This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/velo by /u/Accomplished-Tea1794 on 2023-09-20 16:32:24.

I’m planning on seeing a therapist or sports psychologist for this because I feel this is more than pre race nerves.

I used to race crits a while back but a lot of life stuff happened so I completely stopped. Since then I picked up the bike but didn’t want to do road racing anymore so thought I would try cyclocross.

I just get extremely anxious when racing. I’m doing my first season of cyclocross for the first time because everyone said it’s chill, inclusive etc. which is true but I still can’t shake feelings of being scared shitless when I race but also beating myself up about not being competitive.

I’m not sure if it’s just because crashing is so apparent in CX and even though it’s softer crashes they still hurt and I’m a very risk averse person. My bike handling is also terrible.

But it’s not just that, I just get so in my head that I should do well to prove to people when I’m reality no one really cares how good or bad I do. ESPECIALLY in CX. I tried to frame every race so far as making it a learning experience and not worry about placing but it still creeps back up and psyches me out.