BUMP

Amanda and Emily with the Armadillo.... don't ask.

This past weekend was the annual BUMP N Grind mountain bike race at Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham, AL. BUMP has been one of the biggest races in the Southeast for as long as I can remember and always offers tough fields, tougher trails and HUGE bragging rights if you finish well. This year it was going to be even bigger because it is now part of the US Cup Pro XC tour and therefore it was a UCI (international) race. YIKES!! That means that for the pro fields the competition was going to be extremely tough and the fields were going to be the who's who of mountain biking in North America.


The start of the pro women's race.

BUMP and I have a sorted history. It is my race; the one that is the "monkey" on my back. I have had one of the best races of my career there and I have also had some of the worst there. For whatever reason I am plagued by mechanicals and crashes when I race at Oak Mountain. Of the 10 times I have raced BUMP I have DNF'd 7 times. For the girl who NEVER quits races, this is a bit traumatic. If I can keep the rubber side down (and inflated) I tend to ride really well; these are my kind of trails. I was really hoping that this was going to be my year.


Kym waiting for the call-up.

Amanda, Emily, Catherine and I loaded up Saturday morning and headed to Birmingham to see how we stacked up. It was FINALLY supposed to be warm (actually HOT) and sunny. We were finally going to get a weekend without rain!! We rolled in and it was obvious immediately that it was going to be a tough weekend for me. WOW. Factory team trailers everywhere along with their riders, mechanics, etc. It was going to be a fun but really hard race.


Emily wins the Junior Expert Women's race.

We all went and rode our respective courses and decided to re-group after the pre-ride. BUMP has always been characterized by the long (17 mile) loop that we race two laps of. It is rocky, technical and tight; one of my favorites anywhere. This year, the pros had a different course. Because it was a UCI race, we had to have a shorter, UCI standard type course. It was a 6 mile loop that went up the last part of the trail everyone else finished on and then ended with a pavement section. It was a fast and fun course (good for me) with a bunch of high speed handling (also good for me) but still not the long loop that I love. The race was going to be fast. My pre-ride loop was only 35 minutes at a really easy pace. I compensated for the down time by hanging out at the beach while waiting for my team mates to finish their long pre-ride. Nothing like screaming kids to get you relaxed and in the mindset to race a bike....


Kym getting PAID at a UCI race!!!

One of the best things about BUMP weekend is getting to see our friend Phil (and his wonderful fiance Katherine) and eating his "to die for" cooking. Phil and Katherine did not disappoint. They were incredible hosts and we ate well both for dinner and an EARLY breakfast. They got up at 5am to make sure we all got fed before heading to the races. Thanks guys!!! You are awesome.

Coasting across the finish line with a smile.

Sunday was a LONG day but WOW is the best description of our experience. Emily and Amanda's races were at 8am so we were up early getting ready to race. It was sunny and cool but getting warmer by the second. Both ladies had great races with Emily winning her race by over 30 minutes. CONGRATS!! Amanda had a really tough field and took an impressive 5th. Catherine continued the trend with a win in the sport field. Great job ladies.


Kym focused in the feed zone.

By the time it was my turn to race it was HOT. Not miserable hot, but hot enough for those of us that have been living in a rain cloud for the past 6 weeks. I decided that I was going to have a spectacular day one way or another. The plan was to go out super hard and either blow up in a huge manner or have a really good race. It worked!!! I felt like I was going to puke but I rode myself to 10th place in a field of REALLY fast pro women. Some of the best riders in the world were here and I raced with them. It was one of the best races I have ever had. My ultimate goal was 15th if everything was perfect. I didn't believe Mark when I crossed the finish line and he told me I was top 10. I put it all together and did it on a day that counted!!! My bike was spot on... it was the perfect machine for the technical fast single track and the steep pavement climbs. Specialized, your Era is the bomb!!!


AWESOME day....

Thanks to Mark for sitting in the feed zone and to all the cheers from all my friends and team mates. It was really fun being the "local girl" in the big race. You guys all made me push HARD. What an incredible day. We rocked BUMP this year. Great job to the entire team. You guys make it so much fun to do what we do....

Thanks for reading.