10

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Best 12
1	Rich Smith	49
2	Allan Henderson	39
=3	Peter Jukes	36
=3	Matt Price	36
5	David Seager	20
6	Chris Halford	12
7	Sarah Bradshaw	5
8	Dave Moore	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Best 12
1	Hayley Wells	48
2	Victoria Doran	20
3	Karen Sherriff	16
4	Sarah Bradshaw	8
5	Emma Horne	5

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Top 5
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	30
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	17

One of those all too rare red hot ‘float’ evenings, with the lightest of southerly winds saw fast times throughout the field in Round 10 of the Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport with a large turnout of 20 riders in part due to conditions, but also the late cancellation of a County level event due to road works as riders hurried to make the most of conditions. Two of those riders took the top two spaces with Aerologic’s Dean Callister taking a fine win in 20 minutes 21 seconds, ahead of Tomos Hales by 28 seconds – despite Hales recording a course personal best of 20:49, his first time ever under 21 minutes.

Hales’ closest challenger overall was unattached rider Mike Senior in 21:34, and among Wrekinsport riders looking to compete for club Evening 10 medals Hayley Wells, registering a fine 22:37. Hales now holds 48 points in a comfortable lead over Ben Wood on 32, but Wells narrowed the gap after Wood finished in 23:02 – as well as adding six points to an almost unassailable lead in the Women’s Series.

Rich Smith is easing away in the Road Bike Series, taking the six points on offer with his 25:12 effort to move to 43 points, with Allan Henderson now on 35 points after finishing in 25:29, 17 seconds back. But it was visiting riders who took the overall spoils with another unattached rider Sam Messingham stopping the watch on a great time of 23:01 ahead of Newport Shropshire CC’s George Coombes on 23:14. 

Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport No.10

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Dean Callister	Aerologic RT	S	TT	20:21	2
2	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	20:49	5
3	Mike Senior	Unattached	V	TT	21:34	12
4	Jon Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	TT	21:59	3
5	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	22:37	4
6	Sam Messingham	Unattached	S	RB	23:01	22
7	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:02	16
8	George Coombes	Newport Shropshire CC	S	RB	23:14	19
9	Ian Laverie	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	23:21	20
10	Michell Fletcher	Paramount CRT	S	TT	24:08	14
11	Cameron Coley-Smith	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	24:10	21
12	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:12	10
13	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:29	1
14	Peter Jukes	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:34	11
15	Ashley Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	26:55	17
16	David Seager	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:59	13
17	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	27:02	18
18	Paul O’Brien	Unattached	V	RB	27:40	15
19	Colin Wells	Paramount CRT	V	RB	27:59	6
20	Vince Evans	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	28:15	7

Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series by Wrekinsport No.10

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	Wrekinsport CC	S/S	TT/TT	21:32	8&9

Cumulative Standings after ten rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Tomos Hales	48
2	Ben Wood	32
3	Hayley Wells	28
4	Oli Freeman	20
5	Chris Halford	17
6	Peter Jukes	11
7	Allan Henderson	10
=8	Clive Middleton	9
=8	Phil Collins	9
=8	Rich Smith	9

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Rich Smith	43
2	Allan Henderson	35
3	Peter Jukes	33
4	Matt Price	31
5	David Seager	20
6	Chris Halford	12
7	Sarah Bradshaw	5
8	Dave Moore	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Hayley Wells	48
2	Victoria Doran	20
3	Karen Sherriff	16
4	Sarah Bradshaw	8
5	Emma Horne	5

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	30
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	17

A tough evening saw riders battle into a wind down the mile straight twice in Round 9 of the Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport – not that it seemed to affect Tomos Hales who took a great win in 21 minutes 16 seconds by a margin of 1:08 ahead of Oli Freeman. The nature of the 9.1 mile circuit sees 0.9 miles tackled twice to make up the distance, meaning that wind was just in the wrong direction. Hales extended his Series lead to 14 points over Ben Wood as a result of this ride, with Phil Collins in only his second event taking third in 22:37 – seven seconds ahead of another second-timer Paul Edwards.

There was a fine turnout of 24 riders, seven of them unattached – and with Sam Messingham winning the Road Bike category in 23:30 showing great promise. A tightly contested club Road Bike Championship saw things open up just a little as Rich Smith took the six points on offer with his 25:42 to open up his Series lead to six points over Matt Price, nine seconds back.

There’s no doubting who’s the dominant force in the Women’s Series though as Hayley Wells took another fine win in 23:06, helping herself to sixth place overall ahead of newly-signed Emma Horne in 26:15.

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	21:16	3
2	Oli Freeman	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	22:24	6
3	Phil Collins	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	22:37	9
4	Paul Edwards	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	22:44	11
5	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	22:52	12
=6	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	23:06	2
=6	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:06	16
8	Adam Mumford	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:29	22
9	Sam Messingham	Unattached	S	RB	23:30	20
10	Deb Hutson-Lumb	Legato RT	FV	TT	24:12	21
11	Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	24:14	14
12	Ben Bramford-Hale	Newport Shropshire CC	J	RB	25:03	24
13	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:42	8
14	Matt Price	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:51	10
15	Emma Horne	Wrekinsport CC	FV	TT	26:15	4
16	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:21	1
17	Phillip Blackwell	Unattached	V	TT	26:57	18
18	Paul Cadman	Unattached	V	RB	27:10	5
19	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	27:21	13
20	David Seager	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	27:26	15
21	Paul O’Brien	Unattached	V	RB	27:53	19
22	Paul Coupe	Unattached	V	RB	28:10	7
23	Megan de Toit	Unattached	F	RB	28:30	17
.	Franco Della Mura	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	DNF	23

Cumulative Standings after nine rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Tomos Hales	42
2	Ben Wood	28
3	Hayley Wells	23
4	Oli Freeman	20
5	Chris Halford	17
6	Peter Jukes	10
=7	Allan Henderson	9
=7	Clive Middleton	9
=7	Phil Collins	9
=10	Matt Price	8
=10	Rich Smith	8

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Rich Smith	37
2	Matt Price	31
3	Allan Henderson	30
4	Peter Jukes	29
5	David Seager	17
6	Chris Halford	12
7	Sarah Bradshaw	5
8	Dave Moore	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Hayley Wells	42
2	Victoria Doran	20
3	Karen Sherriff	16
4	Sarah Bradshaw	8
5	Emma Horne	5

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	24
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	17

A reminder that whilst this is the Championship it is not a BAR counter because it is a club event. Only Open events count towards BARs.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

A red hot evening saw some red hot rides as the course record fell twice, the female course record was decimated, and personal bests were lowered in Round 6 of the SB Sports Injuries Series, Wrekinsport CC’s 25 as 11 riders broke the hour from 16 competitors. Held on the Crudgington – Shawbirch – Tern Hill – Waters Upton course; the benchmark of 52 minutes 37 seconds had been set by Fibrax Wreham RC’s Benjamin Goodfellow in 2020 in one of the limited events held when Covid restrictions were eased. First to break it was Tomos Hales, slicing 31 seconds off after charging for the line in 52:06. However, Hales held that record for just 52 seconds as Aerologic’s Dean Callister again reset the benchmark to 50:58.

Callister was delighted to take the Course Record, one of several he holds, stating: “A great evening for weather which gave fast conditions. My legs felt good on the night so I maintained good pace. Pleased to take the win and Course Record – thanks to all involved”.

Hales was philosophical about holding a record for less than a minute thanks to extending his SB Series title defence points tally to 120, 32 ahead of Jonathan Mills-Keeling. He battled hard into the initial headwind to Shawbirch and made hay to Hodnet thanks to a tailwind, but like many others reported the final few miles were hard going: “Beautiful conditions suggested a very low weather impact for the Wrekinsport 25 mile time trial. I set off hard into the headwind, then was blown all the way from Shawbirch to Hodnet. The last five miles were tough, but I knew I was on for a good time as my average speed was so high.  It was nice to have the Course Record – even if it was for 52 seconds! Well done to Dean who bettered me by over a minute to break it again. Also thanks for the Wrekinsport marshals that help out on a heavy marshal course”.

Mills-Keeling took 3^rd spot on actual in 54:48, 40 seconds ahead of Chris Halford, and extended his SB Veterans Series lead with +13:14, again 40 seconds ahead of Halford who moved up to 3^rd spot in the Veterans standings as a result of his efforts. Mills-Keeling now holds a 34 points advantage over Paramount’s John Westhead and enjoyed his evening on a personal favourite course: “A fast night, I really enjoy that course but only done once before in 2021. Great to see Dean smash the Course Record and so many breaking the hour”

A single female took the line – not that that bothered Hayley Wells who smashed Charlotte Chapman’s longstanding record of 1:01:48 set in 2018 to become the first female to dip below the hour – and by a considerable margin. Wells stopped the watch on 56:57, good enough for 6^th overall among a quality field, and added a further 26 points to her Series lead in this bonus point round designed to attract newer riders stepping up and riders with an interest in the Championships to ride a longer distance. A 25 is no bother to a strong rider like Wells as she defends her SB Series title, making her lead a giant 76 points, though incredibly this course was new to her. She stated: “My first time riding this course and it didn’t disappoint. A tough leg out to Shawbirch into the headwind meant a quick ride all the way to Tern Hill. I had saved enough in the tank for a tough return to Crudington; but was pleasantly surprised that this was quicker than expected, the toughest part being the final kilometre! Super chuffed to not only go under the hour on a local course but also taken the Course Record; many thanks to Wrekinsport for arranging all the fabulous marshals to allow us to safely navigate a roundabout heavy course”.

In the Road Bike Series Wells’ father Colin continues to make similar gains to his daughter, with a 50 point lead opened up after taking the County win and 26 further points. Wells crossed the line in 1:14:55 actual, which when the handicap was applied converted to 1:07:57, only beaten by unattached rider Chris Dunn by 57 seconds. Wells commented: “It was hard, and age catches up with you. However, it looked like a hard first few miles, then a good tailwind to Tern Hill and a hard slog eight miles back. I tried to pace myself and I think the last two miles hurt. A great evening though with some cracking times, if only I could roll back the years – thanks for organising and everyone involved”.

For Dunn this was a step into the almost unknown, and he finished with a creditable 1:08:08 on actual. His post-race comments show however that you can’t treat it like a 10 and expect to hang on: “This 25 mile time trial was only my second one, so I was not too good with the pacing strategy. It was a tough start back to Shawbirch with a good tailwind all the way to Hodnet, I tried to make the most with the wind by pushing a bit too much paid the price later and found the last eight miles tough. I was aiming for a sub 1:10, and enjoyed the ride”.  

Full:

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Machine	Time	Points
1	Dean Callister	Aerologic RT	S	TT	50:58	26
2	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	52:06	24
3	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	TT	54:48	22
4	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	55:28	20
5	Phil Collins	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	56:10	18
6	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	56:57	16
7	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	57:54	14
8	Ian Laverie	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	58:00	12
9	Adam Mumford	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	59:01	10
10	Julian Kirkpatrick	Stourbridge CC	V	TT	59:15	.
11	Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	59:38	8
12	John Westhead	Paramount CRT	V	TT	1:03:49	6
13	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	1:04:05	4
14	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	1:08:08	.
15	Ashley Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	1:10:34	4
16	Colin Wells	Paramount CRT	V	RB	1:14:55	4

Veterans:

Vets Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Machine	Vet +/-	Vets Points
1	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	TT	+13:14	26
2	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+12:34	24
3	Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+11:14	22
4	Phil Collins	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+11:10	20
5	Ian Laverie	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+11:09	18
6	John Westhead	Paramount CRT	V	TT	+10:06	16
7	Julian Kirkpatrick	Stourbridge CC	V	TT	+8:47	.
8	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	+2:07	14
9	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	-1:00	.
10	Colin Wells	Paramount CRT	V	RB	-1:57	12
11	Ashley Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	-3:26	10

Females:

Female Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Machine	Time	Female Points
1	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	56:57	26

Road Bikes:

RB Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Machine	RB Adj Time	RB Points
1	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	1:07:00	.
2	Colin Wells	Paramount CRT	V	RB	1:07:57	26
3	Ashley Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	1:09:26	24

Cumulative SB Series Standings after six rounds

Overall

Position	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	120
2	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	88
3	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	72
4	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	54
5	Dean Callister	Aerologic RT	S	46
6	Chris Riley	Paramount CRT	V	28
7	Oliver Rodwell	Wrekinsport CC	V	24
8	Mark Hill	Hafren CC	V	22
=9	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	20
=9	John Westhead	Paramount CRT	V	20
=9	Simon Romei	Paramount CRT	V	20

Veterans

Position	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	104
2	John Westhead	Paramount CRT	V	70
3	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	62
4	Clive Bourne	Oswestry Paragon CC	V	48
5	Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	40
6	Mark Hill	Hafren CC	V	36
=7	Chris Riley	Paramount CRT	V	32
=7	Ian Laverie	Wrekinsport CC	V	32
9	Colin Wells	Paramount CRT	V	30
=10	Phil Collins	Wrekinsport CC	V	20
=10	Simon Romei	Paramount CRT	V	20

Females

Position	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	126
2	Jan Davies	Hafren CC	FV	50
3	Helen Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	FV	48
4	Alison Salthouse	Propel CC	FV	40
=5	Laura Sheppard	SCCA Private Member	F	18
=5	Sorrell Williams	SCCA Private Member	FV	18

Road Bikes

Position	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Colin Wells	Paramount CRT	V	96
2	Ashley Kirkham	Wrekinsport CC	V	46
3	George Coombes	Newport Shropshire CC	S	40
4	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	38
5	Mark Fenn	SCCA Private Member	V	34
=6	Daniel Watts	SCCA Private Member	S	20
=6	Steve Minton	Ludlow Brewery RT	V	20
=8	Andrew Dawson	Paramount CRT	V	18
=8	Chris Edwards	Ludlow Brewery RT	V	18
=8	Matt Muir	Propel CC	V	18
=8	Peter Jukes	Wrekinsport CC	V	18

Juniors

Position	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Ben Bramford-Hale	Newport Shropshire CC	J	20

Oli Freeman took a solid win on a less than ideal evening in Round 8 of The Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport in only his third appearance of the Series – beating a rider making his first by a narrow margin. Freeman stopped the watch on 2 minutes 49 seconds, coping best with a SSW cross-headwind hampering rider’s progress up Cotwall Bank. That pushed Phil Collins into the runner-up spot 16 seconds back on 23:05, with Ben Wood taking the final podium position in 23:13. All made ground up on absent Series leader Tomos Hales, who was competing at County level in an event taking place at the same time at Hafren CC.

Hales wasn’t the only notable absentee, with Hayley Wells at the same event, but there was no change in the Women’s standings with the only ones in competition both unattached at the time – although winner Emma Horne has subsequently joined Wrekinsport. Horne tied for 10^th spot overall in 26:12.

There was significant competition in the Road Bike Series however with nine riders entering in this simplified non-aero category. Overall plaudits went to regular Scottish visitor of Musselburgh RCC, Hamish Maclean, who took the win in 24:06 to help himself to 5^th spot overall, with Chris Halford enjoying a foray away from the maximum six points on offer 19 seconds back. Halford’s presence didn’t stop Rich Smith rising to sole lead of the Road Bike Series however, heading up the best of the rest in 25:20 ahead of Peter Jukes in 26:03 who is now just two points off the pace after former joint leader Matt Price elected to compete in the 2-Up competition with Dave Moore instead. They stopped the watch on 25:11.

Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport No.8

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Oli Freeman	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	22:49	3
2	Phil Collins	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	23:05	16
3	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:13	15
4	Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	23:52	8
5	Hamish Maclean	Musselburgh RCC	V	RB	24:06	13
6	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	24:25	17
7	Andy Fletcher	Royal Navy & Royal Marines CC	V	TT	24:29	12
8	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:20	18
9	Peter Jukes	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:03	4
10	Emma Horne	Unattached	FV	TT	26:12	2
11	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:12	9
12	David Seager	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:44	10
13	Chris Marrs	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	27:32	7
14	Chris Dunn	Unattached	S	RB	27:36	14
15	Paul Cadman	Unattached	V	RB	28:00	1
16	Kev Flint	Unattached	V	TT	30:30	19
17	Jane Godfrey	Unattached	FV	RB	33:10	11

Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series by Wrekinsport No.8

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Dave Moore & Matt Price	Wrekinsport CC	V/V	TT/TT	25:11	6&7

Cumulative Standings after eight rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Tomos Hales	36
2	Ben Wood	27
3	Hayley Wells	22
=4	Chris Halford	15
=4	Oli Freeman	15
6	Peter Jukes	10
=7	Allan Henderson	8
=7	Clive Middleton	8
=9	Matt Price	7
=9	Phil Roberts	7
=9	Rich Smith	7

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Rich Smith	31
2	Peter Jukes	29
3	Allan Henderson	26
3	Matt Price	26
5	David Seager	14
6	Chris Halford	12
7	Sarah Bradshaw	5
8	Dave Moore	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Hayley Wells	36
2	Victoria Doran	20
3	Karen Sherriff	16
4	Sarah Bradshaw	8

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	24
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	17

Racing a 10 two days after a 100 mile time trial would often see performance down due to muscle fatigue. However, Hayley Wells seemed to have missed that memo in Round 7 of The Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport after registering a course personal best 22 minutes 55 seconds, her first ever under 23 minutes on this tough course, which saw her take the overall runner-up spot behind Tomos Hales, who crossed the line in 21:27. That this was a less than perfect evening with a hampering wind up the toughest part of the circuit, Cotwall Bank, makes that result all the more impressive, with Hales, also a 100 mile competitor, back nine seconds from his Round 6 time. Meanwhile it was a close call for 3^rd spot as former Wrekinsport member now riding for RAF CA Ben Southgate just got the better of newly signed Paul Edwards by six seconds in 23:06. Hales now leads the Series with 36 points, with Wells only a point behind second in the standings Ben Wood on 23 as well as convincingly heading the Women’s Series.

Things are much closer in the Road Bike Series with the top four split by just three points – although first-time road bike entrant Chris Halford took the spoils on the night. Halford stopped the watch on 23:57, with Matt Price moving up to joint lead of the Series with Rich Smith thanks to his25:38 effort pushing Smith out by 10 seconds.

Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport No.7

Solo

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	21:27	2
2	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	22:55	1
3	Ben Southgate	RAF CA	S	TT	23:06	4
4	Paul Edwards	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	23:12	8
5	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:33	14
6	Chris Halford	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	23:57	5
7	Ian Laverie	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	24:00	13
8	James Elgar	Paramount CRT	V	TT	24:42	11
9	Matt Price	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:38	10
10	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:48	9
11	Rob Garbett	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	26:20	15
12	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	27:42	12
13	Victoria Doran	Wrekinsport CC	FV	TT	32:18	3
.	Ben Bramford-Hale	Newport Shropshire CC	J	TT	DQ	16

Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series by Wrekinsport No.7

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	Wrekinsport CC	S/S	TT/TT	22:07	6&7

Cumulative Standings after seven rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Tomos Hales	36
2	Ben Wood	23
3	Hayley Wells	22
4	Chris Halford	13
=5	Oli Freeman	9
=5	Peter Jukes	9
=7	Allan Henderson	7
=7	Matt Price	7
=7	Phil Roberts	7
=10	Cameron Coley-Smith	6
=10	Rich Smith	6
=10	Clive Middleton	5

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
=1	Matt Price	26
=1	Rich Smith	26
3	Peter Jukes	25
4	Allan Henderson	23
5	David Seager	12
6	Chris Halford	6
7	Sarah Bradshaw	5
8	Dave Moore	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Hayley Wells	36
2	Victoria Doran	20
3	Karen Sherriff	16
4	Sarah Bradshaw	8

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	24
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	11

After three fine weeks conditions in Round 6 of The Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport got decidedly trickier with a block northern headwind hampering riders along the mile straight, covered twice on this course. But that didn’t stop Tomos Hales taking another fine win and another maximum point haul with a strong 21 minute 18 second effort. This was 1:47 ahead of his nearest challenger, George Coombes of Newport Shropshire CC, who stopped the watch on 23:05, himself nine seconds ahead of a promising rider yet to join a club, Paul Edwards.

The runner-up spot in the Denso and Tern Cycles Championship saw a dead heat on 23:31 between Hayley Wells and Ben Wood, with Wells similarly moving to a 30 point perfect score as Hales from the five events they have ridden – the missing week being taken up by a Majorcan triathlon. This was a superb show from Wells, with nearest competitor in the Female Series Karen Sherriff finishing in 28:52.

The Road Bike Series continues to see a close battle for supremacy in this most keenly contested of championships. Whilst visiting riders Jack Ward of Sharrow CC and Tim Burn of Sitwell CC took the overall plaudits in 23:52 and 25:14 respectively; Matt Price made up some ground by taking the maximum six points on offer for Wrekinsport members in 25:40 ahead of Allan Henderson in 26:05. This sees the leading four riders split by just four points.

In the 2-Up competition Oli Freeman and Phil Roberts scored a very respectable 22:13 to lead the Series by seven points.

Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport No.6

Solo

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	21:18	3
2	George Coombes	Newport Shropshire CC	S	TT	23:05	6
3	Paul Edwards	Unattached	V	TT	23:14	14
=4	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	23:31	2
=4	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:31	15
6	Jack Ward	Sharrow CC	S	RB	23:52	16
7	Clive Middleton	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	23:53	17
8	Deb Hutson-Lumb	Legato RT	FV	TT	24:04	5
9	Tim Burn	Sitwell CC	S	RB	25:14	20
10	James Elgar	Paramount CRT	V	TT	25:19	8
11	Matt Price	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:40	7
12	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:05	1
13	Simon Thursz	Wrekinsport CC	V	TT	26:42	19
14	Dave Seager	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	27:03	9
15	Dave Moore	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	27:23	4
16	Chris Dunn	Unattached	V	RB	27:56	18
17	Karen Sherriff	Wrekinsport CC	FV	TT	28:52	12
18	Sarah Bradshaw	Wrekinsport CC	FV	RB	34:43	13

Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series by Wrekinsport No.6

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	Wrekinsport CC	S/S	TT/TT	22:13	10&11

Cumulative Standings after six rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Tomos Hales	30
2	Ben Wood	20
3	Hayley Wells	17
4	Chris Halford	11
=5	Oli Freeman	9
=5	Peter Jukes	9
=7	Allan Henderson	7
=7	Phil Roberts	7
=9	Cameron Coley-Smith	6
=9	Matt Price	6

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Peter Jukes	25
3	Allan Henderson	23
2	Rich Smith	22
4	Matt Price	21
5	David Seager	12
6	Sarah Bradshaw	5
7	Dave Moore	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Hayley Wells	30
2	Karen Sherriff	16
3	Victoria Doran	15
4	Sarah Bradshaw	8

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	18
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	11

A favourable easterly wind helped riders up the toughest part of the Shawbirch – Cotwall Bank circuit as Tomos Hales returned to winning ways. Hales took a win by 1 minute 21 seconds in a superb time of 21:20 in Round 5 of The Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport, with a fast improving Ben Wood getting closest on 22:41. Hales now holds a nine point lead over Wood in the Series and looks a tough customer to usurp.

Hales isn’t the only rider dominating proceedings however as Hayley Wells took another win in the Women’s Series, finishing 6^th overall in 23:50. Like Hales, she holds a nine point lead, this time over Victoria Doran.

In the Road Bike classification things are much more intense, with Hamish Maclean taking the overall win in 23:39, but with Rich Smith narrowing Peter Julers lead to just three points after crossing the line in 24:59, 10 seconds ahead of Jukes in a tight battle with Matt Price sandwiched in between on 25:04. These three have been swapping positions all season and this one looks to be going down to the wire. Meanwhile in the Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series Oli Freeman and Phil Roberts took over the lead thanks to a top effort of 21:42.   

Denso and Tern Cycles Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport No.5

Solo

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Tomos Hales	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	21:20	8
2	Ben Wood	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	22:41	17
3	Paul Edwards	Unattached	V	TT	23:05	2
4	Adam Mumford	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	23:12	13
5	Hamish Maclean	Musselburgh RCC	V	RB	23:39	14
6	Hayley Wells	Wrekinsport CC	F	TT	23:50	7
7	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	24:59	3
8	Matt Price	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:04	5
9	Peter Jukes	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:09	4
10	Allan Henderson	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	25:21	1
11	David Seager	Wrekinsport CC	V	RB	26:11	12
12	Chris Marrs	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	27:12	6
13	Karen Sherriff	Wrekinsport CC	FV	TT	28:14	9
14	Nicky Mason	Nova Raiders	FV	RB	30:57	16
15	Jane Godfrey	Norton Wheelers	FV	RB	31:07	15

Denso and Tern Cycles 2-Up Series by Wrekinsport No.5

Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Bike	Time	No.
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	Wrekinsport CC	S/S	TT/TT	21:42	10&11

Cumulative Standings after five rounds

Solo – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Tomos Hales	24
2	Ben Wood	15
3	Hayley Wells	12
4	Chris Halford	11
=5	Oli Freeman	9
=5	Peter Jukes	9
7	Phil Roberts	7
8	Cameron Coley-Smith	6
=9	Allan Henderson	5
=9	Rich Smith	5

Solo – Road Bikes

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Peter Jukes	25
2	Rich Smith	22
3	Allan Henderson	18
4	Matt Price	15
5	David Seager	8
6	Sarah Bradshaw	3

Solo – Women

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Hayley Wells	24
2	Victoria Doran	15
3	Karen Sherriff	11
4	Sarah Bradshaw	4

2-Up – Overall

Pos’n	Name	Total Points
1	Oli Freeman & Phil Roberts	12
2	Dave Moore & Matt Price	11