A perfect day for a hill climb, dry roads and warm sunshine, saw 21 riders send the Sandhoe climb. We haven't had this number since 2013 so its very encouraging for the current strength of the club and the insanity of its members. The climb is a brutal 3-7 minutes of eyeballs out effort, with only the exceptional making it under 3 minutes.

This year two riders were added to the hall of fame, Mike James took the win in 2.48.78 and Matty Wells was runner up with a 2.54.34. Ken Thursby completed the podium with a 3.01.00 - his latest of a number of attempts yielding results frustratingly outside the 3 minute cut off.

We had 3 ladies riding and Charlotte Henderson took the honours with her 6.13.28. The under 16s were well represented with 4 riders, Matthew Walton (aspirant Vag) taking the top spot on 3.42.59 and Harry Sylph and Matthew Betson completing the podium. Poor James Urron took a tumble on the gravelly approach to the main climb and was the only DNF.  

James Moles seemingly effortless power to a 2.35.75 was testament to the suitability of e-bikes to this sort of course an an acknowledgement of the superlative achievement of the club record holder (TW) with his  2.28 ride back in 2013.

The spectators enthusiasm was boosted by the weather and the opportunity to avoid the ordeal, and there was a great sense of fun,support and camaraderie on the course.

Many thanks to everyone who helped to make the event a success, from ride organisers to time keeping support and impromptu pusher offers. It was a pleasure to be involved.

Results below (Rounded up by excel although clearly I cant push a button to an accuracy of 1/100 second. Sadly this cost Charlie T his sub 3.40 ride as I had him on a 3.39.95).

Read more: Vags Hill Climb 2019

The last club TT of 2019 (there`s still the club hillclimb on 21st September) was a sunny affair, and had a superb attendance with 33 individual riders and a 2-up. The numbers were probably swelled by us being one of the last club TTs of the year, so people had missed out on the Barnesbury the night before, and brought a lot of new riders to our event, but also for the regular competitors to cement their places on the leaderboards.

Stiff competition meant you had to go sub-24 to make the top 10. 

In total there were 12 riders who hadnt previously featured in my database for the 10, so i`ll refrain from mentioning them all but you can check the results below for details. Michael Gill rocked up and took the win in his first vags TT and was just 18 seconds off the record. Lewis Timmins took 2nd in his first event with us, just 10 seconds back and Lewis Wake who has ridden with us before completed the podium. 

The Heighton`s easily took the family team award, travelling North from Stockton for the evening.

PRs were achieved by Peter Stokoe, Simon Emsley,Harris Hall,Charlie Tomson and Roger Clarke. I`m unsure if Neil Clarkson had a PR with his 28.56 - I have him on a 25:24 from June but I wonder if this was an error or a flash of form - happy if anyone can enlighten me.

Danny Winthorpe and Elaine Dey did a 34.09 as a 2-up, but dont make the scoreboard as my excel is too inflexible for paired riders - computer says NO. However there has been a suggestion for a road bike category next year so I may need to arrange some changes to the system before then.

So, in the overall for 2019, Lewis Wake takes the trophy (metaphorically - sorry, there isnt one) for the BAR. Amongst the VAGS, Ken won comfortably, but there was a shootout for the minor places with Dave coming out on top, then Russ from Roger. In the Vets, Dave pushed past Ken to take the top spot. Vicky Gibbs took the ladies top spot and no Juniors completed.

Thanks to everyone who rode or supported us this year. If you`ve benefited from the series and would like to give something back I believe there are still opportunities to help out at the 100 on Sunday - please get in touch with Don. I look forward to seeing many of you at the awards evening, moved into the new year. 

Read more: Final Club TT of 2019 10 miles - 15.8.19