Just at the time when I thought I was about to come good after stringing a few weeks? good training together, I?m facing yet another set back? Same shit, different year...

Yesterday?s first stage of Romandie was a prologue. Feeling ok and looking forward to the race, I had planned to test myself. Unfortunately, the night before the prologue I got sick and spent the wee hours of the morning throwing up. This continued the next day but thankfully the prologue didn?t start until 4pm. This meant I had the whole day to try and get over whatever tummy bug it was that was peeing on my picnic. I slept until I had to go to the race. I did the 3.4km prologue on zero food since the night before then rode straight back to the hotel and hopped straight back into bed. Although I hadn?t thrown up since the morning, I was still feeling very, very average. I had no strength and no hope of testing myself in a prologue that would have otherwise quite suited me...

Unfortunately, although I?m no longer puking, I?ve still got a sore guts and I couldn?t pull the skin off a custard in today?s first stage. Although the worst of my illness seems to have passed, I was still feeling crap on the bike. In particular, I lacked a lot of strength. For me, luck was somewhat on my side as today was an easy stage. Well for the most part, it was an easy stage, although being crook made it more difficult than I would normally have found such a stage and I suffered my way through it.

Given the way I felt today, I?m not sure how it?s going to go the next few days. I?m going to need to be better tomorrow and the following days to make it through. One thing is for sure, I think that the best I?ll be able to do here is finish. I'll have to wait another time to get a result.

This sport can be so frustrating and demoralizing? Although, as Carole reminded me tonight, this time of the season is always problematic for me so I should just go with the flow and wait for it to pass without wasting valuable energy stressing about it? For sure things will turn around...