BUMP and Grind

This year marks a significant accomplishment for me. It is the year I finally won BUMP and Grind in Birmingham. This race has been my nemesis for many seasons. I LOVE the course. It is perfect for me. Fast, twisty, one good climb and a lot of sweet single track. It is also unforgiving. Over the years I have flatted, double flatted, TRIPLE flatted, blown up wheels, blown up myself, broken a free hub body, etc. You get the picture. It is the one race in the Southeast that I have never won. And it is a big one. This year was my year. I was really hoping for some decent legs, in spite of all the school work and heat, and I was mentally prepared.

The course is a LONG lap, 24 miles for the first one and another 8 for a second lap. We decided to pre-ride only a short section of it in order to save our legs. Even our "short" section ended up being a 2 hour pre-ride. Oops. I might have mis-calculated a little on the time it was going to take us. Fortunately we had a pool at the hotel to recover in. Mark, Catherine and I enjoyed a relaxing evening at the hotel and we went to sleep early, dreaming of the next day's race.

We awoke on race day to hot temperatures and sunny skies. It was going to be a long, hot day. I decided early that pacing myself was the best strategy and when they said "go" I went hard but not crazy. I took the lead early and never looked back. It was hot but I felt good. Actually, I felt GREAT. I just kept getting stronger the whole race and I had a blast. I was all smiles at the finish.

Catherine was a rock star and even after a flat tire raced back to take second place. Mark broke his frame. Enough said.

Whew. After that, how could we top things off???

How about a win the following weekend on my home trails??