WITH only one weekend remaining of the 2003 Road Season a good number of our local racing cyclists are now building up for the Hill Climb Season which will culminate in the National Championship to be held near Huddersfield on Sunday the October 26.

One rider who has had a very full season already is Peter Greenwood of the Clayton Velo club who has been competing since the Circuit of Pendle in early March but is already showing his ability in the anti-gravity side of the sport despite being on the wrong side of 50.

On Sunday, Peter followed up on his second place on Snake Pass last week by another second fastest in the ABC Centreville two mile climb of Blackstone Edge near Littleborough, being beaten by less than half a second for fastest spot in a climb that lasted over eight minutes.

Carl Helliwell of Great Harwood, who is one of the three members of Blackburn CTC who hold the crown of National Team holders in this discipline, also rode this event to take sixth place and in the afternoon he claimed another similar position in the South Lancs. climb near the village of Delph.

John Leach of Rawtenstall also claimed a second place on the same day when he was pipped by an even smaller margin of around six inches in his age group by winner Gordon Helme of Lancaster in the final event in the series of League of Veteran Racing Cyclists road races held over five laps of a nine mile circuit based on Elswick on the Fylde.

Also on Sunday, Simon Phillips of Nelson and the Pendle Forest Cycling Club was the only East Lancs rider to finish the National 100 mile Championship near Stoke, returning a time of 4hr 04min 56sec. Yet another second place went to one of our local riders when Blackburn's Dave Hargreaves clocked 1hour 0mins 26secs in the North Lancs Veterans 25 mile time trial near Garstang being beaten only by the 58min 15secs of Preston's George Nowland riding for the Brockhall based Science-in-Sport squad.

Next Sunday will be another busy one with our local cyclists involved in three large entry events. The North Lancs Time Trials Association promote their annual 25 mile event which will bring to a close the season on the popular Garstang-based courses and in the field of 100 riders are members from both the North Lancashire Road Club and the Rossendale Road Club.

Starting from the same area from 8am are the well supported AUDAX Tourist Trials which will cover distances of either 100, 150 or 220 kilometres with the longest of these taking in a mountainous route including the 1,800 foot climb of Fleetmoss in Yorkshire.