Stage 5 in the words of Jenny Smith

In the words of Jenny Smith,

Stage Five of the Trans Andes challenge was held today in Huilo Huilo national reserve. The stage was shortened and changed from the original route because of the weather and difficulty of the riding. It was a good idea to change it as we woke to rain and started in the rain, but maybe some details where missed due to the last minute decision to alter the course. Such as course marking and sufficent marsheling. So while we where riding we came upon, yesterdays course, todays original course, todays modified course and tomorrows course.
It created a good dose of chaos! Riders ended up everywhere from here to Argentina. Literally.
Rebecca is a survivor and an adventure racer so for better or worse we THINK we rode the correct course and our predicted 3 hours took 5 hours 30. We are worked over, so are our bikes, and equipment.
With such a late finish its been very hectic to try and get everything in order for the last day tomorrow.
Tomorrow we hope to cross into Argentina with our top ten position still in place. We believe we are in 9th. Fingers crossed for us all. Here are some funny pictures to showcase what our race has been like.

Cheers

Reba

Jan 31, 2010 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Trans Andes Update

Sorry for the silence. The internet and the facilities are less than desirable. The “media center” usually consists of a card table in the middle of a field with a generator and various foreign plug adaptors. There are two phone/internet plug ins for ALL the media and the race directors (and me!). Right now I’m trying to send pics and updates, but I’ve been sitting here for 25 minutes with a “good” connection and it’s still working on sending. That’s just the deal in the middle of the country in South America.

The race is going very well, and it has been such a great experience being here camping with everyone. A very “family” type environment where everyone is sharing/talking etc. You can check results and photos on the Trans Andes website. I will do my best to put together a full report soon!

Reba

Jan 29, 2010 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Final Tour Dates & Locations Announced

Jan 22, 2010 | Blog | 2 Comments »

Las Diosas

Morning,

Just got up from 10 hours of sleeping in a bed!  I arrived yesterday at 7am and was pretty much going all day building my bike, getting checked in, going to the 10x offices (the Specialized distributor who is hosting me).   I also did a great training ride (and FIRST time on the bike this year) of 45 km through the city with Carlos, an ex-racer and employee for 10x.  We rode out to one of the new Specialized dealers for a poster signing and group ride.  Luckily Carlos knew his was through the city and is an expert weaving in and out of traffic and finding all the good roads to ride on.  Today is a bit more training to wake up the legs from the winter, another shop visit and group ride in Buenos Aires and then packing up for the flight down to Bariloche to get ready for the race.

The Trans Andes is first, a 6 day stage race with an insane amount of climbing.  I am racing with Jenny Smith (Xterra specialist and mtb racer).  She rides for another large bike company that shall remain nameless, so we have chosen the neutral team name of Las Diosas (the goddesses).  I am not one to regularly call myself a goddess, but this is what all the locals were calling my mostly female Eco Challenge team in 1999 when we raced to a historic 4th place finish amongst mostly male teams. This is the first time I will be returning to the Lakes district of Patagonia since that Eco Challenge.  It is one of my all time favorite places in the world, so I wanted to honor the name I was given so many years ago by the locals.  Also, Jenny and I agree that no matter what bike we’re riding, our collective goal is to encourage and inspire women in all parts of the world to ride, race and explore on a bicycle!  So that’s how Las Diosas came about!

The 2nd race is a local marathon near the town of San Martin de los Andes.  Just a four hour tune up during the 10 day break between the stage races.  During this time I am being hosted by the Argentina Specialized Distributor.  I will be sharing a house with the National team coach and some of his riders.

The second stage race is Tour de la Patagonia (3 days) and I am racing with the super fit journalist, Heidi Volpe.  I met Heidi at 24 Hours of Moab and she writes for Outside Online as well as other various publications.  She’s bringing her a cycling photographer with her, Michael Darter, so we should come away from that race with good pictures and stories in addition to the great training experience. You can check the sites for race updates, but Jenny, Heidi and I will also be submitting race reports to CyclingNews.com and Singletrack.com among others.

Jan 22, 2010 | Blog | 2 Comments »

Whirlwind Weekend

The last six days have been incredibly busy. I have been backcountry skiing, packing for South America, and even made a day trip to Chicago from Idaho, and don’t forget the layover in LA too! I am finally on the road for Argentina and sat down in the airport to catch up. We spent three days in a cabin with a great group of friends skiing and relaxing. Outside of Stanley, ID is Copper Mountain which had a great safe snowpack, and some incredible skiing. Even though it wasn’t cycling, hiking up mountains all day is still great exercise, and a good way to get my mind off of racing for a bit. I’ll post all my photos to Flickr, and keep this post simple.

When we returned back from skiing, it was time to load up the bag once again for a whirlwind day of travel. I left at the crack of dawn for a day of power meetings at SRAM with the higher ups of the company. It was great to put some names to faces and discuss our future together. They have been incredibly helplful over the years and am excited to continue down the road with them.

When I returned at a lovely 1am the same day, due to inclement weather. I love that term…which usually means, “Ms. Rusch, we apologize, but we are going to have to bus you home instead of fly.” I ran to bed and crammed as much sleep as I could into five hours. It was time to head off to Argentina.

So here I sit, bags are checked, bikes are shipped, and I am off to South America for what is sure to be an epic adventure. Stay tuned for pictures and results of the racing as the scenery down there is going to be insane!

Jan 20, 2010 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Backcountry Here I Come!

I’m heading out this morning for 3 days of backcountry skiing in Stanley. The snow’s still grim down here, so we’re heading North for Greg’s B-day weekend with a small posse of friends, including my coach, Matthew. We’re staying at the Sawtooth Hotel, which is a newly restored historic hotel, with gourmet cooks running it and cooking for us. It’s the last getaway weekend before I leave for Argentina for a month of racing and training and the start of the season. It’ll still be great training walking up mountains all day for three days and way more interesting than sitting on the trainer in front of the TV.

I take a red eye flight Sunday night as soon as we’re back and head to SRAM World HQ in Chicago for power meetings with a couple of the marketing guys there.  It’s my first time to their offices and I’m only in the city for 10 hours before heading back home to pack.  Kind of a crazy schedule, but it was the only time to meet with them before heading to South America.  So, this weekend is the last bit of relaxation for a long time! I’ll be back in touch Monday with some photos as well. Enjoy your weekend!

Reba

Jan 15, 2010 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Mountain Town Movie Tour Dates

I will have the official venue list up shortly. But you can at least mark your calendar now!

Official show dates:

Sun Valley ID, Thursday February 25

Missoula MT, Thursday March 11

Carbondale CO, Tuesday March 16

Park City UT, Thursday March 18

Jackson Hole WY, Thursday March 25

Jan 13, 2010 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Last Minute Planning

I am a busy lady right now! Planning a trip with two races to South America is nothing I am new to, but for some reason it never gets any easier. This time I will be racing in two separate stage races in Argentina, which if you get the chance to visit, take it. The intensity of the weather and the rugged landscape are a photographers dream, and I am stoked to get to race down here again.

Last time I was in this area of the world was for the 1999 Eco Challenge when I raced with the first 3 woman 1 man team to ever place in the top 10 for an adventure race. We were 4th overall among a bunch of mostly male teams. I was really green as an adventure racer at that time and put this team together myself with the best adventure racers in the US. It was the beginning of my AR career. I remember the Argentina locals cheering for us at the finish and calling us “las diosas” (the goddesses!)  This part of the world is still one of my favorite places I have ever been. It’s great to be returning for such a long trip, on a bike this time, but still representing female athletes and racing with other strong women.

I will be competing in the TransAndes Challenge which is a five day stage race from Chile to Argentina on some of the most beautiful singletrack in the world. Jenny Smith, an endurance athlete from the USA, who is also an Xterra athlete will be pushing the pace for us. Racing with her will make a great training race for both of us. The race starts in the town of Pucon, which is one the larger dormant volcanoes in the area.

The Tour of Patagonia is the second race on the agenda, and is a three day race back to Chile. I will racing with a journalist, who by all means is not slow! Heidi Volpe is a freelance journalist and mtb athlete from the USA, that will be writing a story for both Outside Online, and hopefully for other publications as well.

Although I leave next Wednesday for South America, I have quite the full schedule for this week. Between training and packing, as well as organizing the movie tour, I am going to a two day backcountry skiing retreat for Greg’s birthday. A cabin in the Sawtooths and doing some hiking will be a great way to have a nice active weekend. Then on Monday I do a 12 hour whirlwind business day in Chicago to visit SRAM. I always like getting back to Illinois since I grew up in that area.

I’ll keep you posted on the events leading into the race!

Cheers

Reba

Jan 13, 2010 | Blog | 1 Comment »

Race Across the Sky Tour

Good Morning,

After seeing the success and enthusiasm for the limited showings of Race Across the Sky I have decided to put together a second tour that brings the movie to small mountain towns, where a lot of the core cycling community lives. Between sponsors and the PR firms I have helping me, I am extremely thankful for getting this show on the road! Yesterday, my best friend and production manager for the movie tour officially confirmed theaters in Sun Valley, Park City and Jackson Hole as stops on the Race Across the Sky movie tour! I just have a couple more towns to confirm and the tour route will be complete. Specialized has come on board as the presenting sponsor for the tour. Ergon, Red Bull and Adventure Medical Kits are also helping make this happen! Official times, locations and dates will be coming really soon.

I also came to the scary realization that in 2.5 weeks I will be starting a 5-day mountain bike stage race in Argentina, called the Trans Andes Challenge. I’m not proud to say it, but I have not touched a bike in about a month. I have been skiing, doing some off-season gym work and sort of staying active, but definitely not training. This race is absolutely a training race, but the thought of that much riding this early in the season is a little daunting. I vowed today that I will not watch any TV for the next two weeks, unless I’m on the trainer. Luckily, my teammate for this race, Jenny Smith, also lives in a really cold and snowy environment so we’ll both be jumping on the bikes for the first ride of the year as we line up at the start!

I’m going to watch TV and spin right now! Probably a bit of Grey’s Anatomy. I sort of feel like I’m studying my EMT stuff when I watch that show. At least I understand most of the medical terms they use. I also did a small photo shoot for Fitness Magazine yesterday with my friend Nate Galpin at the Fire Department, needless to say the other engineers were making fun of me! Check out the video trailer below, and I hope to see you at the showings.

Jan 08, 2010 | Blog | 2 Comments »