Andy makes the move

White Knight Road Race - 29/07/2006 - Braithwell near Doncaster

On a windy and warm day, Andy Hayton, Richard and Gareth teamed up for the White Knight Road Race in Yorkshire to cover 18 laps of a 6km circuit.

Gareths Diary...

'The race was pretty quick and attacks went from the start. I got into the second move of the day and we stayed away for 2 laps. There were only 5 of us in the move including Stuart Axcel who was the strongest. I knew at this point I was going to have a hard day as I didn’t feel strong at all and was struggling a bit with my breathing because of a broken rib. The broken rib was no excuse, I was simply going crap. I was relieved when both Andy and Rich were very active at the front which saw Andy get into a small group containing Steve Marrows. I thought this move would be the winning one as Steve was looking very strong so Richard, myself and Steves team mate Stuart Axcel tried to disrupt any chasing but Andy couldn’t stay with them and he rejoined us after several miles away.

Rich was going through a bad patch in the middle of the race but he still looked strong and stayed in the top 10 all the time. Eventually Steve Marrows group came back and the race was once again back together and the flurry of attacks started as I drifted to the back with Andy. Eventually Andy forced a move with a few miles left and a lap later the bunch split again. I just didn’t have the legs to get into either group and come the sprint it was opening up nicely and I cramped in both legs at the same time.

The only bright spots were Andy getting 7th despite being in considerably pain from his foot and Richard looking so strong and comfortable in a 1/2/3 event’.