It felt like a dream!! I was on the approach road to Paris. I was wearing the Yellow Jersey. I had a many cyclists around me, smiling and sharing jokes, generally soaking in the occasion. I was feeling content and a bit relieved that the best and arguably hardest three weeks of my life were coming to an end. About a 100 kilometres still remained before I could take my well-earned spot on top of the podium. I had it in the back of my mind that this still wasn’t over, that I had to get to the finish line unscathed. My teammates and I were riding in the middle of the pack, me in about 50th place. Suddenly, there were the squealing and screeching of brakes pressed hard and hurriedly. There was clanking of metal on metal as the view ahead seemed to be clearing suddenly. Riders were going down. I swerved left with all my might. And then, CRUNCH…
I woke up with a start, pushing away the pillow which had somehow ended up on top of my face. I was covered in sweat despite the air-conditioning. The dream felt a little bit too close to reality!
It took a few seconds to remember where I was! An announcement rang out with a pleasant voice saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are on our final approach to Frankfurt. Please put your seats in the upright position and keep your seat belts fastened...” My concentration wavered. I realised I was sitting in flight AI-121 travelling to Frankfurt from Kolkata via New Delhi. From there I would take the train to Amsterdam. I had family in Amsterdam, and they would be my refuge for the next two weeks. A fortnight later I was due in Luxembourg, to sign for the Leopard Development Team!
Yes, that’s right!! ME, a teenager from India , a country unheard of in cycling circles, was about to become a professional cyclist with a leading development team in Europe. Now you may be wonder how all this came about? To be honest, I’m still in a daze myself…
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 16-08-2016 10:42
I bring to everyone my second story on PCM Daily. This one is about a youngster from a non-traditional cycling nation trying his luck to reach the top of the cycling world. I could not think of a better day to launch this than on my 1st PCM birthday!
The format of this story will be a mix of journal like writing and race results, inspired a lot by Croatia’s Andy Schleck story. I won’t keep the pace as high as the Movistar story but I’ll try not to have gaps too long. I hope I can make this as successful as my last story. I’m still playing this story in PCM so I’m not really sure where the game will take me and my Pro avatar. Hoping for the best
Spoiler
I’m not very aware of the nitty-gritties of the cycling world. So please pardon any inaccuracies and read this as my own personal fantasy. Cheers
Pro Details Name: Abhishek Sinha DOB: 22/02/1996 Country: India Type: Stage Races
Game Details PCM Version: 2015 DB: PCMdaily EP V1.6 Difficulty: Hard Game Mode: Be a Pro
I am making my rider race more and train less so that the development is slower. I’m hoping to get to maximum level around the age of 26-27. So far, the progress has been interesting, and on course to meet the target. I believe this makes it more realistic so that the rider does not dominate at the top level at too young an age.
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 19-06-2017 10:51
About a month ago, I was in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, representing my country in the U19 Asian Road Race Championships. The course was classified as hilly, with two 3rd category climbs and the decisive 2nd category climb cresting 10 km before the finish. The finish itself came after a 1.5 km flat section following the long descent. My manager had informed me to attack in one of the 3rd category climbs. My ultimate aim would be to help my team-leader when he caught up to me in the final climb.
As it turned out, my team leader had a tough crash on the second descent and fell behind the peloton. As for me, having attacked on the first climb itself, I had a 90 second lead to the peloton at the start of the final climb. My team leader was a minute behind the peloton at the same point. Our manager gave me the freedom to go for it. He realized there was no other hope for a medal for our country. I had 5 riders in the breakaway with me at that time. There was a murmur of discussion amongst us. Two riders refused to take up the relay as they were keen to help their own team-leaders. The other four of us were going for a win ourselves. The climb itself was 7 kms long. We took turns relaying, dragging our tired bodies up the climb. I did a bulk of the work, with some help from the others. 3 km from the top, we dropped one more of the original breakaway. It was down to 3 at the front now. The peloton was just a minute behind. I knew I could hold off the peloton in the descent if they didn’t catch up at the top of the climb. Then it was a question of going full throttle in the flat to the finish.
The three of us crested the hill around 30 seconds ahead. The peloton was down to less than 25 riders; the crème de la crème. We started taking risks on the downhill, trying to pull out a few seconds here and there. There were a couple of close shaves for me; once I nearly banged the side of the hill after a hairpin turn, again I nearly ran off the road into the brush, having taken a corner too fast. I kept it together, but so did the others, a Kazakh and a Chinese. At the bottom of the descent, the radio crackled saying we had pulled out to a 45 seconds lead over the peloton, which had seen a couple of crashes on the downhill. Despite this, they were charging now, with most top contenders still a part of the group.
As we charged past the kilometer banner, my manager said that they lead was down to 30 seconds. The only advantage for us was that the final climb had shed the sprinters and their lead-out trains. It was a field of mostly punchers and climbers chasing us. ‘Good!’ I thought to myself. I knew that I wasn’t the fastest of the trio, but a medal was almost guaranteed. With 500 meters to go, I dared one look back. The peloton was there, less than 250 meters behind. I realized they wouldn’t make the gap. It would come down to a sprint amongst the three of us.
The rider from China, not known for his sprinting, but more of a climber, was the first to launch the sprint with 150 meters to go. I followed his wheel, with the home boy, the strongest amongst us, taking up the rear. As the line approached the Chinese tired and fell to 3rd. I overtook him but my sprinting legs were poor. I was beaten to the line by the Kazakh rider, amidst deafening cheers from the home crowd. We finished just 4 seconds ahead of the peloton. Although disappointed at missing out on the Gold medal, this was a much better result than I ever could’ve imagined!
I couldn’t hear the team on the radio because of all the noise. They congratulated me after the race for my Silver medal winning performance, carrying me on their shoulders on a lap of honour. I was numb! Soon after the race, an official looking gentleman approached me and my manager and invited us to a discussion. This process was repeated a couple of minutes later by another stern-faced person. I was told that they were representatives from Continental Tour teams! Although I wasn’t surprised by the presence of scouts in this race, I wasn’t aware anyone was keeping an eye on me.
After discussions with both of them, and after being told that they were impressed with my determined effort in the race, I had two offers on the table – from Budget Forklifts, an Australian Continental Cycling team and Leopard Development Team, who were Luxembourg based and had a sterling pedigree in cycling. The choice was simple for me. Although signing with Budget Forklifts would’ve meant staying closer to home, a chance to sign for a team based out of Europe was too good to turn down. My dream was coming true and it just felt unreal!
I later learned that the winner of the race had been signed by Team Astana, as a future prospect!
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 27-07-2016 17:18
Wow you´ve already been close to the Astana factory of cyclists. But Leopard Dev will be an even better place to go for you, especially getting used to european cycling where amazingness happens.
Very promising start, looking forward to the following Episodes. Good Luck mate!
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Very happy that you liked the concept.
@trekbmc: Thanks. Wanted to make the start eye-catching. Glad you like it
@Croatia: Hoping for good things in Europe. Hoping to keep you hooked too. And Andy Schleck's journal made for good reading. So I was inspired
@DiCyc: Took my time coming up with the title, one that would stand out! Thanks and glad to have you following again
Tamijo wrote:
AbhishekLFC
I'we been thinking about updating to 2015 version - how do you feel about it, is it good ?
I made a smooth transition from 2014 to 2015. It wasn't much of a problem. Plus, there's the new 'Be a Pro' mode, where you get to create your own cyclist. This story is a product of playing in that mode. Just make sure you have all the patches and the required expansion packs installed
Played the career mode for half a season only. There are some changes with regards to the training. Plus, you can now also have a development team added to your team. So, those are some new options to try out.
Growing up, I was always interested in sports, all kinds of sports. However, in India, you can't help but be exposed to Cricket as the sport of choice. You would do well to find someone who doesn't watch when the team's playing. It often borders on craziness. The famous recent incident where Maria Sharapova admitted not knowing who Sachin Tendulkar is and getting a torrent of abuse online is fair evidence. Cricket is the all-encompassing religion of this country and Sachin is its's God. No one messes with God! I could only cringe.
In the middle of all this was me. From a young age, I keenly followed other sports. Football was especially close to my heart. At a time when all my friends were supporting Manchester United and Real Madrid, Liverpool struck a chord with me and I support them even today. Tennis was also a favourite. I also faintly remember watching India winning a solo medal - a bronze - in weightlifting in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I would play a lot too growing up. Football, cricket, badminton, volleyball, tennis, I've tried my hand at all these.
Unfortunately, as one reaches middle school in India, the pressure of education takes center stage. A qualification, a college degree is considered the minimum requirement to qualify as a success in life. There is a popular joke which says 'In India, people first complete engineering before deciding what they want to do with their life!' That is not much of an exaggeration! Soon, the hours at play started to diminish, playmates started keeping indoors and the playgrounds became desolate.
It was at this time, that I found cycling. I used to have a lot of free time after school. Staying cooped up at home never appealed to me. So I convinced my parents to buy me a cycle. They agreed as they figured it would get me some exercise too, with the obvious warning of staying away from the main roads. I'd go out on rides for 8-10 kilmetres with a couple of friends. We even raced in the alleys, something which led to a lot of near misses (!!) and angry neighbours . But the love for cycling grew and grew and soon I couldn't imagine not doing it everyday.
Convincing my parents to take it up on the amateur circuit was an altogether different issue though. A lot of arguments and anger followed, but eventually they consented. The change was probably brought about after watching me finish in the top 5 of the junior city cycle race. It was on a Sunday and I'd asked my parents to tag along. That day would be the turning point. There has been no looking back since...
Btw, those bikes that you see are devilishly difficult to ride, especially when young (and short). The cross-bar is absurdly high and getting on and off is challenge. Luckily I had a more civilised one myself
Leopard Development Team!
, a country unheard of in cycling circles, was about to become a professional cyclist with a leading development team in Europe. Now you may be wonder how all this came about? To be honest, I’m still in a daze myself…
Evonik
Bonsucro
Lotto Soudal
Roompot Oranje Peloton
Giro d'Italia
Vuelta a Espana
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
Tour de San Luis
Tour de l'Ain
Tour de Pologne 
National Championship Road Race
La Fleche Wallone
Kazakhstan, representing my country in the U19 Asian Road Race Championships. The course was classified as hilly, with two 3rd category climbs and the decisive 2nd category climb cresting 10 km before the finish. The finish itself came after a 1.5 km flat section following the long descent. My manager had informed me to attack in one of the 3rd category climbs. My ultimate aim would be to help my team-leader when he caught up to me in the final climb.
Australian Continental Cycling team and 
Team Astana, as a future prospect!
Good luck with this, the start is already very interesting. 
