A Cyclist In France: 13's Unlucky For Some

Regular visitors of SportTrades Report would know by now that we're following a Cat 2 cyclist in France called Andy Phillips. Well I think it's fair to say his first three posts have proved to be very popular with more than a few people commenting on them.

Here's Andy's fourth post which tells us how he fared in his first race of the season, which as you're find out did not exactly go to plan. However as always it's a good read, over to you Mr Phillips.

Andrew: At the moment i'm sitting here eating my French bread and having a cup of coffee wondering why I had nothing in my legs last saturday. The race was a controlled event as a warm up for the start of the season . Luckily there were no points and no prizes as i managed to finish a very dissapointing 13th which if i'm being honest with i'm far from happy about.

I can come up with some excuses, which of course count for nothing after the race has finished. I only made the decision to take part yesterday morning so I had not properly prepared but there have been other races where mentally I've not been psyched up on the way there but once I've got there I've found my focus, so I want to find the real reason.

The first 3 laps of the race were controlled behind a car. Alarm bells started ringing when I found that I was struggling even with this. At the end of the 3rd lap I rode hard up along a false flat into the wind to get myself to the front, which is where I like to be. The car then pulled away and the race started but I struggled with the pace. Perhaps I had used too much energy getting myself to the front. I don't know. All I know is my legs were burning and thats not a good sign towards the end of the race.

In the Charente the 1st cats and the 2nd cats start together so the pace was being set by the 1st cats. Not a problem I thought, I have kept up with it before. But this time I had nothing. I have never felt like quitting before but yesterday was the first time I have felt like it, albeit only briefly. Once I was dropped off the back I recovered, got myself riding to a good rhythm, and rode the race on my own to the end picking off a few guys that had also been dropped on the way.

As I was going around the circuit I saw more and more guys at the side of the road who had packed. In fact only a few finished. For me the most annoying part was after having riden 3 laps on my own pushing myself into the wind a guy that had packed and was having a chat with one of his mates at the side of the road decided to get on my wheel and have a free ride.I was not having that so I had to ride even harder to drop him.

Well why was I so tired? Last week was our club test ride. It was a very hard event. 100kms in the freezing cold with very strong winds but I was strong. I came 6th in the club, having ridden with and kept up with 1st cat riders. I could have done even better if I had not got cramp. Again why did I get cramp? I have never had cramp before. At one stage when I first got it I was dropped but I managed to get back to the group I was riding with.

Towards the end of the race I tried to get on the wheel of someone who was riding away from the group I was in. Unfortunately I got cramp again lost a few metres which I could not get back as we were cycling into a very strong northerly wind. Nevertheless, I finished ahead of all the other 2nd cats in the club and rode most of the way with 1st cats, and felt positive about the start of the season.

So the big questions are why was I so useless yesterday? And why did I get cramp last Sunday? Why were my legs burning? Am I not doing enough training? Or have I done too much training? Come on guys help me. Any comments and advice would be much appreciated.

Well that is enough from me for now. Remember you can follow me on facebook by becoming a fan of ‘The English Cyclist In France’ or just join the facebook group ‘Help me Win in France’. I can also be found on Twitter @ cyclistinfrance, where you're more than welcome to chat to me.