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In 1998 the hill climb championship returned to one of its most often-used
venues, Dover's Hill near Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. Jeff Williams was the
most recent winner, in 1982, but the title was also contested there in 1963, 1968,
1973 and 1978. Owned by the National Trust, Dover's Hill was the in the 17th and
18th Centuries for the "Cotswold Olympicks" which included the sports of
cock-fighting, wrestling and shin-kicking. The area is also notable for its wildlife
such as the friendly badgers that live in the woods.
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The course was a straightforward pull up an unclassified road that had a
couple of tight bends at the bottom then gentle curves further up that meant you
could never see particularly far up the road while racing. The gradient was about
average for a hill climb at 9.9%, with the steepest section just before half-way at
around 15%. Definitely a hill for a fixed wheel bike, I had thought 44x19 would be
about right but discovered the day after the event that I had actually ridden 42x19.
No wonder I thought I was pedalling quickly!
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There was a full field of 120 riders on the start sheet but The Times
reported the day before the race that the defending champion, Stuart Dangerfield, was
going to be a non-starter because of a cold. Stuart had won five of the previous six
hill climb championships and in his absence the man to beat was going to be Jeff
Wright, the 1994 champion riding two minutes in front of me. I was going well at the
end of 1998, had been out to the hill on three separate occasions to try it out, and
was on a lighter bike than the previous year. If I couldn't do it in 1998, I never
could!
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A decent tailwind produced some excellent early times - Gary Baker and Tim
Bayley were both off in the first hour and did times that would have been good enough
for silver in 1982 - so with all the seeded riders yet to come I was a little daunted
by the sort of time I would need to do if I was to win. All that went out of the
window when I started to race though. I got quickly on top of my gear and pedalled
comfortably to the half-way check in the saddle. A clubmate gave me a time split on
Jeff Wright as four seconds down about a hundred yards further on, so thinking I had
nothing to lose I let rip like I had never done before or since. The low gear really
helped here because it made it easy to keep a rhythym going. The crowd was thick
on sides of the road and only parted as I got to them, which was very good for my
concentration because it gave me something other than the pain to think about. It was
like a dream as I passed lots of familiar faces, all screaming at me but only seen for
a second or two as they moved out of the way to let me pass. Anyway this bizarre
experience was mercifully short and very soon I had crossed the line and was lying on
the tarmac.
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Winning really was as good as it is cracked up to be, apart from the headache
that the ride had given me. I had a three-second cushion over Jeff, and had ridden
the crucial second half of the race seven seconds better that him (and was the only
competitor in the whole event to ride the second half quicker than the first). In the
process I took eleven seconds off the course record, so I went home pretty pleased.
Too pleased perhaps, as I slacked right off in my training for the last two months of
the year and spent half of 1999 trying to catch up with everyone else.
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It went without much comment on the day but the over-15 girls section of the
British Schools Championship which proceeded the main event was won by Nicole Cooke
in a time of 4-42, better than all but two of the boys. As if this was not enough
she rode again two hours later in the RTTC championship, improved by five seconds and
was the fastest lady in 72nd place. Definitely a prospect for the future!
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