I'm preparing for a big cycle road race. It's a big organised event taking two or three days. There's hundreds of people taking part in all sorts of amateur sporting events. Apparently the road race is the highlight event. There are halls of residence for the competitors. I try to contact someone at the event organiser's office because I have either forgotten my whole bike, or some components for it. My cousin Adrian was there with his racer, which he might have lent to me. The managers had offices in 2 or 3 stories of prefab buildings set up in fields. The whole event has taken up a vast area of countryside just outside a town. I'm speaking to the woman in charge of the race - she seems busy - but she tells me I an join the race late because the race is being judged on times, not first past the post. By the second day I'm the only competitor till not to have started. The atmosphere is of 'aftermath' already. I lose heart. There are even DVDs on sale already about the first day of the race, with day 2  and the results coming out on a dvd tomorrow. I can't see how it is possible that I could still be involved.