New Bikes ROCK!!!



Sexy....

I just had to take a minute to show off my new ride. She is fast and smooth and the best bike I've ever had. And I am spending lots of time with her lately. Huge thanks to Trek Bikes and the Trek Bicycle Store of Chattanooga for getting me rolling. And Taylor, you are as always, my hero...

SERC #4 Winder, GA

This weekend was BIG for the team. We spent time at the National Cornbread Festival helping our AWESOME sponsor US Stove show people how great their products are (I can't wait to get my grill!!), raced at the Cohutta 100/Big Frog 65, and dominated the SERC #4 in Winder GA. Have I mentioned how much I love my team?!

All smiles after the podium.

My weekend started at the Cornbread Festival with Kristi and Mark. It was a super fun time and hopefully we helped sell some stoves and grills. Shannon was our representative Sunday while we raced since she is currently on the injured reserve. After seeing the incredible products US Stove makes I don't know how anyone could buy anything else. You get what you pay for and quality is worth every penny.


Dang that podium looks GOOD!!!!

While we were doing that, Paula was winning Big Frog 65 and Stephanie was beginning her quest for the overall National Ultra Endurance series buy putting up a solid performance in the 100 mile version, the Cohutta 100. Woohoo!!!

All hugs for the teammates

Sunday saw total domination with me winning (finally! I'm back....almost) and Catherine in second. We rode the whole race together. She motivated me to push harder and I pushed her to let go of the brakes. It must have been her new Trek Superfly Elite that gave her wings... she was FLYING!!!Paula took an impressive 4th after her stellar race the day before. Prego mamas Kristi and Amy were our cheering section and handed out bottles like pros. What an awesome weekend. I can't wait for next week.

... Welcome to 2012!!!!

2012 Team - Kym, Emily, Kristi, Stephanie, Catherine, Star, Paula (not pictured: Amy, Anina, Shannon)

This season has been a whirlwind but we have started off right where we left off - on the podium. The team this year has reorganized a bit in order to give our AWESOME sponsors more visibility and show that we rock no matter what type of racing we are doing. Myself, Emily, Catherine, Paula, and Kristi are continuing to focus on dominating the SERC series (although Kristi is now a mom-to-be so she may be the ultimate cheerleader/bottle girl for a big part of the series). Additionally, Stephanie, Star, and Amy will be tearing up the ultra endurance scene and just for fun Shannon, Paula, Catherine, and I are also going to hit the road scene. This fall we are all going to once again be racing cross and mommy Kristi hopes to make her post-baby debut. Whew. We will be busy.

A team with a view...

The season started off for me with the completion of my Masters Degree (with a 4.0 cumulative gpa) and putting training on hold for a bit. After my cross season I needed some down time anyway so it was a good break. The first few races were PAINFUL, but the break was good for me. I took second in both Florida and at Tsali in the midst of defending my thesis so even the lack of training wasn't too bad. Paula took 4th in Florida and 3rd at Tsali and Catherine started us off with our first win of the year with a win in the Cat 1 field. Stephanie rocked the Cat 2 podium with a 3rd... Not bad for an endurance racer.

At the front at Tsali 

Paula has also spent some time road racing in both GA and TN and has been on the podium both times. She's got her eye on a TBRA state championship this season so look for us to be out on the road helping her attain that.

Cyclocross season

Whew. After the end of the mountain bike season in August we all needed a bit of a break. We didn't get to rest too long before it was time for my favorite part of the year: CYCLOCROSS.

I LOVE cross. It's my favorite bike to race. I love the thrill and excitement of racing all out for 40 minutes in crazy conditions at a time of year when most people are not even thinking about their bikes. The past two year have been a bit more challenging because I have been balancing my love of cross with my studies (6 weeks and counting until the MS is complete!!!) but the only thing that has truly suffered is timely blog posts... sorry.

Kym and Paula go 1,2 at the GA CX series race in Fort Yargo, GA

My cross focus this season was Nationals and a week later the Masters World Championships so I stayed a bit closer to home, had a blast in GA, and won every regional race I entered. Paula, Star, Kristi, and Catherine also joined me for some cross racing in GA and we often had a sweet looking podium with lots of US Stove representation.

Nationals was ALMOST perfect. I raced a killer age group race, taking second in a hard fought battle that saw myself and second place change the lead 4-5 times. I also raced the collegiate race where an untimely dropped chain at the start left me off the BACK chasing the entire race. I came all the way back to third and was told that I rode stronger than anyone else in the race. So, two podiums in tow days at National, not bad.

World's was the craziest mud I had seen in a while. I like the mud and even though I was exhausted from travel, starting the spring semester and being sick, I was so excited to race I could hardly stand it. It was one of the most exciting races I have ever raced, I was off the front with one other girl and we traded the lead, in slow motion through the mud, about 4-5 times a lap. I crashed on the last lap and ended up with a well earned second place. Not the result I was hoping for but a silver at the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS is nothing to be bummed about.

The silver UCI medal was one of the coolest accomplishments of my cycling career. I couldn't have done it without my kick butt Trek Cronus CX, the support of the guys at the Trek Store of Chattanooga, our awesome sponsors like US Stove, and most importantly, my husband.

A silver from the CX National Championships



 The Silver at Nationals wasn't all bad either, and I have a bronze to match it!!! Next year we need to add a couple of gold medals to this collection.

 Just a little bit of mud on the pit bike. This was a training race before Nationals; I sure am glad I brought the old bike!!!



...and the coolest trophy of the season!!!! Gotta love a trophy that keeps on giving.

We are FAMOUS!!!

Check it out, the team has a great article in the February issue of "Get Out" magazine.

Here is the link to the digital copy of the article: http://media.timesfreepress.com/epaper/GetOut/February2012/index.html

Some more pictures from the weekend

Kristi takes 3rd!

Short Track podium. Total domination.

Pro XC podium. Dang, that looks GOOD.

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...