...and the "Bad Idea Jeans" finally PAY OFF!!!!!

I was supposed to be in VT this weekend. Unfortunately, due to some bad timed scheduling, my USA Cycling Camp got cancelled. The kids are still in school up there. Oops. No wonder registration was so low. Next week is still the road camp we are running here in TN and we have 35 kids so I will get my camp fix, but I am bummed about VT.

Due to the oversight in school schedules, I suddenly had a free weekend with NO PLANS!!! Unthinkable. What to do??? Mark decided to go home to Michigan and visit his family and I figured I'd stay here, get in some good training and pick up some extra hours at work.

Saturday was a GREAT ride with some friends. 4 hours, 2 mountain climbs and the legs felt great. So great that I was a little bummed that I wasn't racing. Oh well, I do love long training rides when it is warm and sunny. It was a good hard workout and I was a happy woman.

Oh, as a side note did I mention that the TN State Criterium Championship was this weekend 30 minutes from my house??? I wasn't going to go. I needed the long miles. It was not in the plan; and then...

Okay, so Sunday morning at 11:30am I decided to go and race it. I had exactly 2 hours to: get dressed, pack the car, eat, find wheels for the pit, drive up there, register and warm up. I did not really have any expectations except that it would be fun to see people instead of riding alone. I made it there with a whole 25 minutes to spare for my warm up. It was a classic case of the "bad idea jeans".

We lined up 17 women in the Cat. 1-3 race and every one of them was looking for that state champion title. Nothing was getting away, that became apparent almost immediately. Surprisingly, my legs felt alright, even after the long day on Saturday. There were three of us on the front doing most of the work, trying to wear everyone else out on the hill. I know, I shouldn't do that much work, but I hate not racing hard. I guess it is the mountain biker in me. I'd rather use way more energy than I need to and get a good workout than win without feeling like I worked hard. And besides, I was here to finish my weekend of good workouts; I had no delusions of winning.

With 5 laps to go the field was still together and I decided I was feeling good. I suddenly WANTED that win. Forget the "get a good workout" thing, I wanted that state title. I was going to go for it. I knew what I had to do and I was going to do it from the front. With one lap to go the attacks started and I covered everything. In the second to last turn Mary came around me and as I jumped on her wheel she clipped her pedal in the turn.

YIKES!!!!!!

Whew. I swerved, missed her and was set up perfect for the sprint. I WON!!! By 2 bike lengths. I am thrilled. I am the TN State Crit Champion. It was so much fun and it was great to do it with the home crowd there. Chattanooga had an awesome weekend as a whole with us taking jerseys in 4 races.

Not bad for a mountain biker...

Catherine Wins Again!!!

Catherine rocked it again this weekend in Georgia. She raced the Georgia State Series race in Athens, GA and won by a convincing margin; over 15 minutes!!! The race was on her "home" trails and it showed...

Congrats. We are so proud of you!!!!

SERC #6 Clemson, SC

Summer is finally here. This weekend was two in a row that were hot and humid. I am not complaining; as long as it's not cold and wet, I am happy.

Clemson, SC was the sixth stop in the SERC series. We had a good team showing with six riders. Star, Helen and I drove down from Chattanooga, Emily and Amanda came from Knoxville and Catherine had the short drive from Athens, GA. The trail in Clemson is really fast fun single track accentuated by steep climbs that don't feel bad during the pre-ride but HURT on race day. The weekend was made more interesting by the time trial Saturday afternoon. There were bonus points up for grabs so the TT was a must for those of us in the hunt for the overall series. It was a fairly long TT, over half of the 11 mile race loop including the steepest long climb. GREAT.

We arrived Saturday in time to set up the team tent, have a picnic lunch and relax before our pre-ride. The pre-ride was less than ideal. Catherine and I rode the fast sections at a fairly fast pace in preparation for the afternoon's time trial while Star, Helen and Mark took it easy to save the legs for the overall. The excitement started when Star broke her chain and no one had a tool to fix it. Her pre-ride turned into a pre-walk. Helen, meanwhile, was finding out that she was NOT over the illness that she has been fighting for the past week. It took everything she had to finish the pre-ride loop. After some assessing we determined that it was not smart for her to race the TT or the cross country race. She was demoted to bottle girl for the weekend. Mark rescued Star with a chain tool and we were finally done with the pre-ride. Whew.


The afternoon was becoming really long and the time trial start was fast approaching. All I really wanted to do was relax and eat dinner but I needed the bonus points. I WANT to be on that final series podium. The first part of the course was downhill and twisty. Now I am a good bike handler, it is one of my big forte's while racing; I take pride in being able to handle a bike. As good as I am, Shelly is better (hands down one of the best bike handlers I know, male or female)and she was my big competition. I did not want her to catch sight of me in the time trial so I lined up after her. I knew I was a stronger climber than her, I wasn't worried about the second half of the course. I felt fairly certain that I would make up some time over her bike handling with my climbing ability, but I wanted the advantage of being out of sight. It worked!!! I raced what felt like a miserable, slow time trial (don't they all??) but I won!!! WHEW. I was actually 13th overall; take THAT boys... Catherine won the Sport women's category and posted the third fasted women's time of the day. Go girl!!! Emily soft pedaled to get her points and save her legs. It was a smart move.


Dinner was a picnic in our hotel room. Everyone brought something and we had taco/burrito/make-your-own-tex-mex dinner. It was WAAAAYYYY better than anything we could have gone out and eaten. After that it was bedtime; it was going to be an early morning.


As predicted, morning came way too soon and we were loaded and heading to the race before my body wanted to be awake. I really wish these things started later once in a while. While warming up I noticed some stiff competition had shown up; my friend Niki was here. Great. She's a phenomenal climber (not so good for me on a course that finishes with a mile long climb) AND she has fresh legs since she skipped the time trial. They said "go" and I stuck to Shelly's wheel like glue. I was NOT going to let her get away today. We rode away from Niki and off the front of the race. About half way through the first lap Shelly told me to go around her and before I knew it I was off the front alone!!! I rode that way for over a lap. Suddenly, at then end of lap two, my legs started to remind me of the time trial from the previous day. Just keep pedaling. About half way up the final climb Niki passed me. Damn. Keep pedaling. After a moment of really being bummed out over losing the lead, I rallied the troops and decided to start chasing. It took about 10 minutes and she was back in sight. Unfortunately, every time it went up my legs started screaming. Keep pedaling. We got to the last climb together and that was all I had. Niki rode away for a well deserved win and I was going to have to settle for second place. I rode a great race and was proud of what I did out there; even if in the end I lost by less than a minute in a 2:15 race. Amanda rode in for 4th place with Emily in 5th. Catherine took second in the Sport race. It was a good weekend for the team.

Thanks for reading...

BUMP

Amanda and Emily with the Armadillo.... don't ask.

This past weekend was the annual BUMP N Grind mountain bike race at Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham, AL. BUMP has been one of the biggest races in the Southeast for as long as I can remember and always offers tough fields, tougher trails and HUGE bragging rights if you finish well. This year it was going to be even bigger because it is now part of the US Cup Pro XC tour and therefore it was a UCI (international) race. YIKES!! That means that for the pro fields the competition was going to be extremely tough and the fields were going to be the who's who of mountain biking in North America.


The start of the pro women's race.

BUMP and I have a sorted history. It is my race; the one that is the "monkey" on my back. I have had one of the best races of my career there and I have also had some of the worst there. For whatever reason I am plagued by mechanicals and crashes when I race at Oak Mountain. Of the 10 times I have raced BUMP I have DNF'd 7 times. For the girl who NEVER quits races, this is a bit traumatic. If I can keep the rubber side down (and inflated) I tend to ride really well; these are my kind of trails. I was really hoping that this was going to be my year.


Kym waiting for the call-up.

Amanda, Emily, Catherine and I loaded up Saturday morning and headed to Birmingham to see how we stacked up. It was FINALLY supposed to be warm (actually HOT) and sunny. We were finally going to get a weekend without rain!! We rolled in and it was obvious immediately that it was going to be a tough weekend for me. WOW. Factory team trailers everywhere along with their riders, mechanics, etc. It was going to be a fun but really hard race.


Emily wins the Junior Expert Women's race.

We all went and rode our respective courses and decided to re-group after the pre-ride. BUMP has always been characterized by the long (17 mile) loop that we race two laps of. It is rocky, technical and tight; one of my favorites anywhere. This year, the pros had a different course. Because it was a UCI race, we had to have a shorter, UCI standard type course. It was a 6 mile loop that went up the last part of the trail everyone else finished on and then ended with a pavement section. It was a fast and fun course (good for me) with a bunch of high speed handling (also good for me) but still not the long loop that I love. The race was going to be fast. My pre-ride loop was only 35 minutes at a really easy pace. I compensated for the down time by hanging out at the beach while waiting for my team mates to finish their long pre-ride. Nothing like screaming kids to get you relaxed and in the mindset to race a bike....


Kym getting PAID at a UCI race!!!

One of the best things about BUMP weekend is getting to see our friend Phil (and his wonderful fiance Katherine) and eating his "to die for" cooking. Phil and Katherine did not disappoint. They were incredible hosts and we ate well both for dinner and an EARLY breakfast. They got up at 5am to make sure we all got fed before heading to the races. Thanks guys!!! You are awesome.

Coasting across the finish line with a smile.

Sunday was a LONG day but WOW is the best description of our experience. Emily and Amanda's races were at 8am so we were up early getting ready to race. It was sunny and cool but getting warmer by the second. Both ladies had great races with Emily winning her race by over 30 minutes. CONGRATS!! Amanda had a really tough field and took an impressive 5th. Catherine continued the trend with a win in the sport field. Great job ladies.


Kym focused in the feed zone.

By the time it was my turn to race it was HOT. Not miserable hot, but hot enough for those of us that have been living in a rain cloud for the past 6 weeks. I decided that I was going to have a spectacular day one way or another. The plan was to go out super hard and either blow up in a huge manner or have a really good race. It worked!!! I felt like I was going to puke but I rode myself to 10th place in a field of REALLY fast pro women. Some of the best riders in the world were here and I raced with them. It was one of the best races I have ever had. My ultimate goal was 15th if everything was perfect. I didn't believe Mark when I crossed the finish line and he told me I was top 10. I put it all together and did it on a day that counted!!! My bike was spot on... it was the perfect machine for the technical fast single track and the steep pavement climbs. Specialized, your Era is the bomb!!!


AWESOME day....

Thanks to Mark for sitting in the feed zone and to all the cheers from all my friends and team mates. It was really fun being the "local girl" in the big race. You guys all made me push HARD. What an incredible day. We rocked BUMP this year. Great job to the entire team. You guys make it so much fun to do what we do....

Thanks for reading.

Part two.

Okay, so with one more weekend before the big mountain bike races start up again, I decided to try the pavement out a second time. There was a big climbing road race in Oliver Springs (Knoxville area) Sunday morning. I guess it was time to go find out if I really could climb. I was also really excited because Amanda was coming out to race with me; it was going to be great to have a friendly face in the pack.

It was going to be a really busy day. I had a clinic I was teaching for the Krystal Chik's cycling team Sunday afternoon. It was a day of: get up early, race fast, drive fast, teach a clinic, and collapse in bed. I might have put on the bad idea jeans in hindsight.

We got to the race and there was a really strong women's field there with some really good climbers. I was going to find out fast if last weekend was a fluke or not. They were racing the Women's Field and the Masters 50/60 Field together so we also had the men to worry about. They were scoring us separately but the men still tend to chase us down, etc.

The field rolled out and it was a pretty uneventful ride to the base of the climb, 9 miles into the race. I worked my way to the front and waited. Jamie attacked (she always does on climbs) and Missy and I were the only two who responded. I made myself let her go a little and stayed within myself. I just needed to keep her in sight and hope that I could reel her back as the climb went on. I slowly passed Missy and then Jamie. With about a mile to go they were both on MY wheel as we went up the climb. No one else was in sight. About a half mile from the top I gapped them and I came over the top of the climb alone. I had just out climbed some of the best climbers in the Southeast!!! They quickly caught me on the descent; I knew I wasn't going to stay away solo and three of us might just be able to hold our gap. We worked together well for the next 15 miles and then we were at the second climb. Missy was off the pace immediately and it was just Jamie and I. I set my pace and near the top she fell off. It was once again just me over the top. Jamie quickly caught me on the descent and attacked. She is much more brave than I am on tight mountain descents and she gapped me by the bottom. I chased back on and it was the two of us. With 1k to go we started slowly ratcheting up the pace and I took the sprint. I won!!! Amanda raced well for a 6th place finish. Good job girl!!!

Two weekends of big climbing races and I won them both. I think I might be getting this climbing thing down. The funniest part of the whole thing is that Jamie and I are a couple of pro mountain bikers and we rode away from an entire field of men and women that focus on the road. I know they must really hate that. Next weekend it's back to the dirt. BUMP here we come.

Thanks for reading....

This is what happens when mountain bikers race the road...

This weekend was yet ANOTHER wet weekend. I am SO over the rain, and racing in the rain, that I can hardly stand it. We had a weekend off of mountain bike racing so it was time to stretch our legs out on the road and see if we remembered how to race the skinny tires. The Highland Rim Classic was only an hour away and it is always a great event with big fields, strong racers, and great money. Even after watching the weather forecast grow worse as we got closer to the weekend, I registered for the whole omnium; road race (with a mountain climb), time trial (2 miles up hill) and crit. I am not a natural climber so I have always struggled a bit with this event but it is fun neverless.

Shannon, Paula, Gina and Helen were also coming up for all of the weekend (Shannon) or to help for part of it (Helen, Gina and Paula) so I was going to have some help climbing and controlling the race. Sometimes the stars are just not aligned!!! It was the weekend of mini-disasters for my team and I ended up solo for the duration. Helen woke up late and her truck had a flat tire. Shannon got sick on her drive there (breakfast did not agree). Gina and Paula were getting ready to go when a mishap with the dog on his leash landed Gina in the hospital with a dislocated shoulder. She's going to be fine but is NOT a happy girl right now. After a series of phone calls it appeared that I was on my own.

We pulled in Saturday morning under the threat of rain but so far, so good. It was going to be a tough race. There were some really strong girls there, including my friend Leigh that rides for Vanderkitten and Mary, a local bad ass road racer. We rolled out of the starting area and as we turned onto the course we could see the wall of water up the road. Great. That is not what I was hoping for today. Mary and I set tempo on the front, mostly just to stay warm in the steady rain that was now pelting us. As we got to the climb I moved to the front and set my pace. The plan was to ride my pace and hope that it was hard enough that no one would attack. I was soon on the front leading up the hill. I looked at the Power Tap and pedaled where I knew I could sustain it. After about 10 minutes it occurred to me that I was alone. I had dropped the field. ON A CLIMB. Wow. 8 years of working on climbing and it is FINALLY paying off. Leigh was the next rider back and I waited on her; 35 miles is a long way to ride solo. I figured I had a better chance to stay away if there were two of us. We worked well together and rode in a steady downpour for the next 30 miles. Just as we were coming to the descent and the finish the skies cleared. Leigh observed that it kind of felt like we'd just gotten out of the pool. Yep; that sums it up!! Coming into the finish I was in a dilemma. Leigh is a BAD ASS sprinter. I am not. I knew that if I waited to 200 meters I was not going to beat her. I also knew that I was riding stronger on the up hills and the finish was a slight incline for the last 1000 meters. I went early and although it was UGLY, I won. I still can hardly believe it. I won one of the biggest climbing races in our area. Me, the self proclaimed non-climber. Hmmm. Was it a fluke or has all that hard work finally paid off???

The sun shined bright all afternoon and we had a nice relaxing lunch while waiting for the time trial that started at 4pm. It was a two mile climb up the descent that we raced down at the end of the road race. Mark had modeled out the exact power that I would need to hold to match last years winning time. He has this really cool program that does the modeling. It was going to be tough but doable if I could get my legs to suffer. I got in a good warm up and rolled to the start. As they said go the skies again opened up and I was racing in the rain for the second time today. It was tough to start out at the pace I knew I needed; the adrenaline told me to go harder but I knew that the Power Tap was not lying to me. About half way up the climb I caught Leigh (she was my 30 second rider) and then the next girl. A few minutes later I caught another rider. I was not looking at the time. Just distance and power. I was REALLY suffering. I crossed the finish line and had no idea what I had done for a time. It felt really slow. I DID IT!!! I won the time trial by over a minute and matched my goal time EXACTLY. Thanks Mark. So, day one was now over and I had won a climbing road race and an uphill time trial. AWESOME.

Sunday was not wet. It was COLD. It was in the 50's cloudy and windy. It's the middle of MAY; where did summer go?? The crit was frustrating for me. I hate negative racing and I hate racing at 15 miles per hour but that is what everyone wanted to do. I would attack and everyone would chase me. Then we'd all sit up. They raced the juniors on the course at the same time as us and it was a mess when we got to the last lap. In the last turn there was a junior and a group of us all looking for the same piece of pavement. I sat up. It wasn't worth losing skin over. I took 4th.

I ended up having a great weekend. I haven't done much road racing in the past few years and I think I miss it. It is time to do some more of it. It was a nice change of pace. Hopefully the climbing thing wasn't a fluke and I am getting better at it.

Thanks for reading...

Mud, Mud and more MUD!!!

This picture pretty much sums up the weekend. I am SO glad this isn't my bike!!!

Star, Lisa and Shannon braved the weather and the mud to race the Dirt Sweat and Gears 12 hour race in Fayetteville, TN last weekend. The course went from wet and muddy but rideable to "the worst conditions I have ever seen" over the course of the first lap. Wheels stopped rolling and the winning solo man (Jeremiah Bishop) won the race with a whopping 4 laps.


Star and Lisa raced on a two woman team and put forth a valiant effort, finishing ALMOST 2 laps in 12 hours. Apparently it is much more difficult than it sounds to carry one's bike 10 miles when it weighs approximately 75 pounds because of all the mud. (yes, people were weighing bikes and 75 pounds was the average weight after a lap). Their effort was good enough for 2nd place!!!

Shannon teamed up with a guy friend of hers and definitely gets the award for cutest looking in the mud. She even made Velo News. check out the link: http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtbphotos.php?id=/photos/2009/may09/dirtsweatgears09/dirtsweat138

Great job ladies!! Sorry I missed it (okay, not really....)