British Cycling National Trophy 2010 Round 1

British Cycling National Trophy 2010 Round 1, originally uploaded by Dave Haygarth.

I never banked on the first round of the National Trophy going particularly well as it always falls on the Sunday of the London Cycle Show. At the end of a long, long week of stand building, awards-ceremonies, drinks, late nights and standing talking to people for a week doesn't exactly make for fresh legs.

We found an amazing B&B near Abergavenny to stay in and had "The biggest sausage you've ever seen" in Ye Olde Pandy Inn.

I normally get gridded at the back at this level of racing so I knew I had to get as good a start as possible. I did actually move up which helped when there was a large crash at the front which took out Nick Craig and Olly Beckinsale.

However, this effort put me straight into the red and with heavy 'show-legs' it took me another 10mins or so to recover a bit, but by then the damage is done and the bulk of the field is already up the road...

I trudged on and picked off a few people. Others crashed out ahead of me and DNF'd but i finally got caught by Paul Oldham and Jody at 45mins. I've done worse, especially on this weekend of the year, but I am being beaten by guys i should ordinarilly be riding away from.

Still, it's not like I don't know what needs doing but in the words of Bruce Lee: "Knowing is not enough, you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do."