metropeloton: An uphill struggle

To those who follow such things this was THE Sunday marked with a big red ring in the calendar of South Londoners (and those further afield) who like to partake of pure pain for a couple of minutes. The world's oldest cycling competition, the Catford CC Hill Climb takes place in the morning whilst the Bec CC Hill Climb takes place a few hours later. Being the loyal husband that I am, I fully intended to miss these cycling monuments in order to appease my beloved after yesterday's free pass but, much to my surprise and joy, she was rather keen to go and see what it was all about. Alas, cycling history was deemed a little too early to witness on a Sunday morning so we opted for the big money (£1000 first prize is not to be sniffed at - only huffed and puffed at) and we made our way over to Titsey Hill to watch the Bec CC event. It's all jolly English with a nice dash of wannabe continentalism thrown in. Shouts of 'allez!' mixing with the 'go on's of the less deluded old skoolers. Having a vested interest in the form of Team Vitsoe's (for this is the jersey that I wear with pride on my weekend rides) star member Keith Henderson gave it an extra edge and there was also a real buzz about seeing teen sensation Germain Burton. So, amongst tea, cake and drizzle we yelled, clapped and clicked our cameras at the 80 odd masochists as they gave it their best shot. The winner of the grand prize (and £1000 really is a grand prize) was a relative unknown, Michael Leonard-Smith from Milton Keynes with last year's winner Jody Crawforth coming in second. Most dramatic ride of the day was Germain's as, surprisingly, he struggled badly until he reached the point where he simply could not turn the wheels, falling heavily. Shocked gasps echoed down the hill as his DeVer teammates ran to his aid, lifting him from the ground and giving him a final shove so that he could complete the last 30 metres (all of which I totally failed to catch on my camera - I desperately need help on this front). A very hard lesson in pacing but also a real display of true grit. However, final mention should go to 'our Keith', only ever having competed in one hill climb the weekend before he finished top 20 in both of today's. David Brailsford take note!