The Schedule:

Tues, Nov. 30th: Leave for Taiwan. Stay in Asia for 12 days.

Sat. Dec. 11th: Leave Japan for USA. Go directly to Portland, build up bike, ride course. Do not collect $200.

Sun, Dec. 12th: Race yer ass off. Party like a rock star afterwards.

Mon, Dec 13th: Fly to California, go work.

Back in November, I packed for my Nationals trip and headed out. Two weeks later I’m finally home. I endured a typhoon, my first game of golf (I shot a 134), no sleep, and some wicked blowfish - just to show up to the race! On Saturday I woke up in Osaka, having visited the Shimano home factory, flew to SFO and then Portland, and went riding. It was my mom’s birthday on Saturday, too, so I imported something nice from Taiwan. On Sunday, I woke up way early thanks to the jetlag, and tried to nap after some breakfast. Of course, even with plenty of time I still ran late and started stressing out BIG TIME. I still had to get my race number, eat, dress, get to the course, and I was just freaking out…

Once I arrived at the race, though, everything fell into place. I spectated and cheered the women’s race (where, by the way, the Velo Bellas RULED! They should be called Velo Baddass). I had a good warm up, and was totally ready for the start. There was a lot of mayhem straight from the gun. In the first corner, Jonny Sundt went wide and off the course. How wide? Try 50 meters! He never got off the gas, went around the far side of a parked car, nearly killed thirty spectators, and jumped back on the course in the top five, picking up several places! I fought pretty hard to maintain position and then killed it whenever possible. The main difference for me was that I wasn’t in the race to win, so when I saw a group moving up the road, I didn’t think about chasing. I wanted to ride my own race and not blow up, so I reigned in my usual aggressive start, and I think this paid dividends later on. I felt super steady and was pushing a (very fast) even pace. Each lap felt exactly like the previous one, and so I was perplexed by guys yo-yoing back and forth in front of me. I would lose a spot or two over the course of a lap, and then gain it all back plus some on one straightway, where I felt like I was going exactly the same pace as before. I was stoked that there was so much running, and used those parts of the course to push my advantage. I was riding alone for a while, which was great since I could just do my thing, but Eric Tonkin and Bart Gillespie rode up to me and the battle was on! With two laps to go, I hit the gas. I was hoping that my pushing the pace would either tire them out enough that the final battle wouldn’t be so hard, or if I was lucky then one or both of them would drop off my wheel… After drilling it for a lap, Bart attacked and I couldn’t hang. Eric was similarly blown and Bart pulled away for the final top-10 spot. The finishing straight at the bell was easily the loudest I’ve heard in a race all year, but was no good for me because they were ALL yelling for local-boy Tonkin. I knew a good spot to attack to try to soften up Eric’s legs, but once I had a gap I just went for it and held it out to the line.

11th place is the worst I’ve done at Natz in three years, but I’m really happy with my race. I rode strong from start to finish, where usually I fade towards the end of a race, and I know for sure that I couldn’t have gone any faster, so I’m highly satisfied with my performance. When you take into account my travel and work schedule recently, I’m REALLY happy. I couldn’t expect or ask for anything more. Thanks to everyone for cheering for me, I felt like it was a local race! Totally awesome! After the race, I ate enough dinner to pop, and went to the after party expecting some dirty action (as if anyone could get any dirtier after the race!) I was not disappointed! All I can say is: Drunk girls in bikinis pouring beer on each other. Word up. I got to bed late (like Monday evening), caught my early morning flight, and went to work. Damn what a weekend! Can’t wait for next year!

-AJM