Racing recap: Serc's Tsali and Spartanburg 2011

Better late than never. After skipping the long drive to FL for the first SERC race, Tsali's race was my season opener. The pre-ride was nice, breezy and there was a slight chill in the air. There was a TT Saturday that did about a 4 mile loop.

Although the inevitable standing and waiting around to start had everyone's legs feeling unwarmedup, the loop was a fun one. There were just enough flat sections to make it really hard with the gearing I chose-- note to self, 32-22 is too short for Tsali. But, I did gain lots of high cadence work from the experience. There were only 3 ladies in the sport category TT, Heather Davis, Jane Hodess and myself, but the 3 of us dutifully locked in our bonus points. Thanks to all the support from our sponsors, (thank you Trek, US Stove and Vantaggio etc!!!), we stayed in a nice cabin not far from the race course. After a good dinner with everyone and after each and every bike was cleaned by the diligent and oh so sweet team director, Mark Fasczewski, we slept, got up, ate bfast, packed up and headed out in the chilly 40 degree weather.

There was a good crowd for the Expert/Pro women, but only 6-7 Sport/cat 2 women at the starting line. The start up the gravel road was quick and I hopped into 4th position going into the woods. Spinning like crazy, I kept thinking, man, I should have brought a taller gear. The Tsali course is like a road race-- very fun, very fast, lots of flat sections good for the big ring (and not as good for my 32-22). There are 3-4 steep climbs that punctuate the fast sections. On the climbs I could reel in the women in 2nd and 3rd to seeing distance and get a hint of perhaps catching them. After running into Catherine and Amanda on the trail after they both had had mechanical issues that ended their race prematurely, I was grateful to have a ride that was free of any major issues. I spun as quickly as I could on the flat sections, pushed on the climbs, but ultimately ended up right where I started, with a 4th place finish. It was a very fun race and a good reminder that gear selection is going to be a challenge in all future races.

My bike felt amazing (thank you, thank you thank you to everyone connected to my Superfly-- Trek/Gary Fisher, Mike T, Kym F, HBC etc.) This was the 3rd time I'd ever ridden it and man is it light and responsive. It weighs in at just over 19# and I'm going to have to get used to how light it is-- even little rocks and roots lift it off the ground. It is such a solid ride-- I just have to get my fitness on par with the badassness of the bike.

Here are some shots of Kym and Shannon:

After the race, I had a nice warm down chatting with Heather D. and ended the weekend looking forward to the next race. The great end to my fun weekend was a delicious bison/beef/sausage burger made by Anthony on the charcoal grill, waiting for me when I got home!

Moving on to Spartanburg, SC's SERC race. This one was the Stumpjump and had a great turn out! Thanks again to team sponsorship funds, we got hooked up with a hotel room for the night before. I prerode with Catherine and Anina and surprise, surprise, this course was filled with flat, flowy ribbons of trail that swoop this way and that under a very pretty canopy of some sort of trees that let you know you are definitely in South Carolina (I don't know my plant types/names in case that's not obvious). It is a really nice trail system, very picturesque at times, with some nice tight, rooty sections near the end of the course. In contrast to Tsali, this weekend had a stout line up of over 15 sport women. As soon as the course got to the flatter sections, I lost most of the first 5-6 girls. Another hard, life lesson about gear selection. At the end of lap 1, I caught up to Jane H. and was able to pass her on some of the gradual climbing back to the start area. Once we hit the steep descent prior to entering the woods, I could hear her on my wheel again. She's a strong racer and a good descender and once we got in the woods to the darn, flat parts, she put it in her big ring and left me in the dust. I pushed up any climb Icould and ended up going past one of the top racers whose chain broke. She was on the side of the trail doing a quick and dirty fix when I passed by, and thus I ended up 5th instead of 6th.

Expert/Pro Podium:

Anina and Catherine both had good races as well in the Big-Girl category and I drove home happy with a hard effort, but contemplating my future gear choices. Much to my delight, I was, again, greeted at home with a yummy dinner on the porch by my personal chef, Antoine, aka my fiance, Tony.