LET'S TALK ABOUT...ANXIETY

Pre-race nerves are normal, possibly even helpful, but what if fears and unease begin to take the joy out of your cycling? Chris Marshall-Bell explores the troubling topic of anxiety

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Josh Morris’s embarrassing pre-race moments go back a long way. “I ran from sign-on to the toilet, back to the car to put my wheels on the bike, and then back to the toilet,” he remembers of his 2011 race debut at the Maindy velodrome in Cardiff. At his next race, the same thing happened. And the next, and the next. No matter which approach he tried, the Welsh amateur racer continued to suffer from performance anxiety – and it still affects him now, 12 years later.

“On the way to a race I’ll feel clammy and will have to pull over and find a toilet,” he says. “There’s been times when facilities have not been available, which has led to some uncomfortable situations that I don’t need to describe. And then there’s always the worry that the queue for the cubicle will be long. What’s worse is having to go back a few times.”

Morris – now 35 and a communications manager living in Bangor, north Wales – has yet to find a solution to overcome his pre-race anxiety. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a fourth-cat crit or the National Hill Climb, I’m always anxious before a race,” he says. “It’s not put me off racing, but it means it’s more of an ordeal. I have to travel earlier to get to the venue with enough time to spare before the start. I couldn’t jump in a car at 5pm and be on the line at 6.30pm. I race less and less because it’s just not as practical.”

Widespread affliction