Home again... for a minute.

Whew. it has been a CRAZY month. After the 18 hour drive straight (yes, I personally drove 18 hours non-stop to get home) we rested for a few days and then it was off to Fontana for the SERC finals. Needless to say I am exhausted and really tired of being gone. I have seem my husband 12 hours in the last 28 days. I want to be home. But what a summer!!!

With that being said, I had an INCREDIBLE summer. SERC is now over. Nationals are over. I am home...for now. The state road race is this weekend and I think I am going to pass. That is tough for me to say, especially since I won it last year, but I need a little break. Paula and Gina are talking of going and they are both VERY strong and capable of carrying the team colors without me.


The fall will once again bring some great off road epic type races and of course CYCLOCROSS!!! I am already getting excited. If I want to be ready, I need to take August to chill out a bit and play.

While I am playing and recovering, Paula and Gina are getting ready to leave for their BIG goal of the summer. They are going to Leadville to race one of the most well known 100 mile mountain bike races in the world. They have both been training and racing SO HARD. They are going to ROCK. We can't wait to hear about it.


My personal focus this year was a repeat for the SERC series. It was a tough goal; the women's field gets tougher every year. This year we had a total of 40 women that raced our field, including 11 pros. It was made more difficult with the bout of pneumonia I had half way through the season. I suddenly had NO races to drop (only 7 of the 9 count for the overall; you get to drop your lowest scores) and I had to do well at the make-up race to have a chance. No pressure but at one point in the season, a flat tire could have been the end of reaching my goal. Somehow I did it and had one of the best seasons I have ever had. I attribute it to having the BEST teammates on the planet and an AWESOME coach that worked miracles when I figured all was lost. Not only did I win the SERC series for the third year in a row, I was given the "Female Rider of the Year" award. Wow, talk about a tough year to live up to next year....


My teammates also rocked the SERC series. Catherine finished the series with a perfect score. And to top it off she raced the sport race AFTER racing the beginner race on Sunday. She took 3rd in Sport. Look for our "reformed roadie" to be racing in the expert field next year. She is "officially" part of our road squad, but after having done ONE road race this year she will probably be on the MTB squad next year. At different races, every one of my teammates made podium appearances. The highlights for me were at Tanasi where I handed out bottles (that pneumonia thing...) to NINE Vantaggio ladies and Chattanooga where we went 1,2.3 in the Pro women's field. Everyone was so impressed that we had such a big strong women's team this year.

Thanks also to all our sponsors, friends and family. You are the people that make it possible for us to do what we do. THANK YOU!!!

Emily Quotes from the trip

After a two week trip with Emily we have come up with some GREAT quotes. Never let it be said that we were at a loss for entertainment...

Here are the top three:



1. I can drive just fine I just can't back up or park. (Emily, what do you do with the car when you are done driving??)



2. (After seeing a sign for a place called "Potts") There is guy at school we call "Potts"; maybe because that is his last name.



3. There must be some really dumb people in Pennsylvania, I haven't seen any schools. (I hear they often put schools right on major highways... We reassured her that there were schools and pointed them out for the rest of the drive).

Thanks Emily for making it such a fun trip. We love ya!!

Podium...

On the top step...

Photos of Emily...

We made it home.... 18 hours straight through. I'll write more on that after I recover. For now, I have a few pictures that I wanted to get up.


Emily on her way to the WIN!!!


Emily shows off her jeresy and medal after awards.

EMILY WINS AT NATIONALS!!!!

Emily won the Super D today. She is a National Champion... complete with jersey and medal. Not only did she beat all the junior women, she was the fastest non-pro time of the day. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them from Margaret.

We are leaving for home now.... I'll post more updates on today along with pictures as soon as we get home tomorrow. I'm off to drive for the next 17 hours....

Vermont... IT RAINED!!!!

It rained last night. I awoke to a HUGE storm and quietly did a happy dance. I race well in the mud. It was sunny and warm by morning but the woods were still just slippery enough to make things interesting.

Tanya and I lined up in a STACKED pro field. It is the National Championships after all. It is a bit unnerving to line up against women that are getting ready to leave for the Olympics next month. I felt good this morning and was hoping for a good day. It was so hard!!! The rain the night before made it a much slower trail than during the pre-ride. It was good for me and my bike handling skills but it made it a longer day than I originally planned. Tanya had a great race and took 25th, I was 30th (tentative results, we haven't seen the posted ones yet). We were both happy with that.

I felt like a "real pro" with all of my teammates and friends cheering for me. Thanks guys it was really motivating. There were so many people out there that knew us.

At the finish I did a really cool "happy dance" just for Alex. I promised her I would and it was great. I got some laughs from spectators. I am not a stellar dancer, expecially after a long cross country race. It was UGLY. At least I had a fun; now that it is over anyway...

Tomorrow is short track for Tanya and I and Super D for Shannon; then we head home. I am ready to be home.

Racing in VT, Day 2

What a day!!! Emily, Star and Alex raced today and it was non-stop excitement.

We started our day with Emily's race at 9am. It was already hot and sunny by 9am. She lined up in a stacked field. It was the "who's who" of junior expert women in this country. There were previous national champions and national team members in the field with her. She was also the youngest girl in the field by two years. The age group is 15 to 18 and she is just 15 this year. Emily was so nervous. She ROCKED!!! She took third. I was so excited for her. She made the podium at nationals. Not bad for a 15 year in her first year of expert racing.

After her exciting finish we had some more excitement: DRUG TESTING. USADA (US Anti Doping Agency) is here doing random drug testing because it is the national championships. They are almost always at the big races to test the pros (I've peed in a cup more than once at races) but rarely do they test amatures. With the state of cycling as of late there has been a push to do more testing. I think it is a great thing except when it is one of us that is getting tested... I love the concept of it but it is a PAIN when it is you they pick. There is nothing worse than finishing a 2 plus hour cross country race and then being told that you have to pee in a cup. Talk about asking the impossible (can you say "dehydrated???"). Needless to say, Emily was completely dehydrated and it took a while before the "urge" returned. I went with her as her "athlete representative"; I figured she could use the moral support and I have been through it so I could help her with what to expect. The USADA people are always really nice so it was as good of an experience as can be expected. Now Emily has had the complete experience of nationals!!! We rushed from drug control straight to her podium where we got a bunch of pictures. They are not on my camera so I will get those posted ASAP.

Star and Alex were racing while I was waiting for Emily to pee so I missed most of their race. Fortunately Margaret, Tanya and Shannon were there for support so I didn't feel quite as bad. They both had great races and Star missed the podium by one spot!!! For the girl that was terrified to ride this course three days ago she ROCKED. Star, we are all so proud of you. She took 6th. Alex took 7th in her field (they are in different age groups) and our friend Grace from Huntsville took second in her race. All the girls had big fields and should be extremely proud of themselves. Anytime that you crack the top 10 at a national championship race you should brag about it.

Tomorrow Tanya and I race the pro cross country race. I am excited about it. I will not be cracking the top ten but I will go out there and give it everything I've got. wish me luck; all the big dogs are here. It is going to be a hard day.

Thanks for reading...