Whilst some of the club were taking on a “mere” four hour 45 mile jaunt up Box Hill and back on Sunday morning, Fraser was tackling a two minute 0.31 mile hill in deepest Caterham.
He had foolishly agreed to enter the Waller Pain hill climb time trial run by the Caterham Round Table. John’s initial facebook post had made this appear more attractive (and also shorter) than it turned out to be and coupled with the possibility of OG going in the “fat dads” category, his fate had been sealed.
We were greeted by around 60 cyclists of various ages, sizes and abilities at the bottom of Waller Lane with a sprinkling of the usual suspects e.g. Bigfoot, Catford, VCL, CPT etc. Bikes ranged from top end S-Works and Cervelos to a dual buggy tagalong with occupants (ow)! Having reconnoitred the hill on foot, lactic levels were rising rapidly and the “seemed like a good idea at the time” syndrome really hit home.
After much discussion amongst the peleton about initial gear selection and potential power outputs (and the more mundane – should race numbers be on the front or back?), the racers were released at 60 second intervals.
Some scarily quick riders blasted up the beast including last years winners in the men’s and youth categories who literally flew out of sight from the start line.
Fraser was introduced over the tannoy as the tallest 14 year old in the world and with this build up embarked on the quest to the top. Whether it was the efforts from the day before of a 30 second PB in the Parkrun or a lack of raw power, Fraser found it really tough and with burning legs crested the summit in a creditable 2.19 (5th youth and better than 11 seniors) . To add insult to injury (well, extreme fatigue), a disgruntled resident then tried to reduce his record breaking height by running over his legs as he lay flat out on the (closed) road after the finish.
Whether this was Fraser’s one and only foray into the rarefied atmosphere of hill climbs remains to be seen, however he really gave it everything he had and you can’t ask for more than that.