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