Short Track Mind
It’s almost the weekend again, and that means Wednesday night short track racing at Rotarun is on! Yesterday I went for an easy ride around Fox Creek, a local trail here in Ketchum, and was trying to spin my legs out. However, on m*other f*ucker hill I had to walk, and my legs felt like massive bricks! I guess I wasn’t as recovered from last weekend as I had thought. When I showed up at the race, I wanted to turn around and drive home, but I couldn’t. So off we went, 42 minutes of hot, dry and dusty hell. India put a gap on me instantly, which clearly shows Wrapcity makes you faster! But after half way or so I reeled her in and kept putting time on her. I ended up winning the race so I’m stoked, and I put some numbers down below so you can see where my heart was. I am a bit tired, so my numbers are low, but in the end it’s good training for some midweek intensity, almost like lap intervals.
The race was 42 minutes. Avg HR 155 which is low for those races. On a good day last year, I’d average 10bpm higher than that. Max HR 161, which is also about 10bpm low for a short race. I spent only 13 min above 157 LT (lactate threshold).
Cheers
Reba
Spokane I Can
Hi Everyone,
Race was awesome this weekend. Did a duo with Greg Martin (Single Speed 24 hr solo World Champion). We entered the police/fire/military division and raced as Ketchum Fire. It was a 10 person team division, so all the other teams had 6-10 people, so we were at a bit of a disadvantage with only two.
We won the division with 22 laps and the call up to the podium was awesome. The other police/fire teams had a lot more people , and no women. They couldn’t believe they got beat by the two of us. It was pretty funny. We did KFD proud! Our time and lap count would have also won the two person open division which was all men as well. So….overall a great training weekend with some good results and a good gauge for us for 24 hr Worlds, which is now less than two months away.
The duo experience in a 24 hr race was hard. High intensity and not much of a break because lap times were just over an hour. We did single laps to start with, and during the night we each did one double and one triple to allow more rest time. Then in the AM went back to singles. It worked pretty well as a race strategy and the experience was a really good 24 hr solo training effort without having to race the whole thing alone. Solo requires too much recovery time afterwards so this way, we’ll be able to get back on the training efforts sooner this week. My coach has told me we are now working on re-building my mitochondria quantity while simultaneously engaging in a racing season. Although this sounds like German to me, it makes a little sense, it’s just another part of a larger macro-cycle. With some rest today, some one leg spinning exercises, and a little max intensity short track racing on Wednesday, it’s looking to be a fun week. Not to mention it’s supposed to be 77 degrees all week! Talk to you soon.
Cheers
Reba
Memorial Day Weekend, Road Trip!
Hola! I’m off to Spokane finally, or as some call it Spocompton, for one of my favorite 24hr races, Round and Round. This is where I won my first 24hr race, and it has a special place in my heart. My friend Greg Martin and I are racing together as a two person team in the Fire/Police category. Greg is the current Single Speed 24hr World Champ, and together this is good training for the intensity needed for Worlds. It is going to be a pretty interesting race, since this category is open to groups of 8-10 people! We’ll do our best to represent the Ketchum Fire Department, and hopefully bring home some hardware. Between the race and the 10hr motorcycle ride to the race, I’m going to get some serious saddle time in! If anyone is in Ketchum or Sun Valley on Monday, you should cruise by the Elephant’s Perch for a huge Specialized demo. They’ll have their giant demo trailer with all the bikes you could possibly want to ride! I’ll be there all day offering tech tips, training tips, poster signings and just hanging out! Anyone who’s ever dreamed of riding the best bikes in the world should come and check them out. I’ll have some photos after the race, but I won’t have my computer with me, so check back!
Cheers
Reba
Fire, Fire, Everywhere
Hello,
I just spent 3 days in Boise at a firefighter symposium. One day of hands on work with forcible entry on doors, cutting holes in roofs and garage doors, working with the rotary saws and chainsaws. Also did simulated search and rescue in a big warehouse building that they had smoked out and heated up. We broke in windows and searched for victims in the building. We also heard a couple of guest speakers from big city fire departments (Denver and Oakland, CA) talking about tricks of the trade and lessons learned on the job. It was super motivating and made me hungry for a bit of fire action! I know that’s bad to say, but I love my part time job. I was the only woman there which made it even more fun! I’m in Dallas now for Red Bull athlete meetings, talking about PR and marketing, and haveing some large team dinners. The best part is they set me up in this sweet hotel.Check out the pictures from the fire symposium below, everyone loves power tools!
Cheers
Reba
A Funny Way to Start your Day
I wish I could do interval training while I sleep, would make life so much easier.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QrGDmJdaeI]
Race Breakdown
Thought this was funny, check out how slow this race was. Here’s the link and a little pic.
Cheers
Reba
Mudfest in TN
Dirt Sweat and Gears. Fayetteville, TN
USA Cycling Ultra Endurance series race #3
5/9/2009
Here’s mud in your eye! And ears, nose, mouth, and drive train, shoes, gloves! Dirt, Sweat and Gears took place this last weekend in Fayetteville, TN. It is one of my all time favorite races because the course is the most excellent single track, the race boasts equal prize money for pro men and women, the competition is always stout and the race director really takes care of every detail to make the race fun and extremely organized.
This was also a stop on the USA Cycling Ultra Endurance series and my goal was to use this 12-hour race as training for 24-hour worlds and to increase my points lead in the national series. The Tennessee hospitality was alive and well again this year. We were given an official race vehicle for the weekend from Land Rover Nashville, free lodging from locals and more Southern hospitality than you can imagine. The only thing more remarkable than the TN hospitality was the incredible tenacity of the TN mud.
The region had been hammered with unseasonably heavy rains all week. When I arrived on Wednesday, the rain had stopped but the forecast for the weekend was extremely threatening. Just outside of Nashville, tornado warnings, severe storm warnings and 100 mph winds were coming our way. I was able to pre-ride the course on Wednesday and Thursday. It was slippery, technical and way more difficult than previous years. The rain had exposed more roots and rocks than usual. The climbs and descents were really slimy and treacherous. I tested a few different tire choices for the race and the Specialized Storm tires were the only ones that would allow me to keep a small amount of traction. Specialized team mechanic, Benno Willeit, had told me that the Storms were the last resort just before putting on the running shoes. Benno’s pre-race advice turned out to be way more accurate than I ever would have imagined.
As soon as the announcer shouted “30 seconds to start”, the rain began. I laughed out loud on the start line and was excited for an adventurous race. The first lap was slippery and a bit like surfing, but the rain kept the mud thin and the course was mostly rideable. I finished the first lap in about 1:20 in second place in the pro women’s field. The rain had stopped by this time and the start of lap two is when the fun really started. The combination of 300 riders sliding around and the cessation of the rain had turned the mud into peanut butter consistency. My lap time jumped to over three hours for the 2nd lap. Like most people, I ran out of food and water. Shifting was no longer an option due to the globs of mud, leaves and sticks that were jamming into the drive train. Eventually, the mud became so thick that pushing your bike was no longer an option because after about 10 feet of pushing, the mud would collect on the tires and form a solid casing about 5 inches thick and prevent the wheels from turning. One racer described the experience like pushing furniture uphill. The only option was to scrape as much mud off as possible and shoulder the bike. I hiked, pushed, slipped and tried to shuffle when I could for hours and hours. Each time I attempted to ride, the result was the same: sticky mud, wheels stop turning, put the bike back up on my bruised shoulders and keep trudging.
Most of the field had dropped out by early afternoon. My stubbornness and adventure racing experience had moved me into first place in the women’s field by the third lap. I ended up racing for about 10.5 hours and completed only 40 miles, which was good enough for the win! Jeremiah Bishop won the pro men’s field and he completed 5 laps. In comparison, in previous years I completed 10 laps and the leading men rode 12 laps.
This was by far much more of an adventure race than a cycling race, and the worst conditions I have ever ridden in. It was a frustrating race and not nearly as much fun as being able to ride those trails, but I am proud of myself for pushing on and adapting to what Mother Nature handed us.
Thanks to Mom and Glenn for crewing in such difficult conditions. Thanks to Travis from Biker’s Choice for wrenching for me and cleaning the dirtiest bikes I have ever seen.
I’m still cleaning the mud out of my ears and attempting to get my race clothes clean. I am also icing my shoulders to try to alleviate the bruising.
Thanks for tuning in.
Next stop, Spokane for a 24-hour race on a duo team!
Cheers
Reba
Fayetteville,NC
Hey Everyone, I’m in Tennessee for the Dirt, Sweat, and Gears 12hr race. Should be a great weekend with a forecasted 81 degree race day, with a little bit of rain, so the 10 mile course should be in top shape. There’s roughly 1,500 vertical feet of climbing per lap, so after 12 hours of racing that’s going to be a lot of climbing. Here’s a link to the website with some videos and pics. I’ll have a race update after the weekend. Dirt, Sweat, and Gears
Happy Riding
Reba
Off to Tennessee
I’m packing and getting ready to head to TN this weekend for Dirt, Sweat and Gears, a 12 hour race and the next stop in the USA Cycling Ultra Endurance series. This is my 3rd year at this venue and one of my favorite races of the year. Sweet, twisty single track, stout competition and super good festival vibe. The race director is an athlete himself, and it really shows in this event. He has hand built many of the trails and the experience is competitive, but laid back.
This is the first really long non-stop race of the season and the logistics for these long ones is very different. For the first time this season, I’m packing Light and Motion lights, traveling with two Era race bikes, multiple tire choices, lots of Hammer nutrition concoctions, various clothing options, and back ups of almost everything. 12 hours is a long time to ride continuously, so the gear and my body will be put to the test. This race is notorious for rainy, muddy Spring weather and the forecast this year is no different. Rain is on the menu for all weekend, but the good news is the temps are in the 50’s and 60’s! It’ll feel WARM after riding all week in Idaho with 40 degree temps and rain/snow.
My mom, Aunt, Uncle and cousin are all coming to help out and check out the race. Not the most ideal way to connect with your family, but at least they can help me with water bottle hand offs and logistics.
Here’s a clip of the race and you can also check back there for current updates during the race.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t6c8-iGOLc&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Cheers
Reba