Gareth starts to find his racing legs again

Royal Sutton Road Race - 26/03/2006 - Yoxall, Staffs

'The Royal Sutton RR went quite well. After the last few weeks of crashes and colds, all I wanted to do was to get round and finish. As it turned out I went better than expected and got more out of it than planned.

The 74 mile race started really fast with a strong cross wind through the finish and directly behind us on the first of the climbs. This is where the winning move went, in the first 3 miles, but I was content to see how my legs were moving before trying anything. It was a really quick race from the start but the milder weather helped loads with motivation.

I got into a move on the second lap with Llewellyn Byrne (SIS) and 4 other riders and we stayed away for the next 12 miles before being joined by another group containing Andy Eagers. Meanwhile back in the bunch things just smashed apart in the high cross winds and the hills started to take their toll. I managed to mix it up for long sections of the race but really lacked that edge you get from a few weeks of racing.

I just wish I had the legs to go with Andy Eagers when he attacked our group. I could see him sat at the back and knew he had good legs after last week so I went to the back to shadow him and when he attacked I just couldn’t respond.

My legs were going over the last 5 miles and I couldn’t contest the sprint but I achieved my aim of finishing (around 20th) and getting in a decent move was a bonus'.