Gareth and Richard hold on to finish

Aire Valley Road Race - 25/03/2007 - Oxenhope, Yorkshire

After a disappointing ride at Darley Moor last week, both Richard and Gareth rode the Aire Valley Road Race around a tough course in North Yorkshire.

Gareths race diary….

I was determined to put in a more spirited performance compared to the previouse weeks poor effort at Darley Moor. With this in mind I took off the front of the bunch in the first 2 miles. With the bunch a little hesitant behind I opened a very small gap until I realised why they let me go as I approached the climb for the first time. By the time I hit the bottom of the climb I was stuffed as rider after rider went past me. A few minutes later I reached the top of the climb alone dangling off the back of what remained of the bunch. A big effort over the next 3 miles saw me regain the main field whilst in the mean time the race winning move had already gone containing Kit Gilham from Clifton CC.

While I hung onto the back of the bunch lap after lap my only consoling thought was that I was feeling just a little stronger than last week at Darley Moor. As the laps ticked by the field got smaller and smaller and as we took the bell for the final lap we were down to just 13 riders. The final time up this monstrous climb I lost contact with the back of the field and sauntered 17th just a few seconds off the back of the bunch.

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