It was also really great for me to see a bunch of my sponsors getting behind this first year race.  Thanks to Specialized, Light and Motion, Hammer Nutrition, Buff and Beyond Coastal all came on board.  I tried out the brand new Light and Motion Seca 1400 and it’s fabulously bright.  I’m sure that’s why my night lap was as fast as my day laps.

Q: I’d like to know… what’s the aspect of your life that is most transferable to people like me, who work in business? Are there any lessons you’ve learned in your amazing career as a professional athlete that is portable enough for someone like me, a young business person, to apply to my own life?

A: It’s very simple, but seems to take years to learn.  It’s the same stuff they teach you in kindergarten.  Try hard, never quit, surround yourself with good people, treat others as you would like to be treated, choose a career/activities that you are passionate about and never, never quit.

I know I said “never quit” twice, but that seems to be one of the main keys to success that I’ve learned.  Even when something seems impossible and they are not going well, just keep working and many times your persistence will pay off in the end.  I’ve won many races after  being sick, being slow, getting flat tires, but just plugging along.

The giveaways are going great and we are excited to announce the August contest prize from Hammer Nutrition, a full recovery package! As always, I will choose the best question that lands in my email inbox. So ask away and send them in to askreba@rebeccarusch.com

Athletes have no trouble pushing themselves during workouts and putting in tough training days. However, this is only part of the equation. Many of us fall short in the recovery process. You can train like a champion, but if you do not recover like one as well, you’re not squeezing 100% of the benefit out of your workouts. Training and breaking down muscle is just step #1. Where you actually get stronger and faster is then allowing your muscles to recover from that training effort. It’s taken me years to figure this out, but I’m finally learning to take my recovery as seriously as my training.

The best question this month will win some of my favorite recovery tools.

Hammer Nutrition Recoverite is my recovery drink of choice.  I make up a shake immediately after every hard workout and race.  It restores gylcogen stores and starts to rebuild muscle tissue right away.

My favorite Recoverite recipe after a freezing spring ride in the mountains: strawberry Recoverite mixed with hot cocoa.

We will also throw in the Super Antioxidant and the AO Booster too! So you will have all your nutritional recovery needs met. All you have to do is get out and train!

The second essential recovery item that I can’t live without are Skins compression tights.  These babies are scientifically engineered with gradient compression to provide the correct level of surface pressure to specific body parts.  What all this does is improve circulation to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and remove metabolic waste.  You recover faster.  I wear these after races, on the plane, between stages in a multi-day event.  There are a bunch of compression products out there, but Skins is the only one with hard science behind their designs. If you win this Hammer and Skins recovery package, you are guaranteed to be faster! Below you can see me drinking Recoverite before I even take off my filthy kit after a stage of the Cape Epic. Send your best and most creative questions to askreba@rebeccarusch.com for your shot to win!

It’s been awhile since I have caught up and written some sort of blog that is remotely entertaining! The last two weeks have been full of riding, some racing, and some relaxing at home. As you probably know, the Cascade Creampuff 100 was a tremendous success and a great launching pad for me going into Leadville. There are some race details and results posted on their website, as well as a few nice photos. From there I catapulted into PR world in Keystone, CO for the Specialized dealer event. This is one of the most fun trips for me ever year. Seeing, riding, and just hanging out with the dealers is a great little mid-summer vacation. The riding in Colorado was epic, the new Epic 29er was epic, and the well you know what I mean! The boys from Bicycle Therapy have quite a photo gallery up on Flickr to check out too.

Today is probably the first time that I will be racing at home that I can remember. It is the annual Whit Henry Memorial Galena Grinder race. Whit was a local mountain biker who passed away in a car accident at a very young age. The whole valley comes out and races and enjoys the trails at Galena Lodge. The marathon race is 46 miles, and has tons of climbing and some pretty stiff out of town competition. I’m really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, making breakfast at home, and then swimming in my favorite swimming hole afterwards!

I am also working on a new website as well. A new design, more features, and a better more functional layout. We will be continuing the giveaways, adding gear reviews, and adding some more video features too. So keep an eye out. Until then, make sure to get your entries in for the Ask Reba July Giveaway for some sweet Smith Sunglasses.

Happy Trails

I have been all over the west this past week. From racing in Oregon for the Cascade Creampuff 100, to riding in Keystone, CO for the Specialized Dealer Event. It has been nothing but fun though, even with a few delayed flights and time spent hanging out in airports and cars. The Creampuff was a success on all levels. I placed first in the women and 10th in the mens category, which makes me feel fit again moving into Leadville. The race length definetly played into my abilities well, and I’m stoked to be back on form. I did manage to have a small run in with a pine tree in Oregon, but we hugged and I was left with a little bruise.

Now I am in Keystone testing and chatting with Specialied dealers and media from across the country about the new 2011 bikes. Every year the bikes keep getting better and better, which I can never understand. How do they keep getting stiffer and lighter, yet more comfortable…Anyways I will be back in Sun Valley soon to gear up for the Leadville 100. I was recently interviewed for the new Race Across the Sky movie for this season which made me even more excited for the event! Meanwhile, don’t forget to email in to askreba@rebeccarusch.com for your chance to win Smith Pivlock V90 sunglasses. Just ask me a question, most creative and original wins!

Happy Trails

Q: My question is about Specialized Epic Marathon 29’er…have you ridden this MTB besides as a test but in the race environment? You’re honest to goodness thoughts here please. I’m researching a late season possible purchase wanting to jump into the 29 scene. Oh yeah – at 6’4” & 190lbs I think a 29’er (wagon wheeler) would suit my body’s geometry would use it for 3, 6 12 & 24hr racing also.

RR: I did a 24 hour solo race last year and I specifically wanted to test out the difference between my S-Works Stumpjumper carbon hard tail 29er and my S-Works Era with 26 inch wheels and Brain suspension.  I did multiple laps all day and night switching bikes back and forth.  My lap times were really similar, but the bikes were totally different on the same course. On the Era, I could rip through the technical downhill twisty single track much faster.  On the Stumpy 29, I rolled over the lumpy grass sections with ease and up an over the small ledge climbs.  The Era with the Brain Suspension allowed me to stay seated and let my legs recover more often than the hard tail.  I love both bikes and I race them both.  I choose depending on the style of the course.  However, I did come away from that experiment last year thinking that if I could only have ONE mountain bike (God forbid), then the perfect bike would be a Specialized S-works 29er Era and it would combine the best of both worlds.  Well, for the Epic, it already exists.  I say go for it.  P.S.  The 29er revolution is no longer a “scene”, but now here to stay.  Go demo one and I bet your decision will be made.

For a ride review check this editorial out.

Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get to attend the SRAM 2 x 10 product launch in Ashland OR.  They organized a multi-day ride camp with full tech support, a bunch of media, shuttle service and the full line of SRAM 2 x 10 for everyone to sample.   I’ve been riding 2 x 10 for about 8 months now, but it was the first time for many of the riders.  The SRAM engineers and designers also broke things down and explained the technology behind the designs, the reasons why this stuff works so well and how it all goes together.  I know it works like a dream from my own riding and racing experience, but it was really cool for me to understand why it works better.  The camp took place in Ashland, OR and we were hosted by United Bicycle Institute for all our class room sessions and bike tunes.  SRAM arranged multiple shuttles and rides every day and it was a big change for me to get driven up the hill, dropped off, then ride down.

I left the Era and the 29er hardtail at home and instead had a Safire and Enduro that I was playing around with all week.  It was a totally different style of riding and really good skills session for me to ride with Rad Ross Schnell, Kirt and Lindsay Voreis, Greg Herbold and Nathan Riddle.  I was definitely schooled, but loved watching and learning  some downhill skills from them.  The graduation from our 4 day riding camp was to race the Ashland Super D.  It’s a 13 mile descent with wicked fast single track, a few little jumps and lots of tight switchbacks.  The riding was not as technical as a traditional downhill, but you could definitely scare yourself and the speed was only limited by your own fear.  I rode the Safire for the race and it was the perfect choice for this course.  I entered the women’s pro division and ended up finishing a respectable 4th place in a strong field.  I was a couple of minutes off Kelli Emmett’s winning time.  I was elated to get down in one piece, but as soon as I was finished with my run, I wanted to head back up for another one to try to go faster!  Even though these Super D races are not my forte, I love taking part in them and pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone.  Thanks SRAM for a really great experience!

Check out the following videos and blogs from DirtTale’s website.

Ashland Welcome

Day Two Video

Race Day Video

Greg and I came up to Leadville, CO yesterday on our way to Breckenridge.  We did a great little spin around the Mineral Belt Trail that circumnavigates the town and has a bunch of mining historical signs and equipment. It was really interesting and great to spin the travel out of the legs. Man, do I feel the altitude though!  It’s so beautiful up here, but the air is thin at 10,200 ft.  We had dinner with some of the LT100 staff and the race director for the first annual 12 and 24 Hours of Leadville.  I got really excited talking to him about the course that he has designed for the event in September.  It’s going to be an awesome event, and in typical Leadville fashion, HARD!

I am getting really excited for the challenge of the Firecracker 50 on Sunday. We are heading to Breckenridge right now to get ready. The race itself is a good hi-intensity prep for me as it is shorter than my usual events, and the competition is stiff.

Here’s a course profile to get you thinking about it.  Yes, they will have really sweet belt buckles for the solo riders who complete the designated number of laps. It’s refreshing to be up here experiencing the place without the pressure of racing.  We watched the marathon and 1/2 marathon racers head off this morning and now we’re hanging in the coffee shop catching up.  The rest of the day will be making our way to Breckenridge and picking up our registration numbers for the Firecracker 50, then getting the bikes and nutrition ready for tomorrow’s race.  Have a great weekend and a happy and safe Fourth of July.

The week long Rhythm and Ride festival was a blast.  There were events nearly every day and there were more people on bikes this week than I’ve ever seen at home.  I am really glad I was home to experience it.  The festival had everything from the 100 mile road ride to pump track State Finals!  Greg was on his way to a 2nd place finish when he got a time penalty for a pedal stroke that put him out of the podium. And by the way, Adults were WAY outnumbered at the Idaho Pump Track State Championships about a block from my house!

Coming up this week are the Wood River Cup short track finals and a couple more hard training days before heading to Breckenridge for the Firecracker 50 on the 4th of July.  It’s USAC marathon nationals and part of the high altitude training plan for Leadville.  My couple of weeks here at home have changed my whole outlook.  I’m feeling super good again and ready to hit this next round of hard races.

We also had the Sawtooth century this weekend which was a great group, super good climbs and a solid, hard workout for my training schedule.  I earned Queen of the Mountain bragging rights by climbing to Galena summit the fastest of the women.  Of course, Kristin Armstrong did not show up this year or the result would have been quite different. We also had the Club Ride Apparel Poker Ride which was a blast. It was a super fun going out early and setting up the orienteering check points.  Thanks to Suunto for the punches and flags.  Riders went to at least 5 of 7 points.  When they got back and showed their maps, they were dealt a hand.  The top male poker hand won a Club Ride jersey and shorts.  Top female poker hand won a Light and Motion Seca!  Check out this cool video that was posted about the event.

Happy Trails