Catching Up in Delaware
Whew,
In the last week I have been in three states, doing media and sponsor obligations, group rides, and now I am in Delaware. Yes, “The First State”. I am have switched roles from professional mountain bike racer to mother and student. It is quite the change. As some of you might have seen from pictures I posted on Facebook, I am teaching my sister’s daughters how to ride their bike, as well as taking them to school, and making their lunches. My nieces Kira (9) and Haley (6) are assuming the roles of my temporary children while my sister is at a work conference. Some time off from my life and taking on the role of someone else’s is fun! I will be here until Friday morning, living the quiet life on a military base and watching plenty of animated movies.
When I get back to Ketchum, I re-group and head south to Moab for the 24 hour race, where I am racing a duo team. This is one of my favorite races since tons of my friends from Ketchum travel down, Moab has awesome riding, and it is towards the end of the season. Nevertheless it is one more chance to put in a solid race finish!
Keep your eyes peeled for a new rebeccarusch.com as well, my friends on Montana at Chewy Creation are putting in the long hours doing a complete overhaul!
Cheers
Reba
Thanks to Conte's
Hello,
After a long week of walking and smiling at Interbike I jumped on a plane and flew to Washington D.C. for a women’s only group ride. Even though all the little anodized trinkets, and 11 pound race bikes were exciting to look at, these group rides are way more fun because I love getting women involved in the sport and helping them grow. I want to say thanks to Conte’s and Specialized for organizing this event, it was a great success. Check out their website, or visit their shop if you are in the area.
Cheers
Reba
Made it to Vegas
Talk about a culture shock! After riding in a small group through the wilds and deserts of California, landing in the city of lights was a huge change. Temperatures through Furnace Creek reached 115, and we were fried. Arriving at the Outdoor Demo meant one thing, cold beverages and rest. Thankfully we headed into the hotel for a much needed shower and some down time.
Today is the first day at Interbike, and I am doing the rounds for my sponsors, hanging out at booths and schmoozing with the crowds and dealers. Tonight is CrossVegas at 8pm, and I’ll be sure to get some pictures for everyone. Here are a few photos from the last day of the Specialized ride, which was a huge success.
Cheers
Reba
Interbike Ride Update #3
Hello!
The ride has been great so far, and my tan lines are filling in nicely. Yesterday we rode 100 miles in 4 hours with a ripping tailwind, and it felt awesome. And the best part was arriving early to the hotel pool for some R&R time. When the outside temps are around 100 degrees the pool is the best place on earth! We did manage to catch some europeans, or possibly triathletes, eyeing our new 2010 bikes.
Today we are riding from Lone Pine to Death Valley. 104 miles, 6800 ft of climbing, temps predicted to be 115 F! Going to be a wild day!
Cheers
Reba
Specialized Ride Update
Whew! We finally arrived in Mammoth and have both cell service and internet. We also have a hot shower, which after two days in 100+ degree heat riding is much needed. The days have been HARD and hot. We’re nearly half way to Vegas and the troops are a bit battered, but the camraderie is building every day. The group is really fit and riding well, but we are essentially doing a century or more every day for 6 days!
Temps day 1-2 were 105. Temps day 3 were better, but the barriers were the Yosemite park rangers and then brutal winds on the East Side of the Sierras along hwy 395. We actually got pulled off the road part way up to Tioga Pass and the rangers made us get in the vans and shuttle to the exit of the park. We missed a lot of the climbing, but got in the big descent and rode the rest of the way to Mammoth. Tonight is the first night in a hotel with a hot shower and it feels really good.
even though we’re in hotels the rest of the way, Western Spirit is still cooking breakfast/dinner for us, so we still all sit around in a big group a night and tell stories about the day and get to hang out. I was afraid when we made it to civilization that everyone would hop on their phones/computers and hole up in their rooms. The people on the ride are all bike shop owners and journalists heading to Interbike, so they all have a ton of work to do, but I”m super impressed that everyone is able to put that aside and just ride bikes for a week. It’s been awesome to spend so much time on the road with everyone and get to know their stories while we’re sweating together uphill.
Today is another 100 mile day from Mammoth to Lone Pine. It has been strange to be in the Sierras (Yosemite and now the east side) and not be rock climbing. I’ve spent alot of time here doing a completely different sport and experiencing the area in such a different way this time.
Check back for more updates, and there are more photos in my Flickr account
Cheers
Reba
It Begins!
Today was the start of the Specialized Group Ride to Las Vegas for Interbike. We are riding to help raise awareness and money for breast cancer, a subject that is close to many of us. I will be posting pictures along the way, as well as some text updates to spread the news. I’m sure there will be some funny storytelling, lots of suffering, and even more beautiful scenery. Here are a few photos from today’s start.
Cheers
Reba
Morgan Hill to Las Vegas for Interbike Preview
Hello,
I just received the email from Specialized about our mega-group ride to Interbike in Las Vegas. That’s right, we are riding from Morgan Hill (just south of the Bay Area in California) all the way to Las Vegas, NV! The ride will be filled will all sorts of Specialized folks and it will be awesome to get to know everyone over a long riding week. The ride is going to last 6 days and will cover 638 miles, and a killer 56,817 feet of climbing. I am so excited to do a long tour like this with friends, and I will keep you posted along the way. Look for more info to come.
To summarize the trip:Day 1 – From Morgan Hill to Lake McSwain (camping that night) 130 miles, 13,364 feet of climbingDay 2 – From Lake McSwain to Yosemite (Housekeeping Camp – a little cushier than tents) 70 miles, 12,857 feet of climbingDay 3 – From Yosemite through Tioga Pass to Mammoth – 100 miles, 13,257 feet of climbingDay 4 – From Mammoth to Lone Pine – 100 miles, 2000 feet of climbingDay 5 – From Lone Pine through Death Valley to Furnace Creek – 104 miles, 6809 feet of climbingDay 6 – From Furnace Creek to the Dirt Demo outside Vegas – 134 miles, 8530 feet of climbing (this day may be modified to ensure we arrive at Dirt Demo by 2pm).The night of Day 6 (Tuesday, September 22nd) will be spent at the beautiful Palazzo Las Vegas.
Vuelta al Cotopaxi!!
Good Morning,
I am putting the last details together for my second trip to the Vuelta al Cotopaxi. This race is amazing in so many ways. For one, just traveling to South America is always an eye opener. The scenery is absolutely mind blowing and the people are so friendly. Racing in South America is such a unique experience, especially racing around the Cotopaxi volcano! I’ll be down there from November 23rd- December 3rd visiting shops and racing. Check out my blog from last years event, along with some photos on the I Am Specialized site.
Cheers
Reba
Throttle and Pedals
Throttle and Pedals….
This last weekend, Greg and I set out on a epic little motorcycle and mountain bike excursion, and what else can I say, I had my first true vacation that I can remember in years! We hooked up with some cycling friends who were willing to take our mountain bikes and gear to Oregon for us. So Greg and I hopped on the motos and I had my inaugural long distance trip on the BMW (aka Creampuff). The longest I have ridden before the weekend was 12 miles. This trip ended up being over 500 miles of highway, two lane country roads, wind, rain, darkness, the whole enchilada. I was seriously initiated from the start. Our trip over to Oregon was super windy, but I learned how to lean the bike into the wind and brace myself for the oncoming blast as semi trucks went by. The first day was just 3 hours in the saddle to Boise, but my upper shoulders and neck were completely spent from being gripped and scared for most of the trip. Day 2 was 7 hours in the saddle and I was forced to learn to relax and got the hang of it by the time we arrived at the McKenzie River campground in Oregon.
I will say that Oregon has some really great roads for motorcycles with fresh, black pavement, very little traffic and great scenery. I was driving a bit like a granny on the curvy parts of the drive, but it didn’t matter because no one was behind me. I’ll get a little faster once I get used to leaning the bike a bit more. We met up with a big group of cyclist friends and camped right next to the river in thick, green forest. It’s so lush over there, you expect hobbits and trolls to jump out from behind the trees. The Alpine trail, near Oakridge, was on the agenda for the next day of riding. This trail is well-known for the 100 mile Creampuff race. I’ve never done the race but had heard about it being the best single track ever. The climb was a bit uninspiring, 2.5 hrs or so on dirt road. However, it was worth every second because the next 1.5 hours was all descending on smooth, swoopy, high speed single track through super green forest. It was amazing. Day 2 of mountain biking was the McKenzie River trail, voted #1 trail in the US by Bike Magazine. I pretty much agree with that too. I didn’t think it was possible to top the Alpine trail, but this one had all the super good single track with no fire road climbing. It had a bit of everything from technical lava rock riding to super fast cornering, along with waterfalls and exposed cliff edge riding. It rained the whole day on us for the McKenzie ride, but you couldn’t really tell because the trees are so thick they create a roof over your head. I was glad to be wearing wool though. These two trails were truly two of the best rides I’ve ever done.
The typical Oregon rain continued as we were preparing to drive to Bend. This meant my first motorcycle ride in cold, wet, windy weather. Thank goodness I have heated grips on my bike. I layered up with wool long underwear, rain gear and tried to figure out how to keep my helmet face shield from fogging up. The drive was actually really beautiful with the late afternoon clouds parting for sunset and views of the peaks around Bend. We rode in Bend on the following day and hit some of their really fun built up trails with bridges, log crossings and other mad made features that made you grin. I was away from email and phone for most of the four day trip and didn’t take or wear a heart rate monitor or odometer on my bike. I kept no track of speed, distance, heart rate or training. It was just a weekend of riding with friends on some brand new trails. And working on my throttle arm fitness as well!
Next up is the Worlds Party in Ketchum this Friday to celebrate a great season and both mine and Greg’s repeat 24 hour solo wins this year!
Cheers
Reba
24hrs of Targhee
Hello,
I just walked in the door and settled from our race weekend at Grand Targhee, which is right by the Driggs/Jackson Hole area. We had no cell phone coverage, no computers, just some friends and some tents. It was great! It was almost like being in another place or time. We went to this semi-local 24 hour race at last minutes notice because a bunch of friends were going from Ketchum, the prize money at the race was really good, and the trails there are awesome.
It was the lat minute pack job for Greg and I, and we didn’t even know if we were racing solo or as a duo team until about 30 minutes before the start. There is a great cash return if you win one of the categories there, however 2nd place gets nada. Greg and I were weighing the odds based on how many entered each category. We probably could have raced duo and won, but then we had to split the prize money. So we rolled the dice, and entered solo, and believe it or not, we both won the race!
Greg was first solo overall, even on a singlespeed against all the geared men! I raced open women against a well known local endurance guru. We had five solo athletes from Ketchum sharing one pit area, so there was a lot going on in our camp to say the least. We only had one pit crew guy, Tenacious Todd, who was crewing for all of us. It was not the usual scene I was used to for a 24hr race. I took care of my bike, mixed my own bottles, and fiddled with my lights for the whole night. It was hectic, but it was a good hard training day/night. I brought both my Era and my 29er hardtail to do a direct comparison. I love them both but for different reasons. I am definitely faster on the technical descents on the Era’s full suspension, but the 29er climbs like a bat out of hell and smooths out all the rollers and bumps. Both bikes weigh about 21lbs and have the new SRAM XX 2×10 drivetrains that I love! It simplifies shifting and makes dropping a chain a non-issue.
We swept the field in Targhee with Ketchum riders. I won the women’s division and was second overall. Greg won men’s open on a singlespeed, Chris and Mike H were 2nd and 3rd, and Mike S was the first single speed male. It was a impressive showing!
Cheers
Reba