Eighty riders tackled the Mendips hills on Sunday 25 July when Somer Valley Cycling Club revived the Colin Carfield Memorial Road Race. The race was last run 5 years ago and this year’s race saw second, third and fourth Category riders tackle one of the toughest  races in southern England thanks to the four different climbs of Burrington Combe, 2 Trees at Blagdon, followed by the Wellsway and finally finishing at the top of Smitham Hill. Over a race distance of 60miles competitors would ascend 1367m as they circled the Mendips in ever decreasing circles, meaning that riders had a shorter rest between the climbs each lap.

Starting from Priddy the riders descended to Chew Valley lake and then tackled the undulating road to Blagdon before ascending the route’s first climb of Burrington Combe. With the pace going into the climb already high the bunch immediately lined out and the resulting pressure at the front saw 12 riders break clear as they crested the summit led by Oliver Mott (Paramount CRT). Whilst this lead bunch quickly started to work together the melee of small groups behind meant that an organised chase was slow to initiate and so the leaders were able to establish a lead of more than a minute before the second climb of the day up the brutally steep and long 2 Trees hill in Blagdon.
Oliver Mott was once again first to the top of the climb justifying his prize of King of the Mountains. Whilst the climb was not decisive itself, the flatter road across the Mendips after the climb saw Travis Walker (Inverse Racing) and Crispin Doyle (Swindon RC) break clear. With both riders sharing the workload they managed to forge ahead and following the Wellsway climb it became obvious that the winner would be from this leading duo.
It was the steep middle section of the final climb that Doyle started to struggle allowing Walker to break clear of his breakaway companion to earn the applause of a large crowd waiting at the finish line at the top of climb.
The remainder of the initial breakaway was led in by a close 2 man sprint between Luke Dunbar (Team Quroz)  and Junior Hefferman (Revo Racing) with Dunbar just edging it and in doing so earning the additional prize from the Les Adams Trust for the best under 23 rider.
Former national hillclimb champion James Dobbin (Artic Premier RT) had to settle for fifth place, crossing the climb by scooting, after his chain had snapped on the climb whilst Andy Rivett (VC Raphael) rounded off the top  six. Best rider from the promoting club was Jerry Rayner in 27th place.
Whilst all 51 finishers deserve praise a special mention should  go to Nick Creed (Somer Valley) who was best placed fourth category rider in 34th place whilst Anna Fisher (Max Gear) was the only woman in the race finishing in 40th place.