SERC Finals, Fontana, NC

Pro Women: Kym and Anina 1,2 on the SERC series overall podium.

It has been a long season. We started the SERC series in March down in Florida and we've been going non-stop since then. Whew. I have loved every minute of it. I love my team and I love racing my bike. That being said, I am ready for the series to be over. It is time to look to fall for Cross season and some other fun things. Mostly just to fall for some cooler weather but that is another story. I am not complaining about the heat but 100 degrees is hot. Enough said.

Fontana is always a great weekend. There is NOTHING there except for the village/resort and some trails so we are isolated with a whole bunch of other cyclists for the weekend. We took full advantage this year. Mark and I went up a day early and enjoyed some relaxation time. Complete with massages and lots of pool time. And maybe a beverage or two. Fontana was my "victory lap weekend" for the series. I just needed to finish the race in order to win the Pro Women's field for the series so I was going to enjoy the weekend and celebrate all of my hard work. And I was going to do it with all of my teammates!!!

Saturday morning was a pre-ride of the trails that were in great shape. It is rare that Fontana is dry but somehow we lucked out. It was not too hot and not too wet. Just right!!! The course was hard (it always is) but it is one of my favorites. I was excited about it. After the pre-ride we spent the afternoon at the pool (in the shade) and waited for the evening events...

A hard earned top step for Anina. Short track podium.

Short track: Anina was our lone star. She did not disappoint. She lined up with the non-pro men's field and held her own fabulously for the first three laps. And then it happened. She violently re-visited dinner. In front of a huge crowd at the bleachers. She got a ton of applause and even more when she got back on the bike and finished the race. AWESOME.

Sunday was sunny and boarding on hot. We raced at 11:30am so there was no escaping the heat. The race at the front was going to be a battle between Anina, Myself and my friend Carey. Carey is an endurance racer but she's fast at everything. And to make it worse, she was racing on her single speed. I knew that we'd drop her early if we started hard but she NEVER slows down. She has caught me a time or two late in a race. Anina took the lead and it was painfully clear to me immediately that my rest mid-season, although much needed, was still being felt. My legs are getting faster again but I need a couple more weeks before the top end is back. I dug deep and hung on up the hill and once we got to the fast rolling sections I knew that two things needed to happen. One, I needed to push the pace. This part of the course was my strength. Two, we needed to put a big gap into Carey if we wanted to ultimately finish 1,2 today. I passed Anina and for the next 20 minutes I buried myself and she hung on. And then I was done. Cooked. Finished. I told her to go and I settled into a pace that I hoped would hold Carey off through 2 more laps. It worked!!! Anina took the win and I was second. It felt really good to be able to work for my teammate and she ROCKED today. And second place to Anina is nothing to be ashamed of.

Final race podium. Anina 1st Kym second. Love those Swiftwick compression socks!!!

Amanda's weekend was a victory lap for her as well. She has ridden extremely well this season and had the Cat 1 women's overall sewn up. Catherine had the hardest day of all of us. She went into the finals with one point separating her and our friend Jen for the series Cat 1 podium. Whoever finished first between the two of them was going to take second and the other would be third. They battled the whole race and with Jen in sight on the climb to the finish Catherine gave it everything she had. It wasn't quite enough. They finished 2 seconds apart. Wow. Catherine still should be so proud of her season. In her first year racing as a Cat 1 she finished on the series podium and was contesting the front of the races. Amy, Emily, Star and Amanda all rode well and finished in the field. Fun times were had by all. The team finished the series with 6 of the top 10 positions and 4 of the top 5. I think we can officially call 2010 a huge success.

Final SERC podium for the Cat 1 Field. Amanda 1st, Catherine 3rd.

Thanks to Gone Riding for an awesome series and to every one of our sponsors for their support. we couldn't have done it without all of you. And a special thanks to my husband. You put up with a lot.

Thanks for reading....