Beacon Little Mountain TT - Worcestershire, 27th Apr
BeaconRuth
Posts: 2,086
This year’s Beacon “Little Mountain” Time Trial is set to live up to its reputation as a true classic. The historic event returns in its 61st year with a full field and a full list of reserves and has clearly captured the imagination of many novice time triallists. The course consists of 39 miles of undulating and hilly Worcestershire countryside and the fastest recorded performance was by Stuart Dangerfield who achieved 1.34.05 in the 2005 edition of the event.
This year there are three riders, who have already won a clutch of events each, who will be fighting it out to claim the top step of the podium. Matt Bottrill (De Rosa/MG Decor RT) came second to Gethin Butler (Preston Whlrs) last year but he must be beginning to feel he has seen second place too often in this event. With emphatic wins in 5 open events already this year he is surely going to be a hard man to beat.
But the man to beat him could be Rob Wood (Echelon-Spiuk) who has quietly been showing dominant form with two wins out of two races so far this year. He also demonstrated his class over this kind of terrain with his third place in 2007.
However, Wood’s teammate, Gavin Poupart is also waiting in the wings and has the potential to carry away the first prize. Poupart was the Little Mountain Champion in 2006 and has already claimed four open wins this season.
Other challengers could be 2002 winner James Gilfillan (Primera-Bournemouth.co.uk) or Gavin Pardoe (Shorter-Rochford RT) who was a strong runner-up to Dangerfield in 2005.
Amongst the other categories of riders there are some high quality entries too. 15 women are on the start sheet led by Michelle Parsons (Evesham & Dist Whrs) who will be aiming to break the 2-hour barrier for the first time. Hot on her heels last year and riding again this year is Lindsay Smith (Birmingham Running & Tri) but a challenge is also expected from Marina Bloom (Rugby RC).
An exciting new dimension is introduced this year for the veteran riders with generous bonuses for any rider who breaks their age-category course record. Barry Charley (Parker International) holds a very tough course record for V40 of 1.39.12 which may go unchallenged, but the V50 record established by Mick Ives (then Coventry Olympic) in 1995 may be under threat. His benchmark of 1.52.29 could be broken by Michael Amery (VC Sevale), Colin Stiles (Rugby RC) or 1982 Winner, John Herring (Leamington C&AC). An incredible performance by Rod Brooks (Warrington RC) last year secured him the course record for V60 of 1.53.05 and as Brooks returns again this year it could possibly be only the MI Racing-THULE pairing of Mick Ives or Tony Taylor who could topple that record. In the V70 category a great battle is expected as defending record holder John Bevan (MI Racing-THULE) faces a stiff challenge from home rider and classy veteran Hugh McGuire.
Amongst all the top men and women battling it out for the placings are a large number of newcomers to time trialling and many middle-markers returning to take on the personal challenge of this classic event once again. There is an increased prize list for the “Course PB” competition this year and the winner of this could come from any of the 62 riders who have ridden the event before. In addition riders have the option of riding an ordinary road bike and winning a ‘Roadman’ prize for the fastest performance without the advantage of aerodynamic aids.
The first rider is off at 08.01 and good viewing points could be on the timed climbs of Stanford Bank or Ankerdine. All event details can be found at
http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/open_races/lmtt/index.html
Ruth
This year there are three riders, who have already won a clutch of events each, who will be fighting it out to claim the top step of the podium. Matt Bottrill (De Rosa/MG Decor RT) came second to Gethin Butler (Preston Whlrs) last year but he must be beginning to feel he has seen second place too often in this event. With emphatic wins in 5 open events already this year he is surely going to be a hard man to beat.
But the man to beat him could be Rob Wood (Echelon-Spiuk) who has quietly been showing dominant form with two wins out of two races so far this year. He also demonstrated his class over this kind of terrain with his third place in 2007.
However, Wood’s teammate, Gavin Poupart is also waiting in the wings and has the potential to carry away the first prize. Poupart was the Little Mountain Champion in 2006 and has already claimed four open wins this season.
Other challengers could be 2002 winner James Gilfillan (Primera-Bournemouth.co.uk) or Gavin Pardoe (Shorter-Rochford RT) who was a strong runner-up to Dangerfield in 2005.
Amongst the other categories of riders there are some high quality entries too. 15 women are on the start sheet led by Michelle Parsons (Evesham & Dist Whrs) who will be aiming to break the 2-hour barrier for the first time. Hot on her heels last year and riding again this year is Lindsay Smith (Birmingham Running & Tri) but a challenge is also expected from Marina Bloom (Rugby RC).
An exciting new dimension is introduced this year for the veteran riders with generous bonuses for any rider who breaks their age-category course record. Barry Charley (Parker International) holds a very tough course record for V40 of 1.39.12 which may go unchallenged, but the V50 record established by Mick Ives (then Coventry Olympic) in 1995 may be under threat. His benchmark of 1.52.29 could be broken by Michael Amery (VC Sevale), Colin Stiles (Rugby RC) or 1982 Winner, John Herring (Leamington C&AC). An incredible performance by Rod Brooks (Warrington RC) last year secured him the course record for V60 of 1.53.05 and as Brooks returns again this year it could possibly be only the MI Racing-THULE pairing of Mick Ives or Tony Taylor who could topple that record. In the V70 category a great battle is expected as defending record holder John Bevan (MI Racing-THULE) faces a stiff challenge from home rider and classy veteran Hugh McGuire.
Amongst all the top men and women battling it out for the placings are a large number of newcomers to time trialling and many middle-markers returning to take on the personal challenge of this classic event once again. There is an increased prize list for the “Course PB” competition this year and the winner of this could come from any of the 62 riders who have ridden the event before. In addition riders have the option of riding an ordinary road bike and winning a ‘Roadman’ prize for the fastest performance without the advantage of aerodynamic aids.
The first rider is off at 08.01 and good viewing points could be on the timed climbs of Stanford Bank or Ankerdine. All event details can be found at
http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/open_races/lmtt/index.html
Ruth
0
Comments
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Rob Wood is in good form at the moment , he broke one of our course records the other night and Mike Amery rides hills for fun, he was out on the club ride today and just pottered up some big hills leaving the rest of us gasping in his wake.... mind you we are a bit crap
Club rides are for sheep0 -
Less than a week to go - just waiting for the nerves to kick in! Glad i looked at the course last week, the timed hills are brutal! I didn't catch the name the guy who took us round but if you could pass on my thanks please, Ruth. To be honest i was relieved to make the start list- i didn't realise there was a limit on numbers. I must say it's a great course even if saving Ankerdine Hill til the 33rd mile is pretty sadistic! :roll: Fingers crossed we get some decent weather- i seem to be wet weather tester so far this year!
Rich0 -
He will be extra motivated after puncturing after the last climb with only 10km to go in Sunday's Dursley (very) Hilly. He wasn't happy when I chatted to him at the HQ afterwards...BeaconRuth wrote:However, Wood’s teammate, Gavin Poupart is also waiting in the wings and has the potential to carry away the first prize. Poupart was the Little Mountain Champion in 2006 and has already claimed four open wins this season.
Your tips of Matt Bottrill for the men and Michelle Parsons for the women seem on the money, though.
It sounds like a cracking field Ruth, and I hope the event goes off well. As I said to you a few months back, it clashes with one of the hardriders events that I am aiming at, otherwise I'd do it. Plus I lack a car so I'm rather limited to events within about 50km of Bath.Jeff Jones
Product manager, Sports0 -
Yes, I know he's strong - I've been on the back of a tandem with him and we averaged almost 31mph for 25 miles.bonk man wrote:Rob Wood is in good form at the moment , he broke one of our course records the other night.............
That was Tony Webb, Rich, I'll pass on your thanks. You made it on to the start list easily because you had a previous TT performance. It was the big pile of entries I had from complete novices who went into the hat for rejection or the reserve list. I'll work a bit harder next year on letting people know how to secure themselves a ride - the huge number of entries caught us slightly unawares this year. Normally when TTs have full fields it's on drag-strips and the riders vying for places are experienced testers who know the ropes.......... the fact that TTs are not first-come-first-served was clearly a surprise to some.RichieG wrote:Less than a week to go - just waiting for the nerves to kick in! Glad i looked at the course last week, the timed hills are brutal! I didn't catch the name the guy who took us round but if you could pass on my thanks please, Ruth. To be honest i was relieved to make the start list- i didn't realise there was a limit on numbers. I must say it's a great course even if saving Ankerdine Hill til the 33rd mile is pretty sadistic! Rolling Eyes Fingers crossed we get some decent weather- i seem to be wet weather tester so far this year!
I notice you got the better of Gavin and took a win in the Chippenham & Dist 24 back in March too - many congratulations! It would be very interesting to see what you could do in the Little Mountain.Jeff Jones wrote:He will be extra motivated after puncturing after the last climb with only 10km to go in Sunday's Dursley (very) Hilly. He wasn't happy when I chatted to him at the HQ afterwards...
Thanks. Good luck in your hardriders event too.It sounds like a cracking field Ruth, and I hope the event goes off well. As I said to you a few months back, it clashes with one of the hardriders events that I am aiming at, otherwise I'd do it. Plus I lack a car so I'm rather limited to events within about 50km of Bath.
Ruth0 -
Thank you! Only 2 seconds in it and I think that came down to course knowledge, but I'm not complaining. He thrashed me in the next three, though :-)BeaconRuth wrote:
I notice you got the better of Gavin and took a win in the Chippenham & Dist 24 back in March too - many congratulations! It would be very interesting to see what you could do in the Little Mountain.Jeff Jones wrote:He will be extra motivated after puncturing after the last climb with only 10km to go in Sunday's Dursley (very) Hilly. He wasn't happy when I chatted to him at the HQ afterwards...
I definitely want to do the Little Mountain and am penciling it in for next year. I'm finding I quite like hilly time trials...Jeff Jones
Product manager, Sports0 -
Aha: http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/open_races/ ... sults.html
If there was betting on this race, Ruth would have cleaned up
Well done to Matt Bottrill and Michelle Parsons! Good to see Gavin get up there for second, too.
What was the weather like up there? We were lucky down here in that it stayed dry with a light southerly.Jeff Jones
Product manager, Sports0 -
The weather was kind, a few showers about and light [ish] wind.
A few of us went up on Ankerdine to give some encouragement, some riders just grimaced, a few made jocular replies so obviously weren't taking things seriously enough, an Echelon rider's bike made a terrible cracking noise as he passed possibly a spoke snapping and Sean O' Toole from V.C. Sevale called us a " bunch of evil bastards" when we told him he was near the top.. we were lying .. he was only half way up .. he is a club member so we are allowed to take the p*ss ,,,,, he did appear to try a bit harder as he disappeared round the corner.
Another club member; Mike Amery didn't win the over 50's so we can rib him for a few weeks about that as he tends to win all our events unless Rob Wood turns up to show us how it should be done
I took a few pics so will upload them onto flickr soon, will post link when I do.Club rides are for sheep0 -
Glad you made it out to spectate Bonk Man. I heard there was a good crowd of supporters on Ankerdine which always helps a race have a decent atmosphere. Would be good to see any pics.
Well done to Matt Bottrill - a win in this event was probably due to him but he had to beat two former Little Mountain Champions (Bill Moore and Gavin Poupart) to get it.
Mike Amery ended up missing out on the over 50's course record bonus by just 3 seconds which must have been maddening. At least he can claim to have held the record for 90 minutes or so. A similar thing happened with the over 70's where my clubmate Hughie beat the record only to have it taken back again by super-vet John Bevan. How anyone aged 73 gets round a course like that in under 2 and a quarter hours is beyond me - incredible!
Good to meet RichieG for the first time - and he made a very good first attempt at this event with a 2.11.47.
A grand day out Grommit!
Ruth0 -
Club rides are for sheep0
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What a great event! Congratulations to Ruth and her club for laying such a well organised event. I thought the marshalling was superb - i tried to thank them as i went round (although some got a thumbs up and gasped 'cheers'!). I'm really glad the weather wasn't as bad as forecast - apart from a sharp shower when i got to Standford Bank it stayed mainly dry. I was very glad of the people watching at Ankerdine - my gears started playing up and i couldn't get onto the small chainring. I stopped briefly but couldn't get the derailler working, so tried grinding my way up. I'd virtually stopped when a very kind lady gave me shove whilst giving my derailler a firm push - hey presto i was in the gear i needed! I'd love to know who she was, cos there was no way i was going anywhere otherwise. If anyone knows a lady in a red coat with a black white dog please thank her from me! All in all an excellent day - i shall be entering next year that's for sure!
Was nice to meet you too Ruth - all the best with your racing this year.
Cheers
Rich0
