Poor summer weather doesnt stop Gareth

AA Brown Road Race - 24/07/2005 - Northamptonshire

On a day that rained from start to finish of the AA Brown road race, Gareth Williams finished a very credible 13th in a high quality field over a 83 mile course in Northamptonshire.

The course was typically undulating with a series of climbs towards just before the finish and with a particularly tough long climb halfway around the circuit. The course was based around Naseby and surrounding villages and the road race covered 83 miles.

As the riders shivered on the start line, the heavens opened and torrential rain poored and never stopped until the race was over which caused many expected punctures which made the service vehicle busy.

The race had only just started and with less than 1 mile covered, a small group of riders broke clear including Matt Stephens and Matt Bottril. These two quikly opened up a significant lead before Mark Lovatt tried to go clear but was quickly marked by the attentive bunch and brought back. With just 3 miles covered Gareth went clear of the main bunch and was quickly joined by 4 other riders. This group containing Gareth quickly settled in and worked well together and opened up a small gap of around 30 seconds on the bunch. With Botrill and Stephens still clear, Gareths group stayed together for a further10 miles before being caught on the uphill finish section near the A14 bridge by National Road Racing Champion Russ Downing and Mark Lovatt with the main bunch on their heals.

As Downing and Lovatt went past Gareth’s group they counter attacked and pulled a small group of 5 riders with them whilst Gareth slipped back into the bunch. Only a mile later, Paul Manning attacked and went clear and was soon joined by two other riders. The main bunch, containing Gareth, now settled in for a long race chasing the breakaways but without success and the continued rain and wind took its toll as more and more riders were dropped by the main pack or retired from the race.

The main bunch was now being reduced to a small group of riders who tried to work together but with some riders missing turns. This group stayed together up to the finish hill where several attacks were made and Gareth finished a very wet and cold 13th some time behind the winner Russ Downing.

1 Russ Downing (Recycling)
2 Paul Manning (Recycling)
3 Mark Lovatt (Planet X)
4 Matt Stephens (Sigma Sport)
13 Gareth Williams (Cherry Valley RT)