A Look Back

Before looking onwards to 2010 I want to look back at some highlights of my ’09 season.
Pinole Team Time Trial: This course is a forty minute loop designed to be as painful as possible; the road starts downhill and gets progressively more windy and hilly as the kilometers tick by. This year I did the race with Charlie Avis, soon to be National Time Trial Champion. This was a lesson in survival and I was so relived and pleased when we crossed the line shattering the junior course record and winning by a nearly three minute margin. The hard effort was good for me, and a turning point in how I viewed time trialing. I realized that if I wanted to be good at time trialing I would need to train more in the TT position and be willing to suffer more than everyone else, or at least as much as everyone else. Although my time trialing is still a work in progress I improved markedly since this event which earned me 2nd in the State Championship and 16th at the National Championships.
Santa Cruz Classic: This race came at a crucial time for me while I was still looking for those last few upgrade points. I tried to stay up front as much as possible to make sure that I didn’t miss out on a break. With five laps to go Joel told me to get back in the field and get a little rest from the wind; I had been second wheel almost the entire race, so this was a good suggestion. Thanks Joel. Fast-forward a few laps and I was 8th wheel coming out of the last corner, probably just a bit too far back. I waited and with about 200 meters to go jumped as hard as I could. I threw my bike at the line to take the win by a hair.
National Criterium Championship: After the Pinole Team Time Trial this was the hardest race I did all year. I tried to stay up front and out of trouble, but with about 8 laps to go I decided to take a risk and bridge to a break of three riders containing the National Road Champion. I attacked out of the group and was quickly joined by Juan Carmona and Anders Newbury. We worked together and nearly caught the break, but began to lose ground with four laps to go before finally being brought back into the fold with three to go. I drifted a little far back after being caught and I spent the remaining two and a half laps moving up to take 6th in the field sprint and 9th overall. The group that I was a few meters from bridging up to went on to win. This was my last race of the ’09 season and was a great way to finish the season.