Amanda Carey (Volkswagen Boise Cycling) celebrates her victory at the 2012 North Carolina Grand Prix.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
2012 North Carolina Grand Prix elite women's podium (L-R): Katie Arnold, Amanda Carey and Emily Shields(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Amanda Carey (Volkswagen Boise Cycling) leads the women's field off the pavement and onto the grass from the start straight.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Amanda Carey (Volkswagen Boise Cycling) makes quick work of the "wall".(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Rebecca Blatt (Van Dessel Sports) leads the chase of Carey near the end of the opening lap.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Amanda Carey (Volkswagen Boise Cycling) alone in the lead.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Rebecca Blatt (Van Dessel Sports) dabs on the "wall" forcing Katie Arnold (Bob's Red Mill) to do likewise.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Amanda Carey (Volkswagen Boise Cycling) soloed to the first UCI 'cross win of her career at the North Carolina Grand Prix in a race she led from start to finish. Katie Arnold (Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross) finished alone in second 20 seconds later while North Carolina's own Emily Shields (Mock Orange Bikes) steadily advanced throughout the five-lap race to secure the final podium position 14 seconds later.
"I've been on podiums with really fast people, but I've never won one of my own so this is great," Carey told Cyclingnews.
While Carey has a palmares chock full of victories in ultra-distance mountain bike events, she proved she's got a quick turn of speed as well in a 40-minute 'cross race as she got the holeshot onto the grass and soon found herself alone in the lead on the opening lap.
"I wanted to take advantage of the front-row start, I don't think I've had one of those all season long," said Carey. "I just wanted to stay out of trouble and ride smooth and smart.
"This is a deceivingly hard course because it takes so much power. You have to pedal and if you don't you just shut down. There's absolutely no room for rest because as soon as you stop pedalling you're losing time."
Carey was initially pursued by a three-rider chase group containing Rebecca Blatt (Van Dessel), Katie Arnold (Bob's Red Mill) and Kelly Fisher-Goodwin (BOO Bicycles), but first Fisher-Goodwin dropped from the pursuit and then Arnold dispatched of Blatt.
"From the beginning Amanda just took off right out of the gate then someone went down which allowed the gap to grow even larger," Arnold told Cyclingnews. "I was working with Rebecca Blatt to kind of close the gap and it just wasn't happening. I attacked and was able to close down the gap a little bit but it was too late in the race to catch back up to Amanda. She had a great race.
"It was the perfect day, perfect weather, and it was one of those courses where you could really sprint in the straights and kind of rest in the technical sections. It was broken up pretty nicely. It's a course with a little bit of everything so that was nice."
Entering the fifth and final lap Carey held a 21-second lead over Arnold, while a determined Emily Shields (Mock Orange Bikes) moved into podium contention as she made contact with Blatt as the pair heard the bell for one lap to go.
"I was worried at the beginning, I didn't think I would do very well, but then I kept on catching people," Shields told Cyclingnews.
While Carey and Arnold solidly remained in their respective first and second place positions through to the finish line, the battle for third came down to the final trip up the "wall" where a miscue by Blatt provided the window of opportunity for Emily Shields to claim third.
"She slipped at the bottom and I just went as hard as I could," said Shields.
Southern sojourn
Carey, a resident of Victor, Idaho and sponsored by a Boise-based team, is in the midst of a one-week stint in western North Carolina and found the much gentler climes to her liking.
"I'm going to stay out of the snow and do a bunch of road riding," said Carey. "My introduction to North Carolina was in 2010 at the Pisgah stage race and I fell in love with it. For mountain biking it's one of my favorite places on the planet.
"At this point in the season it's more about keeping your head on straight than speed in your legs. At this point we're all totally cooked legs-wise, but mentally I'm still having a great time."
She's also taking advantage of the points up for offer at one of the final UCI race weekends on tap prior to US 'cross nationals to improve her start grid position with the goal of a top-ten finish in mind.
"All the women who are trying to vie for the Worlds ['cross] team, which I'm not, are packing up and going over to Europe and so this is a great way for me to get out of the snow, train a little bit longer, put in a good block before nationals because I'm not going to Europe.
"I can put in this week of training and then go home and ski, enjoy Christmas and New Year's at home, then wrap it up with Chicago and nationals."
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Full Results
1
Amanda Carey (USA) Volkswagen Boise Cycling
0:42:16
2
Katie Arnold (USA) Bob's Red Mill
0:00:20
3
Emily Shields (USA) Mock Orange Bikes
0:00:34
4
Erica Zaveta (USA) Lees McRae College
0:00:42
5
Rebecca Blatt (USA) Van Dessel
Row 4 - Cell 2
6
Ellen Noble (USA) Trek Cyclocross Collective
0:00:45
7
Katherine Shields (USA) Mock Orange Bikes
0:00:57
8
Erin Silliman (USA) Corsa Concepts Cyclocross Team
0:01:00
9
Sara Tussey (USA) VeloShine Cycling Team
0:01:03
10
Corey Coogan-Cisek (USA) Cyclocrossracing.com p/b Blue Competition Cycles
Based in the southeastern United States, Peter produces race coverage for all disciplines, edits news and writes features. The New Jersey native has 30 years of road racing and cyclo-cross experience, starting in the early 1980s as a Junior in the days of toe clips and leather hairnets. Over the years he's had the good fortune to race throughout the United States and has competed in national championships for both road and 'cross in the Junior and Masters categories. The passion for cycling started young, as before he switched to the road Peter's mission in life was catching big air on his BMX bike.
