SERC Finals with a little bit of Georgia thrown in...

Well, it has been a slow couple of weeks, just lots of training, training and more training in anticipation of cyclocross season which is just around the corner (YAY!!!!). The mountain bike season is winding down and so is the road bike season. We have a few more weekends of fun left but for the most part, we have kicked butt, taken names and are ready to move on to the fall season. We could not have done it without our awesome sponsors, especially US Stove and Trek/Trek Store Chattanooga. For anyone who needs killer awesome stoves, grills, etc., we have coupons for the hook up on the most kick butt stuff you can buy. remember, you don't buy cheap bikes, why would you buy a cheap grill?? Also, we have team friends deals at the Trek Store in Chattanooga so when you are ready to get the best bike out there... we have your ride.

Goats on the roof... only in the mountains of north Georgia!!!

Two weeks ago Kristi, Star, Emily and I met Catherine in Helen, GA for the GA series finals. This race was also the makeup race for the SERC series so we decided to go and pad the results a bit more. I hadn't been to Helen in years and all I remembered was that it was a Bavarian theme little town in the mountains and the race course was ALL uphill. Well, I got it half right. It was all up hill and a really REALLY fun trail. Helen the town was over priced and a "Bavarian meets Gatlinburg red-neck hell". We did see the craziest tourist attraction ever: a store called "Goats on the Roof". yep, you guessed it, there were goats on the roof. We had a really fun girl weekend and topped it off with some killer race results. I won the race and had an amazing ride. I was 12 minutes over second place (MY TEAMMATE!!!) and rode most of the way through then men's field. I guess the climbing was a good thing for me. All of my teammates rode well. Catherine was second, Emily was 5th, Star 6th. And Kristi, still crazy as always, raced her race on her single speed against geared bikes and took 3rd. A good time was had by all. And yes, the only picture I have is of goats on the roof.... ha!!!

Team time trial during the Short Track. Ouch, looks like it hurts!!!

This past weekend we were everywhere. We kicked butt and took names. It was the SERC series finals and the whole team came out to race. Paula decided to start out the weekend with a road race in Oak Ridge, TN. She started us off right with a WIN. Next Anina, Catherine and Shannon decided to race the Saturday night short track race, a SERC series finals weekend tradition. They finished 1,2,3... The domination was continuing.

Central Command for the day... you can almost feel the pre-race nerves.

Sunday was the big event. Fontana is NOT an easy race. It hurts even if you are feeling good. It is steep and slippery and sometimes technical. I LOVE it, but it has a way of taking no prisoners. I was nervous, which is rare for me. I had a good lead in the series and I wanted to win to cement my place in my head as the strongest cross country racer in the series. Carey has been such a great competitor to race against this season, I have the utmost respect for her and her talents. She is an ultra endurance racer and one of the best out there. These races are a sprint for her. It is not her forte and she still kicks butt and makes me work at my own discipline. The series has been a better place this year and I have become a better racer because she has been there. Hopefully we can talk her into another season of it next year!!!

Catherine shows off her stellar face-plant.

I was a bit of a wreck Sunday morning. My biggest fear was an untimely mechanical. I have not flatted in a LONG time. My tires are almost a season old and in need of replacement. A bit of ill planning on my part, I know better, but I was just caught up in life and didn't put new tires on the bike before leaving town. I raced the entire race with a bit higher air pressure than normal to avoid a pinch flat and I was a slow and tentative on all the descents but I kept air in the tires...

Shannon, Anina and Catherine are all smiles before the start of the Short Track.

The start of the race was straight uphill. I HATE uphill starts. I have never been good at them. This start scared the crap out of me. What if someone attacks?? I am a slow starter. I like to work into my pace and slowly ramp things up. The whistle blew and we were three wide at the front for a minute. Then I was alone. I rode my pace up the hill and I gapped the field. I rode off the front and never looked back. I need to remind myself once in a while that I am not the same girl that used to struggle so badly at the back of races. That was a LOT of miles ago and these days I am going along pretty well. I rode the race a bit on the conservative side to avoid any crashes or flat tires and I finished the race and the series in first place. It felt really good to win this one.... there were some really strong girls (mostly my teammates) and it was a really hard race. To top it off, we went 1,3,4,5. The podium looked GOOD. Kristi also made a podium appearance with a 3rd place, again on her single speed.

Kym and Carey on the final SERC podium; Pro Women's category.

The SERC series overall podium was as follows:

Pro women: Kym 1st
Cat 1 women: Catherine 1st, Emily 3rd.
Cat 2 women: Kristi 3rd

Of the top 8 women overall in the series, we were 4 of those places.

Whew, what a great season!!! Next up, some local racing (both road and mountain) and then a rest before the cross madness begins.

Thanks for reading...