WIZwireless Kourarau Hill Climb Club Champs 2023

Overall Results here

Age group results here

Race Report – 31 Jan 023 ACM WizWireles Hill Climb Champs Te Wharou Road

It’s that time of year again; club championships & trophies up for grabs. Last night it was the hill climb champs up Te Wharou road. From Gladstone to the top of Kourarou. My Garmin had the distance as 6.79kms with 303m of elevation. Conditions were reasonable, very warm & humid with a nor’easterly breeze. Fortunately the breeze seemed to disappear further up the climb.   

There were 26 riders who lined up to start. The order was slowest to fastest with 30 seconds intervals between starts. The climb is a time trial to the top with pacing playing an important part. Go to hard to early on the early slopes and your legs could fall off nearer to the top.

Congratulations to Caleb Roberts for fastest overall time and to Belinda Fuller for fastest woman

Of course the second race of the evening was even more important. The ‘Roll Off’ back down the hill to the start line. The rules are simple; push off at the top of the hill and free wheel to the bottom. No pedalling allowed. A group of a dozen or so assembled and pushed off. There is some skill involved in adopting as aero position as possible and drafting other riders without using brakes. The leading trio of Donna B, Andy CC and Devan S had forged ahead and looked set for the podium when a stealthy Richard VDL overtook metres before the finish line and pipped them for first place.  

Overall                                                                       Race Time                           

1^st        Caleb Roberts                                               00:17:59                                  

2^nd         Richard Van der Lent                                   00:19:10                                

3^rd          Dave Drummond                                          00:19:46                                

Fastest Women

1^st        Belinda Fuller                                               00:22:51                    

2nd     Donna Burkhart                                            00:28:39                                

3^rd       Gita Van der Leek                                        00:31:44                                

eBikes

            Scarlett McCallum                                       00:13:04                                            

            Ricky Blade                                                   00:13:24

            Andrew Linton                                              00:16:31        

A big thanks to the organisers and marshals for supporting the race and keeping everyone safe. Thanks also to the truck driver and volunteers for setting up & taking down the road signage.

Next race Tuesday 7 February. The club road race champs on the ever popular Carrington circuit. The good news is there’s only (short) climb per lap.