The race had been extended to 13 laps of the circuit in and out of Lincoln and this proved to be a sticking point for me - I have failed to finish the Prem's in which I've ridden the last couple of weeks due to punctures etc, and my endurance was therefore lacking with 2 to go. This saw me slip 20 places or so. I had been solidly placed in the second group on the road near to team mate Wojiech and which for a while included Rob Sharman and Wouter Sybrandy for the most part of the race, however when we hit 85 miles Gruff Lewis of TeamUK Youth put in a couple of attacks which fractured our group and saw me shelled and I lost a couple of minutes.
Michaelgate was all it was cracked up to be. The cobbled 1in5 climb was stunning to ride with the crowds cheering. On the first lap, the edges of the road were crowded - by the last; overflowing. There's nothing better than raucous spectators to make you dig in.
In all, a very positive day. Thanks go to Stuart from Sigma for his calm when changing my rear wheel and for chasing me back on - and to Steve Skuse for his quick thinking in the feed zone.
