Will I ever finish?

Well my first proper season as a cyclist is turning out to be an unmitigated embarassment. The scorecard so far is frankly comical:

Etape Du Tour: DNF

Ciclos Uno 3/4/Novice race, 20.08.2006, Eastway: DNF (vomiting in a bin after 30 minutes)

Ciclos Uno Novice race, 27.08.2006, Eastway: DNF (retired with broken spoke with 5 laps to go)

Ciclos Uno Novice race, 03.09.2006, Eastway: DNF (retired with thigh strain)

So I am sitting here with a hot sensation in the lower part of my left thigh, towards the outside of my quad, which signals I have pulled something to the extent that I am off the bike for a few days and trying to endure the tube and bus for getting about.

I’m really furious about it as I still haven’t cross the finish line once this season. The sense of frustration isn’t helped by being stuck on the tube or bus which seems to take forever by comparison to going places on the bike.

Sunday’s race was a bit of a disaster from the start. I was feeling a bit stiff and tired when I rode out to Eastway and even after a warm up lap or two I wasn’t sure I was on my best form. As you do, I convinced myself that I would be OK so long as I just sat in and didn’t come off the back.

Conditions weren’t great: a drying track and strong gusty winds. combined with a small field there wasn’t much of a group to hide in so I found that, regardless of where I tried to tuck in, I was still taking the wind far too much.

So after about two laps my legs started to go into open rebellion against being aked to drive me on in the group and I slow drifted out the back in an undignified thrashing of limbs as I desperately tried to get back on and stay with it. Sure enough, once I went out the back my heart rate started to soar and my motivation slumped.

By the time I was lapped, about 25 minutes in, my thigh had gone and I was limping round having attempted to hop back on and not lasted long before that screaming pain kicked in, telling me something was not right.

So back to the clubhouse, stomp about a bit, sulking at misfortune once again biting me in the leg, then on the bike again and into town for the Tour of Britain and support races featuring some of my clubmates…

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