Knobschorcher is one of the biggest, longest running events in the Southeast. EVERYONE seems to come out for the weekend. It is also my least favorite race course of the entire season. It is fast, non-technical (think super-highway), and usually has bike-swallowing mud holes. I have won there in the past but it is really NOT my type of course. I headed over there looking forward to a great weekend of hanging out with my teammates and hoped for the best.
We took a good squad over to race: Paula, Shannon, Amanda, Emily, Helen, Catherine and Myself. I rented a kick butt cabin about 30 miles away and we had a super fun weekend. We were once again spoiled by Sharron Jackson's cooking; she sent a huge dinner with Helen for all of us. She also sent chocolate chip muffins but they didn't make it to dinner time. Mark, Helen and I finished them off after the pre-ride. Mark was a bit concerned about his "girlish" figure but Helen reassured him by saying that it was race weekend, he could eat anything "except maybe soap" and be fine. So the Emily quote of the weekend came from someone else.....
Helen raced first on Sunday and she got the team off to a great start; Second place!!! Great job. The rest of us all raced at the same time which was really fun. I love being on the course and having teammates out there. A friendly face is great mid-race.
Paula and I lined up in a STOUT pro women's field that included Willow Koerber (yes, the rest of us were racing for second place...). It is great to have world class pros race our regional races but wow did that start hurt. I struggled for the first half of the race. My mind and body were having disagreements about both motivation and action. Finally, at the end of lap one when Paula caught me, I found my motivation and kicked it into gear. Thanks Paula for pushing me!!! you ROCK. Paula, who is focusing on endurance events this year, raced very well, even if it was about 70 miles too short for her tastes. I ended up 4th and Paula was 5th.
Amanda, Shannon and Emily were thrilled that they go their own expert race instead of having to race with the pros. It was so great to finally have Shannon out of retirement and racing again. We have missed her. She's had life get in the way of fun for about a year but it all changing now for the better. Welcome back!!! Amanda and Emily both had great races; with Amanda taking 2nd and Emily taking 4th. Shannon finished solidly in the field and was all smiles.
Catherine was her usual stellar self and finished solidly in 3rd place in the sport field. And she did it with a smile and only one giant crash. Catherine, we thought this was the year of NOT crashing?? So far you are off to a challenging start.... although you wear the bruises better than anyone I know!!
Fun weekend ladies. Thanks for the great racing and ton of laughs!!!
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