WIN, WIN, WIN!!!

Lisa on the podium

We won the bike race!!! That sums up this past weekend in GA. It was the SERC make-up race so Catherine and I were hoping to do well and help our standings. Lisa decided to come along for some racing fun and Karen, one of my athletes, was there to round out our "girl's weekend".


Catherine at the start.

Catherine and Karen raced first and Catherine did what she does best... she kicked butt!! She won convincingly. When she got done she didn't even look like she had done anything. Way to go Catherine!!! Karen also had a good day finishing in 6th and kept the rubber side down the entire race.


Kym on the podium

Lisa and I had the later start and it was HOT. The course was really fast (big ring) for most of it with a couple of very new cut, slow technical sections to really mix things up. They said "go" and I did that thing I do... I went hard from the start in hopes of getting a gap. It worked and this week I kept it. I won!!! And for the first time in a a long time I felt good for almost the whole race (Does anyone really feel good at the end of a two hour race in 90 degree weather??). Lisa had a hard fought battle in her race and took the lead going into her second lap. She raced hard and won convincingly. Great job Lisa!!

What a great weekend. Three girls, three races, and THREE WINS!!!! As an aside, I also won the prime for the fastest female lap of the day.

Thanks for reading.

SERC #6 Clemson, SC

Lisa racing FAST....

Catherine, Lisa, Emily and I headed the Clemson this past weekend for the sixth round of the SERC series. We had a time trial and a cross country race to contend with for the weekend. The weather was HOT and the sun was shining. It is a good thing we are sponsored by Bull Frog Sunscreen, we used a ton of it this weekend. That stuff is the best for riding with. It lasts and doesn't run into your eyes when you start sweating, and we did a LOT of sweating this weekend!!!


What a surprise, Catherine WINS again!!!

Saturday was the TT and I felt like CRAP. This whole coming back from pneumonia thing is getting OLD. I feel pretty decent most of the time, but the whole 6 weeks of bad things living in my lungs has taken much longer to really get over than I figured it would. I can race, my endurance is GREAT, but my top end speed is taking a while to return and it is REALLY frustrating on race day. I either seem to feel good and be slow or go fast and really hurt. I went fast for the TT, I won, but it was not fun. Catherine won the beginner TT and Lisa was third in the Sport. Emily was 5th in the Pro/Expert. Great job to everyone.


Kym enjoying her win from Saturday's Time trial.

Sunday was hot and I was hoping my legs were feeling better than the day before. They said "go" and I WENT. I felt GREAT!!!I immediately gapped the field and it felt like I was flying. Before I knew it there was no one around. AWESOME!!! That lasted for about a lap and then suddenly I still felt good but was going really slow. I HATE THIS!!!! I ended up a disappointing third place; nothing to complain about but still not what I hoped for. Lisa was 5th in the Sport race and Emily was 8th in the Pro/Expert field. Great job ladies.

Catherine was once again our star of the day. She WON. She now has a commanding lead in the series and is going to be throwing one hell of a party with all the bottles of champagne she has won so far.

Clemson is becoming one of "those races" for me. It is a fun race and great trails, but I always seem to have a lackluster performance there. I am trying not to get too jaded about my race season but after such a great start before my illness I am struggling with the "be patient" thing. I know that it will come back and that I was really much more ill than I realized, but it does not make things any easier. And I know I really should not complain about a 3rd place finish. It was a strong field and the girls that beat me are some of the best in the Southeast, I just hate feeling like I didn't perform to my ability, whether I finish first or last that is my number one goal always.

Thanks for reading....

Catherine the GREAT.

Last weekend was the Georgia Championship series race in Ellijay, GA at Carter's Lake. It is a course that is known for it's relenting short steep climbs and rugged descents. As most of the team opted to take a weekend off (we've been going non-stop since March) Catherine, our newly converted mountain biker (who has not raced her road bike since she started the mtb thing...) headed to GA.

It was HOT. Record highs. I rode to the river and went water skiing with Susie (former teammate turned lawyer type who also happens to be Catherine's sister). We spent the day in the water wondering how Catherine was faring. Apparently heat does NOT slow that girl down. She won. Not only did she win, she convinced the girls that they wanted to race an extra lap. I am sure they all LOVE her. She is well on her way to winning the SERC series and placing in the Georgia series.

Congrats Catherine!!! We are proud of you.

BUMP

Okay, so I have been slacking in the "blog update" department. Things here are CRAZY between racing, coaching, and getting ready for the USA Cycling development camp that Mark is running next week. It's all great exciting stuff but it seems to leave me little time for life. I will try to do better. I know you all hold your breath with anticipation for my updates....

Two weeks ago was BUMP and Grind in Birmingham, AL. It is a GREAT event. One of the biggest in the Southeast with equal pay for pro men and women and separate categories for different age groups for the ladies.

Emily was our star for the day. She won the Junior Expert women's category. We are so proud of her!!!

Jamie and I lined up with a HUGE pro women's field that included some big names (Anyone ever hear of a girl named "Shonny"??). When they pay 10 deep with first place being $700 EVERYONE shows up. It was going to be a FAST race. Jamie and I were in the front selection for the start and we both held there for the first 30 minutes. I am not sure what transpired after that because I had to pull over and puke. Breakfast was a bit of an experiment (I know, I know, NEVER try anything new on race day...) and it did not work so well. In my defense, at a certain point when something works in training taking it to race day is the next step. After I visited breakfast for the third time, my race was over. Being the "girl that does not quit races" I pedaled slow and easy through another lap of the course to finish a disappointing 8th. Jamie rode a strong race for a 4th place finish.

BUMP and I will have another go around next year. I LOVE that race but have had some of my worst (and a couple of my best!!) days there. At least this year I kept the rubber side down, inflated, and rolling for two whole laps.