October 1-2 was a really fun riding day, and I mean a full riding day.  I haven’t raced a 24 Hour event all season.  When I heard that USAC National Championships was being held in Colorado Springs, home of SRAM’s Avid and Rockshox office, I decided that SRAM needed to have a women’s team represented!  It was a last minute effort, but I rallied some fast Colorado friends who I normally have to race against.
Jenny Smith, Sonya Looney and Kelly Boniface are regulars on the endurance, XC and XTerra podiums.  We’ve lined up against each other multiple times this season.  If I couldn’t find three other fast friends, I was stuck with the thought of racing 24 Hour Nationals as a solo or duo.  I had not really wrapped my head around that and it wasn’t my first choice at all.  To commit to a solo 24 Hour race takes a rock solid desire and focus to put yourself through that kind of an ordeal.  My mind just wasn’t in that place this late in the season.

Instead, the four of us got our schedules coordinated and entered the race just four days before the event!  The last minute entry worked out fine because we’ve all raced a ton before and everyone showed up with their bikes and gear dialed.  The big difference with 24 Hour racing is all the camping gear and extra comforts you need to bring for a full day of riding and racing.  I just showed up with my bike and lights and pretty much borrowed all the camping gear.

I was sort of in the middle of a rest phase, so the thought of 5 all out race pace laps was a little scary.  I wasn’t sure how my legs would respond.
We pre-rode the course and I have to admit I was intimidated.  We stopped multiple times to work out lines and muster up the courage to ride them.  It was so much easier as a group and I pretty much let everyone else go first to test out the lines.  Seeing Sonya or Kelly ride them first always helps and gave me a bit more courage.  After the pre-ride, I went back to SRAM and asked them to put a Reverb dropper seatpost on my bike.  I was able to ride all the lines, but at night, when you are tired, the confidence of being able to drop your saddle was worth it.

Jenny led out the first lap since she loves to run and is a super fast starter.  She ripped a super fast lap and was the first female into the hand off zone.  I was 2nd, then Sonya and Kelly.  We kept our same order the whole race and all ended up doing the same number of laps.  My first lap was the slowest for the whole team and I was a bit bummed about it.  I was riding really conservatively because I didn’t really remember all the technical sections and kept thinking something hard was lurking around the next corner.  I rode way to conservatively and when I finished my lap, I realized they had removed two of the really technical sections that we had practiced.  After that lap, I vowed to take a few more chances and make up for my slow lap.  The 2nd lap was better for everyone once we got to know the course and the lines.  It was a super fun course and for sure kept your attention the whole time.  There were sand pits, rock drops, lots of twisty turns and really abrupt direction changes.  It was a blast for a team racer, but I kept feeling really sorry for the solos because it required some major power to get up and over the rocks.  Even the descents were not relaxing.

With nighttime came my favorite part of 24 Hour racing.  I absolutely love riding at night because it changes your whole perspective.
I raced with a ton of light!  I ran the Light and Motion Seca 1400 on my helmet and Seca 900 on my handle bars.  Since I was only doing one lap at a time and not worried about conserving batteries, I cranked them both on high power and lit up the trail.  Both my night laps were exactly the same time and the fastest female night laps for the race.

The whole team was super supportive and I loved having three built in cheerleaders with me.  24 Hour team racing is so much fun because you are sort of racing your teammates in order to churn out a good time for the group.  It’s the best of individual riding combined with team camaraderie.
It’s so rewarding to share the effort with a team.  I loved the 24 hour solo racing I’ve done, but the isolated feeling of being out there all day and night alone is quite different from running high energy hot laps on a team.

Thanks Jenny, Kelly and Sonya for a really great day and a National Championship Stars and Stripes jersey!
I’m adding this one to the 24 Hour solo, two person and four person collection!

Jenny led us off with the fastest women’s lap of the whole race and set the bar pretty high.  I was next and I have to admit that my first lap wasn’t really all that stellar.  I felt sort of confused by the course and didn’t really know the lines or find my flow on that first lap.  I got it figured out by the 2nd lap though.  All of us were really consistent with our lap times and there were no dramatic crashes or mechanicals.  The night laps were absolutely my favorite ones.  Since we were racing as a team and there was no issue with battery conservation, I ran a Light and Motion Seca 1400 and a Seca 900 to really light up the whole trail.  It has been a while since I’ve raced at night and now I remember why I love it so much.  It’s like a video game and the laps go by so much faster.  The lack of sleep is not something that I miss from 24 Hour racing, but I did manage a couple of 90 minute cat naps between laps. We all ended up doing 5 laps each and Kelly brought in the final lap for our National Championship win!

This rounds out the 24 Hour Nationals Stars and Stripes jersey count to four!  I will say that racing on a 24 Hour team is a blast.  There is such a great vibe sharing the experience, but still riding your own pace.  I was out on each lap going as fast as I could to make sure I didn’t let the team down.  Racing 24 hours on a team might be one of my favorite ways to race.  I love the endurance factor, the team aspect, the team bond and trying to stay fresh to rip multiple laps on little sleep.  Jenny, Kelly and Sonya were so much fun to race with and so positive and SO FAST!  I already miss riding around in circles with them!

Up next, I jetted off to LA to visit the Red Bull Performance Division for my annual V02 max testing and also some new sci-fi brain performance testing.  Red Bull offers some amazing tools to their athletes to help us be the best we can be.  I’ve not done any of the brain training yet with them, so this will be a new experience for me.  I’m super curious to see what they find going on inside my head. I sat in a chair with wires attached to my head, clicked a button when I saw lights flash, it was a bit surreal and videogame-like. I’ll keep you posted on what they discover!

After LA, I blitzed straight to NYC for some amazing city mountain bike riding!  SRAM / Specialized pro, Katie Holden and I will be hosting Meet the Pros on Thursday night at Sid’s Bike Shop   All day Saturday, we are offering FREE women’s mountain bike clinics on the amazing dirt trails at Highbridge Park.  The SRAM 2×10 Ride Experience van will be there with bikes to try.  The demo and meet the pros are open to anyone.  The ride clinics are women only!  I can’t wait to see what riding mountain bikes in Manhattan is going to be like.  From the videos, it looks amazing!  Come by if you’re in the area, and please check this site out for all the information.

Jenny and I got through the week with a pretty clean slate.  Jenny had a flat on day one and a mechanical problem with her hub on day 5, but nothing that was race ending. We both went through a set of brake pads each and did the changes and maintenance on our own.  Well, we did have a little help from Mike Broderick, our camp neighbor!  We each had one rough day physically, but this was also nothing that was race ending.  For early season miles, we were both really happy with how our legs performed and how quickly we slipped into pedaling again.

I was really happy that Jenny and I ended up being compatible race partners and camping companions.  I can relate to her Kiwi sense of humor and we both have the racing maturity to get through multiple day events.  It takes a lot of planning, patience, teamwork and self-preservation to come out the other end of one of these events unscathed.  I am a little scathed from a high speed gravel crash on day 6, but otherwise all that remains from the race are some great memories and hopefully some killer fitness.

We both went into this race with the intention of some awesome early season training and a bit of adventure.  We got both.  Although some of the route information seemed inaccurate, courses changed during the event and my odometer died on day 5, we rode somewhere around 500km this week and an estimated 30,000 ft of climbing in approximately 25 hours of racing.  Not bad for 6 days of training in January!  I have no idea how we finished in the overall rankings.  The race results that are posted do not add up, so it’s difficult to tell.  I can tell you that only 18 teams finished day 5, including us, so technically less than ½ the field completed the whole course.  It was not an easy task and I feel really good about our achievement.  The Virgo in me would really love to see accurate race results and exact mileages and be able to compare our performance against the other athletes, but I’m practicing my patience and just chalking it up to a great travel and training experience.

I would recommend this race, but would caution anyone interested to come with the intention of being self sufficient with bike maintenance, camping comforts, route finding and bring plenty of travel and race experience. This is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world and getting to see it on your bike is the best way to travel.

I have two more weeks here of training and racing.  The next stop is the Tour de la Patagonia, a 3-day stage race in this same area! I have created a set of photos on Flickr for all to see as well.

Cheers

Reba

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

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.

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