Repeated attacks by Gareth couldnt break the bunch

Darley Moor Road Race - 17/07/2005

With sore legs from the Saturday evening race at Ranby, Gareth Williams was the sole representative in the Darley Moor road race which covered 24 laps of the Darley Moor motor racing circuit near Ashbourne in Derbyshire.

With a midday start, the temperature was rising quickly and as the start time approached the heat was intense and the temperature was 29C. With little wind to cool the 100 riders it was always going to be a hard race run off at high speeds.

As soon as the race started, Gareth went on the attack and after only half a mile had drawn 4 riders with him but an attentive pack of 100 cyclists behind weren’t going to let this attack succeed and the break was quickly brought back but a counter attack went straight away and this time Gareth crossed alone to this break and helped drive it to open up a small 10 second lead. This move of 5 riders stayed clear for a few laps before it was also brought back. The race followed this pattern for lap after lap and Gareth covered each move either starting an attack, crossing over to a group alone or following a dangerous move for an hour.

After an hour of racing with attack and counter attack being reeled in by 100 chasers it was looking more and more likely that the 100 riders would be contesting a huge bunch sprint on this tight Darley Moor circuit. With just 6 laps left Gareth was starting to feel the effects of the heat and the previous nights racing and his legs started to feel weaker. With 3 laps to go, Gareth put in one final huge attack and pulled clear of the bunch by a few seconds but this was quickly brought back as the bunch once again eased up to wait for the bunch sprint.

The final lap saw all the riders together once again and riders who had sat in at the back of the race and done nothing for most of the event moved forward to try and gain their moment of glory. With wheels touching at 30 mph there were inevitable crashes, which Gareth managed to stay clear of, and rounding the final corner Gareth could only manage a sprint for 12th place from the 100 starters.