RIYADH, 20 December 2002 — A new generation of up and coming Riyadh cyclists claimed the top spots in the Bikes & Stuff sponsored by Nigel Howell Memorial Hill Climb at Dirab recently. On a calm day, 33 riders faced the timekeeper in this the shortest race on the Wheelers calendar, with a strong turn-out from all the categories.
With split times being recorded, fastest to the base of the climb was in form Charlie Dryden but as soon as the dreaded gravity took it’s toll, Dryden dropped out of contention as the hill specialists came into their own.
First time winner Rusty Campigotto, Chris Wust, Jaime Sunga and George Morete all climbed faster than Dryden to push him back to 5th place.
Morete put in an impressive performance, converting a 6th place at the bottom to an overall 3rd place and in doing so put in the second fastest climb.
Nigel Howell’s 1996 record of 8m58s was safe for another year however, showing once again what an incredible performance he put in back then. With Campigotto taking the younger category, it was left to the unassuming Wust to impress and take the veterans award and Paul McParland predictably taking the masters category ahead of race organizer Peter Waddell.
Cat B was competitive as always, with fastest overall, L.Pentlebury coming home 16th place in front of younger rivals K.Dryden and K.Malone, who incredibly tied for 22nd place.
Three mountain bikers gave it their best, but found the excessive weight of their bikes a big disadvantage.
Frank Oberlaender was fastest in 14m51s, as he searched for lower gears on the climb.
The Riyadh Wheelers chairman Charlie Dryden welcomed new sponsor Bikes & Stuff, a Eastern Province based specialist bike shop, who in return donated a large selection of fabulous bike accessories to the lucky winners.
Results: 1st R. Campigotto 11m12s; 2nd C. Wust 11m.18s; 3rd J. Sunga 11m.26s; 4th G. Morete 11m37s; 5th C. Dryden 11m39s; 6th H.Rom 11m40s; 7th R. Patrick 11m45s; 8th I. Clark 11m55s; 9th P. McParland 12m03s; 10th R. Platil 12m10s; 11th P. Green 12m15s; 12th R. Ervin 12m21s. (Jan Patrick)
