Weekly Update

It's turning into more like a bi-weekly update lately, I think.

Last week I was coming off of the final round of the North American Cyclo-Cross Trophy on Long Island, and I suppose I just didn't feel like I had a lot to write about it. It went fair, on par, and par isn't exactly exciting for press releases. I did have some good sensations for the first time in a while, and felt like I was beginning to be able to race my bike a bit and not just ride around with a number on. I was 14th both days on courses that aren't my favorite, and with UCI points going 15 places in Class 1 events, I was able to pick up a few more points and a little bit of encouragement. I also managed to get some press:

<http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2008/nov08/southampton208/southampton2082/amen108>

<http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2008/nov08/southampton208/southampton2082/amen112>

During the week that followed the race, I seemed to recover quickly, and managed to get in a mid-week motorpacing session that hurt like hell and made me nervous that I had done too much. But when I got home and saw the numbers from the power file, I knew why it hurt so much. I was turning out some good work, and it should have hurt! Going into the Verge Series race on Saturday, I was actually somewhat encouraged.

At Sterling, I had my best race in a long time. It was the first time since Tabor that I was able to sprint out of every turn, keep the pressure on in the open sections, and take big pulls in the group I was in. I didn't blow at the start, and managed to ride in the lead group for the first few laps before things split up. I haven't done that in a while, and it bodes well for the final two weeks of the season.

For the second half of the race, I was in a group of two with Josh Dillon, chasing another group of two racing for second place. I could have raced for 4th and beaten Josh, perhaps, but I wanted to race for 2nd, knowing I'd do no worse than 5th. I pulled as hard as I could and risked being attacked, but this time Josh was on board and pulling hard with me. We rode 5 seconds behind the group for 2 laps, before I finally made the mistake that got me 5th place. I missed my pedal on a remount after the barriers, which was followed by a short steep hill covered in icy mud. Halfway up I knew I needed to be clipped in to pedal hard enough to get over it, and had to jump off to run over the top. Josh seized on my mistake and punched it, so for the last lap and a half, we all rode 10 seconds apart for the 2-5 places. I was satisfied with my effort, though, and know that I did what I needed to to fight for 2nd place. It was worth the risk.

Full race report:

<http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=cross/2008/nov08/baystate08/baystate082>

And since I was finally back at the front, I managed to get a lot of shots:

<http://www.velonews.com/photo/85487>

<http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2008/nov08/baystate08/baystate082/amen102>

<http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2008/nov08/baystate08/baystate082/amen111>

<http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2008/nov08/baystate08/baystate082/amen116>

<http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2008/nov08/baystate08/baystate082/amen123>

The trade off for finally being able to go hard is that you forget to wipe your nose. Sorry about that. And despite the snot, I've even been the click-through picture for the race report in the news section on Cyclingnews this week. 

So now it's one more session of motorpacing today thanks to Dan Vaillancourt, two days of recovery, opening up on Friday, and then letting it rip for the final two Verge Series races in Rhode Island this weekend. I only gained .5 pound over the holiday, so I'm pretty psyched about that, too.

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