.Being a lumpy circuit I didn't hold much hope for a good finish this week, as last week, so my mind wasn't focused properly and I found it really hard to get enthusiastic about what I was doing there. This is how I've been recently, no motivation
, not sure how to turn it around 
. Anyway thats by the by. The race;First few laps we all did our bit in a pretty ropey thru&off, but we were all waiting for the innevitable 'catch' by the scratch group. This didn't happen for a while and I found myself not bothering to put any effort in when it was needed up a hill or out of a corner, it wasn't good, and I nearly pulled out, but I cldn't be bothered to do that either
.This all changed though when the scratch group came through, it was like a kick up ar$e, like a switch being turned on, I was alive now, allert and rareing to go
. Keith was going well, always in the front group and looking strong, so I made sure I wasn't too far away from him. The rain came down for a while to make a few bums a bit twitchy, but luckily it didn't amount to much and went away again. The final corner on the course was a 90degree tight narrowish turn with a few holes in the middle to add to the difficulty, leading to the final straight, 400m, slightly uphill with the last 150m being quite a reasonable kick upward. So a tough finish.So the final 3 laps or so was a bit more spicy than previous laps but nothing that really bothered the peleton. No one tried to get away and no individual, or team, really fancied making it hard for the rest by ratcheting up the pace. The last lap started with a bit more gusto and I thought this was where I would get distanced on the hill, but no, the pace settled again to bareable with everyone looking toward a bunch sprint. On the long descent toward the final corner, one guy had made a break and had got 50m on the rest of us. This is when (I think ive been watching too much of le Tour) I decided to make a long solo effort myself and go for victory. Sh1t what am I doing
, oh well lets go for it. Down the outside, full gas it was all or nothing . Never having tried this before, I wasn't sure how it would all turn out, would I last, would I die bfore the finish, would someone come with me and how would I play it if they did. Before the dodgy left corner I had overtaken the other breakaway rider and I was on my own, with a gap, a fairly reasonable gap . This really felt alien to me, usually being mid bunch waiting to open the tap for the final 200m. My legs were now starting to scream, but there was still no sign of the bunch coming to get me. With 200m to go I still had the gap, however, the road started to steepen and I was suffering big time, can I hold on and make it to the top for an amazing victory? Of course bloody not, who do you think I am? . A third of the way up the steep bit, the whole of the front group came flying past me as if I was stood still . Never mind, I gave it a go and enjoyed trying something different. I might not do it again tho 
Steve
