The sweet taste...

And so as the temperatures rose close to 140 degrees in Austin, TX, the women of the Cat 4 peloton line up at the Driveway for our weekly race.

Beads of sweat drip down the cheeks of the racers.

The winds were calmed and the trees silenced in respect for the event that was about to happen...

GO!

30 minutes (yes, only 30) of hard cranking, pedal mashing, and the results threw me up on the podium with a 3rd place finish after a pack sprint! It was an awesome feeling, especially having my teammate, Bettina Hodginskya, right there at the finish leading me out!

Inspiration for this week's victory include : watching my extraordinary BF, Jed Rogers, take 1st place in the Matrix May Cup Track Omnium at the Superdrome in Frisco, TX last weekend...and then winning the sprint tournament that Sunday. All that driving and filming was well worth it!

Jed Rogers wins the CAT3 8 Lap Scratch Race at the ATRA Nationals from Toyota Cycling Team on Vimeo.

Just a taste of what's to come with Tulsa Tough weekend just a week away...

Best of times, Worst of times...

Over the past two months I've withheld all the stories and happenings in my life and you've probably been asking...

Am I being selfish?
Have I given up on this whole "racer" blog thing?
Do I not care about my loyal following and tifosi?
Have I developed a successful method of avoiding the paparazzi?

Or maybe I just went on vacation...

Well, whatever I've been up to over the past 2 months, I can tell you this. I've recommited myself to creative writing to a faceless, cyber audience for awhile...

One worthy event that has taken my time recently is bloggin' about the travels of Flat Aaron. Flat Aaron came to me in a letter from my youngest nephew from the great North. It was now my responsiblity to show this young flat creation of a youthful mind the sites of Austin, and to document such adventures.

(The letter read as follows)

Dear Amy

Thank you for taking my flat person. I won my secent basketball game I really like playing with my legos have fun with flat aaron

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Really need to work on that grammatical punctuation, little one...

Never ceasing to capture a creative opportunity, created the blog FLAT AARON TAKES AUSTIN...

It's not like I was cheating or anything, think of it like when a musician collaborates with others outside his band to create a new sound for a new crowd. (This one consists of 4th graders)

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Other events include the unexpected death of my dad, Fred. It's been difficult but with my family and friends close we are working through it