Paella the precursor to Warwick success

This year the BUCS Hill Climb was slightly different to previous years. It was held just outside the University of Stirling in Scotland, at Logie Kirk. This is a hill with varying gradients and even two hairpins. Warwick Triathlon and Road Cycling Club (WTRCC ) took a strong team of riders, including last year’s silver medallist Jack O’Neill and experienced hill climber Jude Taylor. Jamie Haworth and Doug Heynderickx had also been honing their climbing form while training on the continent in the mountains over the summer, aiming to peak for this final event in the cycling season. Simon Carter also joined the squad to tackle the climb, despite the event being somewhat different to the long distance triathlons he has completed in the past.

Travelling up on the Friday, the seven hour drive to Glasgow was entertaining and was improved further by the pre-weekend meal: a delicious paella. The next morning saw the team set off early to scout out the course and get an idea of the challenge ahead of them. Taylor went first and set an impressive time of 4:28.9 which kept him near the top of the leaderboard for some time, and he eventually finished tenth overall.

Next up was Haworth, who showed his strength in the build up to BUCS in the Dovers Hill Climb. After a focused warm up on the turbo, he set off to clock 5:04.2, which placed him 48th. After a last minute tyre swap, Carter set a fast pace up the climb despite losing traction on the wet road surface. The lung-busting effort saw him finish in a time of 6:34.6, placing him 91st overall. Heynderickx was next and looked eager to storm up the climb after a good warm up. He also had trouble around the tight hairpins in the damp conditions but still posted 5:29.2 to finish 66th.

Last off from the Warwick team was O’Neill. After a caffeine boost that left him raring to go, he finished in a time of 4:14.2, briefly topping the leader board until reigning champion Kieran Savage (Sheffield) posted 4:08.2 to take the win. O’Neill, Taylor and Haworth were Warwick’s three fastest riders and did enough to take Bronze in the team classification.

The weekend wasn’t over though, with O’Neill and Taylor heading to Garforth to prepare for the National Championships the next day, with the other three members heading to Halifax for the night. Sunday saw hill climbers from around the country compete in the National Championships in Matlock on Bank Road. The latter three members tackled the climb before the racing began, with Haworth and Heynderickx riding further out to Riber and Slack Hill, another two of the Top 100 climbs in the area.

The racing began in the afternoon, with 240 riders taking to the slope. O’Neill and Taylor, riding for their new team B38/Underpin Racing, started later on, finishing 14th and 33rd respectively to help the team place first overall.

This capped a brilliant weekend, made more special by the support of Haworth, Heynderickx and Carter on Sunday. A huge thanks needs to be said to Carter, who must have driven the best part of 1000 miles over the weekend. Now, with the season over, it is time for a break before knuckling down and training for next season.