Jim Trevor ‘The Hellenic Hawk’ was flying the Hull Thursday colours in remote areas of rural Yorkshire whilst competing in the Y.R.C. Open 10 on the brutal V810 course based between Ilkley and Skipton on Sunday 23rd March, 2014.

Jim took 8th place in the event posting a time of 28:26 less than 3 minutes behind semi professional rider Pete Williams who has his racing funded by the acclaimed energy sweet brand ‘Haribo’. Pete posted 25:27 for the ten miles which just shows how brutal the V810 course really is.

The V810, which is a circuit rather than an out and back course, starts in the village of Addingham and routes along a twisting undulating road to take you to the foot of the 100m climb on the A59. The climb which lasts for over two miles is steeper than 1:10 (10%) in parts and really knocks a rhythm that a seasoned tester seeks. From the top of the climb the route returns to Addingham along a winding single carriageway, passing fields of cattle sheep and the Chelker Reservoir. This actual road will be part of the route that the 2014 Tour de France first stage takes.

The climbing is not over at the top of the main climb and the return route has two energy sapping lumps in it, just to remind you it is a hilly TT in case you forgot the main climb on the outward stretch. The only good news if the last mile is a downhill run to the chequered flag. Overall during the ten miles each competitor climbs 260 metres in total and finishes 70m higher than the start. One of the few TTs in which this happens.

Post race, Jim stated that he was really pleased with the top ten finish considering the limitations that his work in Greece has put on his training. Jim told HTRC website and HTRC Scene that he has not been able to complete even a quarter of the training he did whilst living in the Scotland due to work patterns and dangers of the Greek roads.

When asked where the ‘Caledonian Concorde’ name had gone, Jim explained with a chuckle that as he would not be racing in Scotland (Caledonia) the Caledonian Concorde has joined the real Concordes, taken out of service, resigned to be a chapter of history, extinguished before their time.

When asked about the ‘Hellanic Hawk’ Jim explained that now living in Greece, Hellenic seemed a fitting part of a nickname.

Again with a grim Jim stated, “Well the Hawk, hawks are the fastest vertebrate on earth, but spend a lot of time hovering around and don’t actually go fast very often! Only when they need to. I don’t ride my bike very fast in Greece, it’s hard in the terrain around the gold mine I work at, but hopefully like the hawk, I can go fast when necessary, in my case during a TT.”

Results of the event can be found on the CTT website via the link below:

Result of Yorkshire Road Club Hilly 10

Jim Trevor
Hull Thursday Road Club