Jody Crawforth (Evans RT) wins at the 50th Classic Bec Hill Climb Photo © Geoff Waugh – Waugh photos

110th Catford Hill Climb (report from Organiser Dave Marshall)
Our event was one of the four Hill Climbs that counted towards the London South District Hill Climb Championship. Held on Yorks Hill On october 23. The Winner over the 4 events was shared by Jody Crawforth (Evans Cycles RT) & Jim Henderson (Southport CC) with 191 points.

Thank you to all the riders and all helpers, including Robin Johnson (Brighton Mitre) and Gary Beckett (Bec CC) for making this weekend of events so good. We hope to see you all again next year and perhaps you could encourage your mates to enter and make the field even larger

The Catford Cycling Club gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by Sevenoaks District Council and Mrs Caroline Lingham (Countryside Officer), Kent Constabulary, West Kent R.C. and members and friends of the Club, special thanks go to an old member of the club who has generously augmented the prize list.. Without this co-operation the event – the oldest hill climb in the world – would be in jeopardy.

Evans team report from Ben Hart
Led by Jody Crawforth and Dan Duguid the Evans Cycles Race Team make a clean sweep of The Four Hills weekend on the 22nd & 23rd of October. Jody and Dan are two of the teams most respected riders, both top contenders in their own disciplines. However no one was expecting hill climbing virgin Jody Crawforth to be up to his usual racing antics being such an inexperienced hill climber.

The first race took place in Brighton on Saturday 22nd of October. The guys in green and yellow were determined to make an impact but didn’t want to burn them selves out for the following events. With this in mind they aimed for a team victory. Every member of the Evans Cycles team rode strong Jody getting 4th in the morning event coming in just behind Jim Henderson (2003 national hill climb champion) and Dan getting 7th place. Team mates Jamie Newall and Justin Hoy didn’t let the side down their performance secured the Evans Cycles team victory.

However Jody was clearly getting the hang of things by the next day, at the Catford he was off the line accelerating up the hill at a breath taking pace, he looked unbeatable but was pipped by Jim Henderson by a painful 0.03 of a second and Dan just 0.02 seconds behind Jody in 3rd. The team prize was secured with Justin gaining 7th and Jamie 8th. The success acted as a catalyst giving the team the energy they would need for the afternoon ahead.

No matter what the outcome, one thing was clear the last race and climax of the weekend – the 50th Classic BEC Hill Climb was going to be something special. Of course the £900 team prize fund had nothing to do with the boys single minded desire to take the hill. Dan Duguid was one of the first riders off setting the bar with a benchmark figure of 1.48.97. For the next hour this time was left unbeaten until Bill Bell last years winner did 1.48.55. The new bench mark figure seemed to be unbeatable.

But Jody had put everything into his climb and won by almost one clear second. When asked how he felt he simply said “PAIN!  I’ve never gone through such a pain barrier before – I haven’t done any hill climbs before this weekend. I sprinted into the finish and whilst wanting to be sick was told I’d won and we’d smashed the team prize as well”. He commented on the great atmosphere the crowd created, Jody said it “really helped to ignore the pain”.

RESULTS
110th Catford Hill Climb
1 Dr JIM HENDERSON SOUTHPORT CC 1.55.2
2 JODY CRAWFORTH EVANS CYCLES RT 1.55.5
3 DANIEL DUGUID EVANS CYCLES RT 1.55.7
4 BILL BELL GEMINI BC 1.55.8
5 ROB ENGLISH 21ST AIRPORTS CT 1.56.4
6 JONATHAN DAYUS ARTIC SHORTER RT 1.58.3
7 JUSTIN HOY EVANS CYCLES RT 2.02.6
8 JAMIE NEWALL EVANS CYCLES RT 2.03.1
9 DANNY AXFORD ARTIC SHORTER RT 2.03.2
10 MATTHEW SMITH GEMINI BC 2.03.8
Also…
– Fastest Vet. Peter Wise G.B. Cycles.co.uk 2.09.2
– Fastest Jnr. William Thompson G.B. Cycles.co.uk 2.23.1
– Fastest Woman Amy Thompson G.B. Cycles.co.uk 2.53.5
– Lanterne Rouge Raymond Harrad Gemini BC 4.13.2
– Spot Prizes 10th: Matthew Smith 20th: Stuart Hicks 30th: John O`Brien 40th: Tim Kearley 60th: Trevor Walters
– Team Prize Evans Cycles RT 5.53.8 (Jody Crawforth 1.55.5, Daniel Duguid 1.55.7, Justin Hoy 2.02.6) they will HW Bartleet Memorial Shield for one year
Timekeepers: Mr Peter Stone – West Kent R.C.
Mr David Watson – Southborough & Dist Whs

50th Classic BEC Hill Climb
1st Jody Crawforth Evans Cycles R.T. 1.47.53
2nd Bill Bell Gemini B.C. 1.48.55
3rd Daniel Duguid Evans Cycles R.T. 1.48.97
4th Gary Dodd Sigma Sports R.T. 1.49.36
5th Rob English 21st Century Airports R.T. 1.50.86
6th Jim Henderson Southport C.C. 1.51.20
7th Jamie Newall Evans Cycles R.T. 1.56.72
8th Peter Tadros In Gear R.T. 1.57.11
9th Jonathan Dayus Arctic Shorter Rochford R.T. 1.57.66
10th Danny Axford Arctic Shorter Rochford R.T. 1.57.68

Brighton Mitre Hill Climb (Saturday 22nd October)
Morning
1. Jim Henderson Southport CC 3.56.5
2. Jonathan Dayus Arctic RT/Shorter Rochford 3.58.1
3. Richard Pettinger Sri Chinmoy 4.2.1
4. Jody Crawforth Evans RT 4.55
5. James Dobbin Arctic RT/Shorter Rochford 4.4.8
6. Pete Tadros InGear RT 4.8.2

Afternoon
1. Jonathan Dayus Arctic RT/Shorter Rochford 7.18.5
2. Richard Pettinger Sri Chinmoy 7.26.0
3. James Dobbin Arctic RT/Shorter Rochford 7.33.9
4. Pete Tadros InGear RT 7.34.9
5. Jim Henderson Southport CC 7.51.0
6. Jody Crawforth Evans RT 7.58.3

So you want to ride a Hill Climb?
You must be mad. There are still a few dates left but you’ll have to hurry, check the CTT website here. Alternatively your local club will have a Hill Climb competition or at least be able to tell you if there are any going on in your area.