National Hill Climb Championships, 25 Oct 2020

I went into the Nationals having only had one other hill climb as a warm-up event prior to the day, and that one being somewhat disappointing. I had ridden Streatley Hill before and so my aim was to beat my time from last year, which had been ridden in the rain as the second of a double header hill climb, so beating that time seemed reasonable. I had gone off too hard that time and run out of legs ¾ of the way up, so I also felt better pacing would stand me in good stead. On the flip side of that, I had a double role for the day because I also wanted to support and photograph the other Catenary riders. This meant my warmup was 20 minutes or so up and down the road, then standing on the hill in my cleats for 40 minutes with my camera while the juniors rode, then back down the hill, dump my coat and camera and another ride up and down for 15 mins or so waiting for my start time.

I set off from the start, sticking to my power target for the first 45 secs or so until the gradient started to bite, then stayed seated (in contrast to last time) and aimed to push hard but sustainably up the steep part, hoping to keep going all the way this time. I managed this reasonably well, getting out of the saddle ¾ of the way up the steep part and giving it everything I had left up the last of the hill and on to the finish. Result - a few seconds SLOWER than last time, which I was gutted about. I’d paced it better but gone slower!

After rolling back down to the HQ, one of my friends sent me a screenshot of the results - I was in 1st place in my age group! That didn’t last of course, but I ended up 5th which wasn’t so bad. After getting changed and having some lunch I went back to continue photography of the senior men (last few) and women. It was an amazing experience being at the roadside and watching the largest ever (by far!) field of women ride the National Hill Climb Champs - a day I won’t forget. Well done to everyone at Reading CC for organising a brilliant event in such difficult times, and especially to Laurie Pestana who has done a superb job with the campaign to get more women riding, which we were proud to sponsor.

Tim Phillips

On the hill. Photo by Larry Hickmott/Velo UK

Two weapons for the day: bike and camera

With National Hill Climb Champs Women’s Campaign Leader and Catenary-coached athlete Laurie at the end of a great day