March Madness
Hello Friends-
I’ve been home nearly a month from my great training and racing camp in Argentina. I returned home to snow on the ground, but variable winter/spring weather in Idaho and all I wanted to do was ride my bike! One day I’m skiing in 25 degree temperatures, the next day riding on the road outside as the thermometer hits 50, then back inside on the trainer the next day as the snow falls again. It’s the time of year when I have to take advantage of any little break in the weather to get outside on the bike. Argentina was such a great early season trip for me and now I’m so ready to be cycling. I did head down to the Spa City Marathon in Arkansas so that my race fitness would not wear off. It was a 6 hour race and the #2 stop on the USA Cycling Ultra Endurance Series. It’s a great 10 mile single track loop that you repeat as many times as you can in 6 hours. I completed 6 laps and won the women’s division. It felt really great to be on the Era again breathing hard. There was also the double bonus of getting to see my Mom on this trip. She drove over from Illinois and took care of water bottles and nutrition for me. I guess you never grow out of needing your Mom around every once in a while. Thanks Mom!
March is Media Month for me! I was really honored and pleased to find that both Shape Magazine, Fitness Magazine and Biciclub (Argentina’s biggest cycling magazine) all have feature articles on me this month and some great gear mentions for my sponsors. Check them out on the news stand. If you can read Spanish, the Biciclub article is great! There is also a great article written by my teammate in Argentina on her Outside Online blog. She talks about racing with me and our experience in Argentina for the Tour de la Patagonia.
The Mountain Town Movie Tour is also in full swing! By the time you read this, I will have the Sun Valley and Missoula shows under my belt and will be on the road for Colorado, Park City and Jackson Hole. The first event in my hometown was a huge success with a nearly sold out show and a pre-party that was wall to wall people. All of the movie screenings are 100% fundraisers for the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) and their local chapters in each town that I am visiting. The Sun Valley show raised over $5000 for the Wood River Bicycle Coalition and will go towards keeping trails open where I live. It was a blast to share the Leadville Trail 100 experience with my friends through this film. I received a number of comments after the showing thanking me for the inspiration, for the community fundraising efforts and for showing them what it is I really do for a living! Everyone here sees me out training and riding my bike, but it’s nothing like seeing a real race unfold on the big screen. There are too many sponsors of the tour to list here, but THANKS to all of you who have supported the movie tour.
Finally, I want to share a few great pictures from Argentina with you. All photos in this newsletter are from Michael Darter. He did a great job of capturing the Argentina experience.
Take Care and Happy Trails!
Rebecca
