John Bowman (Muckle CC) won comfortably in the North Tyneside Riders hill climb, while Sarah Wilkinson (Blaydon CC) snatched the women’s event victory on the Winter’s Gibbet climb.

38-year-old Bowman completed the course in 7:24.1 which was enough to see him finish at least 22 seconds before anybody else - although scratch man Andy Cunningham (Ilkley CC) would have been the winner had he not incurred a two minute late start penalty which forced him to a 9:18.9 finish.

Coming in second was Matthew Smith (Muckle CC) in 7:46, while the final podium spot went to Alexander Storey (GS Metro) who clocked in at 7:49.6.

This was the first win of the season for Bowman who will now be focusing also on hill climbs in the hopes of making the National Championships.

He said after the event: “I undercooked this event last year a little bit, so my game plan today was to ride the first half, which is the more difficult section, as hard as I could then try to hang on.

“The second half of the course is quite undulating but you can’t really claw the time back if you don’t push hard on the first bit of the climb.  I could feel myself fading towards the end, but just kept my minute man in my sights and was more than happy with my ride.”

In the women’s event it was Sarah Wilkinson that came out on top, finishing with a time of 9:15.1 which was over ten seconds quicker than the next woman.

That next woman was Ellen Powell (Durham Triathlon Club) who clocked in at 9:26. The final podium spot was a 10:27.7 which was ridden by Angela McGurk (Blaydon CC)

After the event Wilkinson said: “The first hill climb of the season is always a shock to the system after doing time trials all season. I was hoping to go a bit quicker today but the air was quite cold.

“I tried as hard as I could so have to settle for my result, even though closer to nine minutes would have been nice!”

Matthew Smith, who finished second in the men’s event, was making a return to hill climbing this year after he suffered multiple injuries in late 2017 after an accident so it was nice to see him back in the podium spots today as it would seem he has built the strength back up.

Results:

Pos   Rider Club  Gender      Cat   Time

1     John Bowman Muckle Cycle Club Male  Senior      07:24.1

2     Matthew Smith    Muckle Cycle Club Male  Senior      07:46.0

3     Alexander Storey GS Metro    Male  Senior      07:49.6

4     Chris Dyke  Rutland Cycling Club   Male  Senior      07:59.9

5     Graeme Wardale   South Shields Velo Cycling Club    Male  Vet   08:00.8

6     Noel Stoddart    Blaydon CC  Male  Vet   08:06.0

6     Adam Wood   Muckle Cycle Club Male  Vet   08:06.0

8     Benjamin Johnston Racing Metro 15  Male  Junior      08:07.7

9     Philip Gilbanks  Muckle Cycle Club Male  Senior      08:10.0

10    Craig Hodgson    Muckle Cycle Club Male  Senior      08:10.7

11    Wilson-Jay Brown PM Racing UK     Male  Vet   08:24.4

12    Euan Dinning     Gosforth RC Male  Juvenile    08:31.8

13    Darren Robson    North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   08:31.9

14    Ben Wilkinson    Muckle Cycle Club Male  Senior      08:37.1

15    Guillaume Zoppi  North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   08:51.1

16    Lee Ridden  Reifen Racing    Male  Vet   08:58.2

17    Ian Gallon  North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   09:00.2

18    Ben Swinney Muckle Cycle Club Male  Senior      09:01.8

19    Charlie Thew     North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Juvenile    09:03.5

20    Sarah Wilkinson  Blaydon CC  Female      Vet   09:15.1

21    Andy Cunningham  Ilkley CC   Male  Senior      09:18.9

22    Ellen Powell     Durham Triathlon Club  Female      Senior      09:26.0

23    Benjamin Box     North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   09:29.2

24    Barry Fordham    Cestria C.C.     Male  Vet   09:30.1

25    Joe Reed    Muckle Cycle Club Male  Senior      09:34.5

26    Daniel Richardson North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Senior      09:48.2

27    Jonathan Cairns  North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Senior      09:50.7

28    Stephen Pattison Muckle Cycle Club Male  Vet   09:52.9

29    Tom Guy     Sunderland Clarion     Male  Vet   10:00.7

30    Michael Tupman   North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Juvenile    10:08.7

31    Michael Trow     Blaydon CC  Male  Vet   10:12.1

32    Angela McGurk    Blaydon CC  Female      Vet   10:27.7

33    David Walton     North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   10:38.6

34    Martin Lisle     North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   10:46.3

35    Lois Jarvis North Tyneside Riders CC     Female      Senior      10:57.9

36    Alex Box    North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Juvenile    11:07.2

37    David Lavery     North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   11:19.8

38    Sarah Minto North Tyneside Riders CC     Female      Senior      11:43.8

39    Mick Chappel     North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Vet   12:08.2

40    Owen Haggerty    North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Junior      12:09.1

41    Ray Bell    Derwentside CC   Male  Vet   12:39.4

42    Will Massie North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Juvenile    12:41.5

      Aidan Turner     North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Juvenile    Apol

      George Turner    North Tyneside Riders CC     Male  Juvenile    Apol

      Barry Kelly Barnesbury CC    Male  Senior      Apol

      Tommy Murray     GS Metro    Male  Senior      DNS