Hello!

As some of you may already know I am in Moab for the 24hr race, and have thoroughly been enjoying the warm weather here. The riding is out of this world, and I am with a great group of friends. If you are in the area there is a athlete meet and greet, and the details can be found at this link.

I am racing women’s duo with Gretchen Reeves from CO.  She’s an elite adventure racing, mtb racer and good friend. I am not racing solo because I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do this season and more!  I really wanted to be in Moab because there are always a ton of friends here from Idaho and everywhere else.  Not that riding for 12 hours instead of 24 is easy, but it’s a different experience.  The pace is higher, so in some ways it’s harder, but my body won’t be completely trashed for a month afterwards like it is from a solo 24.  So, I’ll be able to get back in the saddle again more quickly and recover for the Ecuador race in November.

We fled the first snowfall of the season in Ketchum and came down to Moab a week early to ride.  It’s been 70 and beautiful weather down here.  I came down with Karoline, Muffy, Claudia and Greg, our whole 24 Hour National championship team from 2008.  We are still the reigning champions til Saturday.  In honor of our race last year, we rode Slickrock trail in our Stars and Stripes jerseys!  It was the first time I’ve worn that jersey while riding. Unfortunately, they couldn’t all stay to defend our title, so that’s why I’m racing duo with Gretchen in hopes of earning another National champ jersey.

Greg and I pre-rode the course yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised that some of the technical bits were easier for me and didn’t seem as terrifying as they have in the past.  However, I will say that the course is exceptionally sandy this year which will make for some frustrating riding.

Our posse down here includes 35 friends/racers from Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, so there will be plenty of company, food, cheering and race stories.

You can follow the race online in real time at :

http://grannygear.com/Races/Moab/index.shtml

Gretchen and I are racing as team Specialized/Tokyo Joes

Greg is racing solo single speed for Spot/Dale’s Pale Ale

Cheers

Reba