Cycling and Oxford are synonymous. Dodging bikes on Broad Street or racing to a tutorial five minutes late down the High Street are all parts of the university experience. It is no surprise, therefore, that the Oxford University Cycling Club has a proud and successful tradition of racing.
Last week saw the University Cycling Club loading up a couple of cars and heading up to the Peak District for the first BUCS cycling event of the year, the BUCS Hill Climb Championships. This particularly sadistic form of cycling involves finding a short, steep hill, and getting everyone to race up it; the fastest time wins, and there are unofficial bonus points for collapsing at the finish line.
Last year, Cambridge took out the competition decisively, winning both men’s and women’s individual and team categories. This year however, the Dark Blue squad came in with a new focus, and had some successes in the weeks prior with a string of podiums in some tough races from Isaac Mundy and Angus Fisk. The Hill Climb Championships were contested on Curbar Gap, a one-mile ascent averaging an 11 per cent gradient, a number that hides several cruelly steep pinches. The weather was less than ideal, with rain and leaves leaving the road slippery, but a tailwind at the finish provided a bit of extra speed. At the bottom of the hill, hundreds of nervous cyclists milled around, warming up or just trying to avoid the rain. The women headed off first, and the Oxford team of Tamara Davenne and Olivia Withers put in some great performances. Tamara just missed out on the podium, coming in at fourth place with a time of 07:12, and combined it was enough to give Oxford the bronze in the team competition. Hayley Simmonds from Cambridge came back from the recent World Championships in the USA to win the women’s category in a time of 06:18, a new BUCS record, and home team Sheffield took the women’s team prize.
After standing by the side of the road and cheering for the women, it was the turn of the men. Tom Bolton, Daniel Alanine, Angus Fisk, and Isaac Mundy made up the men’s team. All had put in strong performances at the Club Hill Climb the week before, so were hoping for good things today.
Whispers of some very fast times being set on the day set the nerves off and raised the bar early on. Though it looked threatening, rain held off for the rest of the day, giving everyone else a dry run. Everyone pulled out some fantastic performances, helped along thoroughly by the tailwind and the crowds near the top, who were getting progressively rowdier as the afternoon wore on. Tom Bolton rode strongly to improve on his time from last year; Daniel Alanine snuck into the top 20 with a gutsy ride, and Isaac Mundy dug into new levels of suffering to secure fifth place in a time of 05:23. Another local rider, Kieran Savage of Sheffield, took the men’s prize in a time of 05:17, another BUCS course record and a stunning effort. Sheffield showed its strength by winning the men’s team event too, but the Oxford men snuck in to take out the silver position, a massive improvement on their 15th position last year.
It was very well-run event, with live electronic timing visible online adding some excitement for everyone. Congratulations to everyone who rode, the limited numbers this year doing nothing to reduce the atmosphere at the race. The cycling club has started off well this year, and heads into the winter mountain bike season with extra motivation. Hopefully this is the start of a great year for OUCC.
