An early morning start saw George’s favourite coach turn up on campus. All 17 bikes were loaded into the coach and off we went. With spirits high and club mascot, Akira, looking as excited as ever we took the 90-minute journey up to Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. Triathlon Captain, Albert, used this time to catch up on some sleep and then avoid falling over after his shoes mysteriously became tied together during the journey.
We arrived to an overcast setting with some light rain in the air, “proper hill climb weather” was muttered by some of our competitors. Bottle cages and extra weight removed; the bikes were ready. The day’s challenge was Terrace Hill. Greatest cycling climbs’ Simon Warren added this as number 29 on the list of Britain’s 100 greatest climbs remarking that its ‘Not the most remarkable climb, in other parts of the country it may not get much mention, but in this part of the world, steep climbs are not abundant.’ Nevertheless, a 1km effort, maxing out at 15% was never going to be easy, especially at the speeds undertaken.
Our first rider of the day was Thomas, more used to the longer triathlon efforts he put a great show on for this short pure cycling event. A strong 3:32 effort was a good time to aim for, for all of those to follow. Riding to the cheers of his teammates, he sported a great pain face. Josh S was next, finishing with 3:07. The king of Rouncil Lane put all those Watts to great use to get him firmly in the top half of the leader board for the day.
Soon after, we saw Lewis. Continuing his reputation for grit and determination, he put on a great show. This fresher’s first BUCS event of many ended with a respectable 4:01 time, a sub 4 min time being well within his reach for next year. He later showed his cycling ability far exceeded his noughties music knowledge, making some exec members feel quite old. Perhaps the performance of the day came from Jack, who was a mere half a second from breaking the prestigious 3-minute mark. Racing out of the saddle and on the drops was a clear show of strength, which was also evident from his ability to break a wooden spoon with his bare hands.
President, George was up next putting up a time of 4:14. Easily winning pain-face of the day, he vowed to never return to a hill climb event again. As the logistics man for the day, some may say his mind was not solely devoted to his cycling performance. A big thank you to him for his efforts in making the day run smoothly.
Jude’s time of 3:49 spoke for itself. A strong performance for a man who has only recently converted to the ways of clipless pedals. Being a crowd favourite, loud roar was heard as he passed. The crowd was building as more and more riders were finishing their efforts.
Our second fresher, Bastien, followed with a time of 4:13. Proud to be able to put a second into his club president, he swung his bars passionately as he climbed the hill. He looked as composed as ever, not showing the slightest hint of pain on his face, very impressive. Dan M came next with a 3:33, our third fresher up the hill (and clinching the fresher competition title). A VCL alumni, he comes to us from a club that has had members such as Ethan Hayter, Joanna Rowsell Shand and Fred Wright. We could see very exciting things in this fresher’s future…
Club Treasurer, Henry, made it under the 3:30 mark with a great time of 3:27. As a Devon native (which he never ceases to remind us), he is no stranger to a steep road and you could tell with his aggressive riding style powering him up the climb.
Vice president, Dan L, followed with a 2:36 time to put him in 11th place overall on the day. For once, he didn’t have to pull out any of his pre prepared excuses. Albert was shortly behind with a 2:55. He rounded out the 3 fastest Warwick riders which took 8th place in the team competition. Not being his familiar warm and sunny conditions, he can be excused for feeling a little chilly and not being able to squeeze out the extra 7 seconds required to catch Nottingham.
Aaron, social sec and team hype-man snaked his way up the climb to a time of 3:26 beating fellow teammate Jonathon by only 0.34 seconds. Powered on by Lewis who ran up by the side, he showed off his skills in front of the huge crowd. Some improvements for next time include remembering to remove his water bottle at the bottom for that weight saving.
Jonathon was next with his almost identical time, leading some to wonder why this was the first time he had been to a BUCS hill climb given his great potential.
Isaac put up a great time of 3:21, his prized SL7 surviving transportation and flying up the hill. He managed to complete another event without the use of his teamwarwick hoodie, which inevitably gave him the weight saving and therefore speed needed for this event.
Louis was our last rider from the men’s event. Complete with skinsuit, he looked the part. Our second fastest rider of the day, he put up a time of 2:48, which saw him into the top 50 of a very popular event including over 250 riders. A great performance!
The women’s race was next, which saw even more supporters than the men’s our two riders flew up the climb, both spurred on by the rest of the time running behind them. They managed to get 13th place in the women’s competition with their impressive performances.
Tasha, our cycling captain, was eager to continue her BUCS record after 6th at the road race last year. She was the first of our two riders with a great time of 3:50 despite saying ‘I don’t do hill climbs’ several times throughout the day. She was watched eagerly by Akira who also got her fair share of attention. A great effort for her first BUCS Hill Climb in her incredibly long university career.
Sally, one of the last riders to set off, was cheered on by the whole team. She managed a great time of 4:47 made even more impressive knowing that she had taken a much longer drive to meet us there.
When the event was over, we all got back in the bus to be greeted by Shrek on the screens. A DVD provided by Henry and George was the perfect way to end a great day out for the team, even if certain members did sleep through it. Then we all got ready to celebrate with a social. Thank you to everyone that came and took part, as well as Thiago for coming along to support, and even daring to run the climb instead of using a bike.
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