Cherry Valley riders make the right moves

Thurcroft RR - 02/04/2006 - Thurcroft, South Yorkshire

With the race distance being quite short at 50 miles, Gareth and Andy rode the Thurcroft CC Road Race with the intention of having a good workout as Gareth was still trying to finds some early season form. Missing from the race was Richard who was suffering from a migraine and couldn’t make the start.

Gareths race dairy….

‘I hit the front the minute the flag was dropped in the neutralised zone signalling the start of the race as he jumped across to a two 3 riders who quickly settled down to work well together. This lasted only a few miles as the high class bunch was quick to react and bring the foursome back. As soon as my group had been brought back to the bunch on the approach to Thurcroft, Andy followed a move which was brought back by Julian Ramsbottom. As soon as the bunch was back together I was off again following another small move which was quickly joined by Julian Grommett, Steve Marrows and Steven Ward. The group of escapees now contained 7 riders and we quickly got into a working rhythm to pull 35 seconds clear of the bunch. What I didn’t know was that Andy was in a small group behind gaining ground – if id known I might have stopped working to see if they could bridge the gap.

As the closing laps approached, I started to tire and with only 2 laps left of the 5 mile circuit, I had to miss some turns to try and conserve myself. The final lap saw none stop attacks from the break which started on the hill just past the finish, but I was too tired to participate and it was all I could do just to follow the wheels and ensure I wasn’t get dropped.

Meanwhile, whilst the leading break was attacking each other around the circuit, a small group containing Mike Moss, Andy Eagers, Julian Ramsbottom and Matt Charity were quickly closing in on our leading group of 7.

Approaching the final mile, I looked back behind me and saw the group behind gaining ground rapidly so entering the final finishing straight I went to the front to keep the tempo up so the breakaway wasn’t caught. I led out the sprint and was soon passed by several riders but still hung on for 6th place behind race winner Steven Ward.

The day was topped of by a 60 mile ride home with Andy’.

Andys’ race diary

‘Having made good use of the lighter nights that we are at last experiencing, to get some quality miles in, I was looking forward to having some form for today's race.

Fortunately, Gareth's second attempt at jumping the bunch succeeded and the winning move of the day was created on the first of ten laps. The next couple of laps were spent following and policing any attempts to bridge across from the main bunch.

I found myself in a group of around seven riders, including Mike Moss (Cottingham Coureurs) who also had a team mate in the lead group. After a couple of laps of 'soft tapping' in the group, which was obviously going nowhere, Moss suggested attacking the group and trying to bridge across. Moss attacked on the finish climb, and though a little late to react, I bridged across with Stefan Wolfer. As a trio, we worked for two laps, before being caught by a group being driven by notable riders, Julian Ramsbottom, Matt Charity and Andy Eagers.

I settled in this group for a while, with many attacks going off the front - unfortunately though I missed the move by the group which eventually were to sprint for seventh.

Knowing that a placing was out of the question, and satisfied that
Gareth was safely up the road, the last couple of laps were spent bridging across gaps for 'training'.

Following the ride home 100+ miles were totaled, hopefully bringing on the form to be used in future events’.