Twilight and Fort Yargo!

I am falling behind on my weekend blog posts!

A few weekends ago was a good weekend for me. The weather was crappy but we still had fun. Saturday morning was the twilight greenway cat 3/4 crit. Sunday was the 4th SERC race at Fort Yargo.

I thought we were going to miss the rain since it said only 30% chance of rain but the weatherman was wrong it was 100%. It was pouring when I woke up and pouring during our race. The race is a short 30 minute crit and I was hoping to finish top 3. This was my first crit of the year and I was on a new bike - I wasn't sure how I would feel on the corners. I decided that I was going to race hard- like a mountain biker, I kept attacking and they kept bringing me back. On my last attack I lucked out- there were 3 laps to go, once they saw the lap signs everyone sat in and waited for the sprint. I was able to get away, plus it was raining so I was able to make time on the corners, my bike was so smooth, I couldn't feel a bump, I felt comfortable. I went as hard as I could the last 10 minutes and managed to keep away. I was super excited I won my first race of the year! Maybe next year I'll start the big girl race.

Reid rode a tough crit in the afternoon. It poured during his race and I was happy he didn't crash. Later that afternoon, Kym, Anina and Marc met us early at out house- their pre-ride was cut short from the rain.

We made the trip to downtown in the rain to watch the big races. But not before we made a short stop to Target on our way to get rain boots. Which were great to stand in the rain.

I woke up Sunday hoping to not finish dead last at Fort Yargo. My legs hurt from the day before from the race and standing around downtown watching the festivities. As an expert my skills are no where as good as the other riders, so I decided that I would try to stick to a wheel and stay on that wheel as long as I could. It worked out well for me. I finished fifth overall and third in the expert field. I was super pumped. It was the best expert result for me so far this year! Kym and Anina of course rocked. They have been getting 1-2 all year, they are awesome!

Pics are coming soon.

Columbus

Last weekend Reid and I made the trip over to Columbus GA. We spent the night before in Atlanta with the in-laws, who made us an amazing dinner - steaks, mashed potatoes, and key lime pie. The next morning we got up super early and drove to Columbus. Reid has finals in a couple of weeks, so we decided to save time and chose not pre-ride the course. We were hoping it was going to be the same course as last year. Lucky for us it was. Unfortunately for me I didn't remember any of it.

The race for me started well. I was second wheel for the beginning couple miles. Then I lost sight of the first rider and thought I was going to make up a lot of time going really hard up the dirt road. Too bad the dirt road wasn't part of the trail and I had to turn around. I lost two spots. I rode hard for the rest of the course, it was a fun and fast race, but I had hoped to finish a little better. Oh well, there will be more races.

Tsali

Last weekend we went up to Tsali for the 3rd SERC race. I love Tsali when its dry- its fast, hilly and not too technical. We pre-road a long loop on Saturday that was about 19 miles, I was really worried that the race was going to kick my butt. I have never ridden 29 miles on the mountain bike let alone have to race it.

That night we met my teammates at an awesome cabin. Anina and her husband John made us all an amazing dinner. And, all the girls had a great time hanging out. Reid is still asking me what we were all talking about (I guess he kept hearing bursts of laughter from upstairs).

Sunday we all woke up to nerves. Kym was nervous about winning, I was nervous about bonking. So I decided it would be an excellent idea to eat everything in sight. I ate a bowl of cereal with lots of milk. That was my first mistake. Then I changed my sport drink.

At the start of the race Anina told me I had to go super hard and be at the front. So, we start going up this gradual hill, and then go into the trail which had a steep uphill. I was in the wrong gearing and couldn't make it up, I took out half the field. Opps...but no one seemed upset at me, which made me surprised. Pretty sure if we had been road racing I would have been thrown in a ditch.

After getting off the bike, most of the field had passed me and I was all flustered. I tried to make up time and got more flustered, making more mistakes. After awhile I settled in and then the crazy sport men came by. Wow, that is a lot of testosterone.

By the second lap I had caught up to two girls and passed them. I felt like I was making up good time. And then it hit me, my stomach. It was bad, I could barely move, it was all I could do to keep pedaling, and the descents were not helping. The girls passed me back with about 3 miles to go, and I was just hoping I could make it back to the finish. It took me awhile but I was finally better, I have learned my lesson and will stick to foods I can eat, and drinks I know.

I was happy with my result. I was not far behind the five girls in front of me, so I know I can do better. My teammates of course kicked butt, and are all awesome. I forgot my camera but got this picture off the race promoters website. Its some of our team at the start line.

Tomorrow Reid and I are going to Columbus GA. I am looking forward to this race, it will be smaller than the SERC races, my goal is to stay on the bike and eat right.

Chickasaw

Last weekend was my first mountain bike race as an expert. Reid had warned me how hard it is to transition from Sport to Expert, but it was tougher than I thought.

On Saturday I met Mark and Kym in Chattanooga, and we carpooled to Columbia. It is always entertaining with Mark and Kym. The weather was perfect, high 60s and sunny and trails were in amazing shape. We met Amanda, Anina, and Kelsey, and went for a fun pre-ride.

That night we went to Shannon's house in Murfreesburo, it is an awesome house. One of our big sponsors bought us dinner and Mark spent five hours cleaning our bikes. It was a fun night.

It poured Saturday night and we woke up to a muddy course. I was not happy, however, Anina pointed out that the only way I will get better at riding is in the mud is to ride in the mud.

The start was through a field and I did pretty good making it through the start. I did okay once we hit the trail, but I started to get passed. Then we hit the mud, and that was it for me. I was just trying to finish. Chickasaw is a fun course, but it is really hard in the mud. I finally finished and was really happy.

Chickasaw is about 5-6 hours from Athens so I had to hitch a ride back with Star and Amy so I could get home before midnight. I left my muddy bike with Mark and Kym, and Mark cleaned my bike again. It was super nice of him. My ride home with Star and Amy was entertaining too. Star at a chili dog and had the worst burps, I couldn't figure out what was smelling like garlic for half the ride. I thought it was me.

Next weekend is Tsali and I think most of our team is going. I am looking forward to the weekend, our team is a blast. Tsali is a big race too and the weather is supposed to be nice. It is going to be tough.