Cross season starts with BANG!!!

So after a short break cross season has begun. And it started off with a BIG one. This year my season started with the opening round of the US Gran Prix in my home state of WI. Nothing like trial by fire:

"Okay so you haven't raced cross since last year, so let's pick the BIGGEST series in the US and start there.... good plan Kym." Bad Idea Jeans??? Maybe.

It was going to be really fun seeing the family and getting back on the most FAVORITE of all my bikes (Thanks Specialized.... LOVE the S-Works Tricross!!!!), but I was pretty sure that it was going to hurt really badly.

Yep. I was right about that!!!!

Mark and I made the drive to my parent's house (which was 40 miles from the race... convenient) and we were as ready as we were going to be. After a pre-ride where we JUST missed the rain, we got a good night's sleep and were ready to go.

Saturday morning was dryish (it rained some the night before but other than some threatening clouds, it was okay) and we hit the road early to get a good spot. We were the THIRD car there. Thanks Mark. I decided that I was going to race the Master's Women's race in the morning to get my legs under me and then do the Elite race in the afternoon. I wasn't really sure if that was a good idea, but if not I could always opt to NOT race the early race on Sunday if it was too much.

My Master's race rocked. I took the hole shot and never looked back. I won. Cross season is off to a good start. Somehow, I think my day is about to get harder. Yep.

The Elite race was FAST. Not that I was surprised, but holy crap!!! All the big girls were there and we had a field of 34 of the best women in the country (and world). I struggled almost immediately, I was feeling the earlier race. I pushed myself hard and crossed the finish line in 14th place!!! Go me. That was a great ride for the first race of the year. I was also COMPLETELY exhausted.

So after day 1 I decided a few things:

1. Two races in one day is not a good idea.
2. I am stronger than last year and I need to ride like it.
3. This sport is still AWESOME.
4. This sport is still REALLY hard.
5. My bike ROCKS!!!

Sunday I slept in a bit and arrived in time to cheer for Mark's start. He had a better ride and finished 6th. He then decided to try the "two races in one day thing". It went as well as mine did but it was fun. His first race was the important one so it was just bonus training time.

I had a killer start. I found a great wheel and stuck to it. I gave it everything I had and I stayed strong the whole race. I took 12th!!!! I was as high up as 10th at one point and I think that I can ride there once I get my legs under me. Whew. What a great weekend.

A HUGE thanks also to my family. I could not have made it this far without all of you. I had the best cheering section out there and my own personal photographer. I'll get pictures up when I get the disc from Dad. I felt like a rock star all weekend!!!

River Gorge Omnium

Chattanooga was full of racing the end of August. The weekend immediately following Booker T was a road race weekend here in town. This wasn't just any race, it was the mother of all climbing races, River Gorge. The short course (which everyone except the P1/2 and Cat 3 men race) was 48 miles with 4 good size climbs and a mountain top finish. I finished 2nd last year and was really hoping to win this one. After seeing the registration list, I had my work cut out for me. There were a number of really good climbers here to try out their legs on our mountains, including some of my teammates. Paula, Gina, Catherine and I all lined up and we were off.....

Women's road racing is annoying. One of the the big reasons that I don't do more of it is that everyone tends to wait for someone else to do something. When someone (read: me) finally does do something they chase it down and do nothing again. The mountain biker in me really hates that. I minimize that by picking races that have a lot of hills so we at least have to do some work. River Gorge proved to be the same old thing. The hills were hard but other than that it was SLOW. Everyone was saving themselves for the climb up Raccoon Mountain. There was a group of about 15 of us together at the base of the climb (3 miles to the finish, all steep uphill). We rolled into it slow and then the attacks started. I had a plan and I was going to stick with it. I knew exactly what kind of wattage I could hold up the mountain and I was going to look at my Power Tap and do my thing. That meant letting the early attacks go in hopes that I would reel them back in. The hard part about doing that was watching Ann, arguably one of the best climbers in the Southeast, go up the hill without me. Patience, Kym. I slowly started bringing her back. I was in second and had dropped everyone else. I had Ann in sight. I caught her right as the road flattened out for a minute. I held the power high instead of recovering on the flat area. It worked, I dropped her. Okay, about 1.5 miles left. Stay focused and stay strong. I refused to let myself look back. The race is ahead of me. As a came to the 1k to go sign I glanced over my shoulder. No one around!!! Kym, you have this; just keep pedaling. As I rounded the corner to the finish there were crowds SCREAMING and cheering for me. Wow. I was really going to win. I did it. I won a climbing race against climbers. This has been an amazing season. This one-time-sprinter has finally transformed herself into a climber!!!

My teammates also all did great. Paula rolled in for 4th, Gina was 5th and Catherine was 6th. Great job ladies.

After some quick lunch and a nap (I love racing at home....) it was time to head back for the time trial. I HATE time trials. I had borrowed a tt bike, (Thanks Carol!!) and was hoping for the best. As good of a bike handler as I am off road, I SUCK on a tt bike. Even worse when I can't stop because of a bad brake pad/wheel combo. Oh well, time to try and minimize my losses. I got 2nd by .24 seconds. Yep, less than a second. Wow. To the reigning state tt champion too. And it was all in bike handling. I lost tons of time on the corners. I guess maybe I should practice this skill once in a while. Catherine took 4th. Great job girlie.

After sleeping in my own bed it was time on Sunday to race the crit. Catherine and I had a nice commute/warm-up to the race and then it was time for one of the most boring crits I have done in a long time. Nothing happened. The plan was for me to lead out Catherine (she as tied for 3rd in the Omnium). I won a couple of mid race preems and made people work. It was fun, AND our plan worked. I led Catherine out for a beautiful 3rd place finish.

All in all it was a great weekend. My season is complete. I am focused more than ever on cross and it ended at home on a high note.

Thanks for reading...

Booker T

Okay , I am slowly playing the "catch up" game with my reports. Today brings me to Booker T mountain bike race in Chattanooga on August 23rd. Booker T State Park is about 15 minutes from my house and I NEVER ride there. Not that it isn't a fun trail, it is, it's just short. If I am going to load up and drive somewhere to ride I typically want to ride a trail that is longer that 5.5 miles. At race pace it is about a 30 minute lap. That is a lot of riding in circles...


Catherine, Star, Shannon and I headed to Booker T on Sunday morning to unseasonably cool temperatures and perfect course conditions. My personal goal was to see if I could turn a time that would outright win the 40+ Expert Men's fields. That is Mark's field and I can usually get most of those guys but there are a few that I just can't quite catch. I knew the trail and I was feeling good. If there was any day it was going to happen, this was going to be it. This was also Catherine's last race as a Sport rider and Star's first as an Expert. My girls are all growing up!!!

Local races are always fun. There is a small amount of added pressure to do well but it is ALWAYS fun to race in front of the hometown crowd. We had "peeps" in almost every category and Chattanooga was poised to do really well.


Our race started pretty tame, it was a pavement start and no one was fired up to go too fast. I stepped up the pace and took the hole shot. I was the only pro woman, all the other girls were experts, so my goal was to see where I could finish in the men's field. The men all started in front of me so it was pretty much 2 hours of "go catch the boys". FUN!!! Secretly that is one of my favorite games. My other goal was to finish in under 2 hours. If I could do that i would take a SIGNIFICANT amount of time off of last year's time. The course was faster this year but that was still a lofty goal. I raced hard and paced myself well. I ended up coming in at 1:58!!! I did it. I took 12 MINUTES off my time. WOW. Most fields were about 2 minutes faster than last year. I know that I have gotten faster this year but that was a really great feeling. In the end, I was only beat by 5 expert men.

Star took 4th and Shannon was 5th in the pro/expert field. Great ride ladies. Catherine won, of course. Her career as a Sport rider is officially OVER. Welcome to the big girl races....

The best part about Booker T was that it was the final race in the TBRA (TN Bike Racing Association) series. We did a few other races in TN that were part of the series and although we were not chasing the series, Catherine, Helen and I all ended up on the podium. We each took second in our respective categories. What a great season this has been!!!!

SERC Banquet

After the final race in Fontana we had some celebrating to do. Vantaggio put a rider on the podium in each of the three women's categories. The series finished as follows:

Pro/Expert: Kym 1st
Sport: Catherine 3rd (despite missing a bonus round to podium at Nationals)
Beginner: Helen 3rd

Other notes: Emily was 4th in the Pro/Expert category and was recognized as the top female expert rider of the series. We also finished 5 of the top 10 women in the pro/expert field.

Great season ladies!!!!

Catherine finshes GA series with a BANG.

So Catherine did it again. I know, none of us are surprised but she won the final race in GA series, and in doing so won the series handily.

Great job Catherine, we are SO proud of you!!!!

GA Series final standings:

Catherine: 1st Sport
Kym: 3rd Pro/expert

I didn't do the finals, I was racing elsewhere, so I was ineligible for the series podium (more on my travels to race with the "Big Girls" later...) It is still cool to be in the overall standings!!

August has a been a LONG busy month so far!!

Whew. I have been on a whirlwind tour of the east coast this month. I've hardly had time to sleep, let alone keep everyone updated on the travels and racing. I am going to try to get caught up on my postings this week. Last week was spent getting caught up on bills and work. Sorry, the blog post falls somewhere behind that.

So, where did I leave off???

SERC banquet.

Another SERC series in the books.

And a WIN at the finals!!! Kym is all smiles.

Yesterday was the SERC finals in Fontana, NC. It is always a great weekend punctuated by a slight bit of sadness than we aren't going to see some of our race friends again until spring. The weekend is usually a bit of a party and a ton of racing. There is a Downhill race Saturday afternoon and a night Short Track (complete with costumes). We had girls racing in all the weekend's events and we were well represented. What a great time!!!

Fontana had gotten about 3 inches of rain last week leading up to the race so it was going to be a little damp. Fontana is always slightly slick, but if the rain held off, it probably would be alright. Personally, I race well in the mud so I was secretly hoping for some mud. The forecast was iffy, I might just get my wish....

Catherine battled the mud and the competition for second place.

Our pre-ride was good. The trails were slick but not too muddy. Bike handling was going to be important but it wasn't sloppy. I had put the mud tires on for the weekend so if the rain didn't roll in I was going to be a little bit slow on Sunday. Come ON rain!!!!

Shannon started off the weekend for us by entering the Downhill race. She raced well, and did it with a smile, finishing 2nd. Great job Shannon!!! She then suited up in her angel wings (yes, actual wings that are part of a Halloween costume) and got ready for the Short Track that evening. She was definitely the cutest one out there and got a ton of cheers, even if her legs were really tired after the Downhill and pre-ride earlier in the day. She faded from 2nd to 4th but was smiling the entire race.

Saturday night my rain dance worked. It started to fall about 10pm and rained ALL night long. It finally stopped about 10am, just in time to warm-up. They shortened all the races by one lap and Dave Berger, the promoter asked me if I thought that 14.5 miles was too short for a pro women's race. I asked how bad the trail was; his response: "As bad as I've ever seen it". In that case, two laps will be plenty. The mud tires were a great choice and all of my bike handling skills were necessary. It was like riding in peanut butter.

The race started and in the first minute we were off the bikes running/pushing/slogging up the first climb. Anina ran at a fast pace and gapped Shelly and I. I tried to stay focused: "just be smooth and pedal once you get back on the bike". We re-mounted at the top of the first hill and I quickly caught Anina with Shelly right on my wheel. I passed her on a slight uphill and attacked at 6 mph. It was actually pretty comical to think about in retrospect. Three girls racing as hard as they could in slow motion in the sloppy mud. The rest of the field was nowhere to be found. We had dropped them on the first walking section. As it was so many times this year, the finals was going to come down to a battle between Anina the climber, Shelly the bike handler and me the all around-er. I took my chances at the front and slowly built a gap over the two of them. I didn't know if I was going to be able to hold it, but I figured it was now or never. I was feeling really good, the bike was floating through the mud with ease and I was pedaling over and through sections that I was watching everyone else struggle with. I was having a great ride on a seriously miserable day!!! I've never won Fontana so today was a day that I REALLY wanted to win. Not to mention that I wanted to show one last time why I was the one winning the series. I did it. I won with over a 5 minute gap on second place. Anina and Shelly had a tough battle for second and ended up very close, with Anina taking it. Great job ladies, it's been a really fun season and the competition has been intense.

Emily and Shannon also raced in the pro/expert field and they both had great days. Emily had an amazing ride to end an amazing season for her. She has been racing in a combined pro/expert field as a 16 year old all season and she's held her own. She finished the season as the top ranked expert in our category, besting a number of pros and taking 4th overall for the year. Sunday she capped of her dominance by finishing 5th, she was the first expert and was only 2 seconds behind 4th place. Shannon raced a great race even as tired as she was from all her racing the day before. She rolled in right behind Emily for 6th.

Catherine also rocked it in the mud for 2nd place in her race. She ended up 3rd overall this season due to her absence at one of the bonus point rounds. She was traveling to Nationals at the time where she stood on the podium so it was an acceptable trade off....

It has been a great series, one of the most competitive I can remember and we put a rider on the series podium for each women's catergory. Look for a complete report on the Series Banquet coming soon.

Thanks for reading...