Argentina to Chile and Back: 6 Times

Buenas,

This week in San Martin de los Andes has been an awesome week of rest, training and the time honored tradition of having the locals show off their home trails.  I’ve had a sweet cabin all to myself and the opportunity to catch up on sleep and emails.  Every day consists of a lazy morning drinking coffee and communicating with the world, then some bike training in the morning, a group ride in the afternoon and home made cooking in the evening. Yesterday I did a great workout and rode up to the base of the ski area called Chapelco.  There was a dusting of snow on the top of the mountain.  I did two 20 minute sub-lactate threshold intervals with the Kings of Leon in my ears for motivation.  In the afternoon, I did a 2nd workout with the local riders during siesta.  It was a mixture of ages from 15 to 45 and a huge variety of downhill and XC bikes from brands I have never heard of to carbon Enduros. The ride was a complete maze of cow tracks, hand built jump trails and dirt roads.  There is a complex network of trails here that are shared by the cyclist, the local Mapuche, horses and hikers.  It seems to work pretty well.  It’s sort of like the streets in the town.  There are no stop signs, stop lights or any sort of traffic controlling measures.  However, the flow seems to work and everyone just moves fluidly around each other in cars, on bikes, on horseback and on foot.  I have not seen one altercation yet.  It’s the mellow South American vibe, I guess.

The other day also included a trip to the local fire station to check out their equipment, say hello and see how the emergency services function here.  The fire community is a family just like cycling.  You can go anywhere in the world and have an instant connection due to a shared passion.

This weekend I went to Chile for a marathon mountain bike race around the volcano in Osorno.  It seems every town has their local volcano. There were supposed to be a bunch of riders from San Martin heading over there, but the weather forecast was for high winds, rain and 40 degree F temps. Most people bailed, but my coach put this on the training schedule so I begged a ride from some locals and went for a good dose of suffering. I figure that’s why I’m over here anyway, so I might as well get in as much training as possible. We drove for 5 hrs, stayed in the Bates Motel, stood in the rain for 3 hrs, then they cancelled the race! To top it off our normal 5 hour drive home took 8, as we were stopped at the border for no apparent reason. It wasn’t a total loss though as I did plenty of EMT studying in the car. It’s a good thing I’m doing all of this riding because this area is famous for three of my favorite things:  red wine, beef and chocolate!

Reba

Feb 08, 2010 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Final Tour Dates & Locations Announced

Jan 22, 2010 | Blog | 2 Comments »

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 »

Short Vuelta Wrap-Up

Morning,

Whew! Back on the internet for the first time since the race.  The race went great and we won the mixed team division by about an hour. I’m not sure of exact times, but we had about 25 minutes lead each day I think on the next mixed team.  We were somewhere between 10th and 15th in the overall classification.  Again, i haven’t seen exact results, but we finished pretty high up overall.

(more…)

Dec 01, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Showing Boise Some Love

Hello Everyone,

Monday means time to catch up, and it’s a little hard to stay inside on the computer when it is beautiful outside. The new gondola here in Sun Valley is spinning, meaning people are in garages waxing skis and already telling tall tales! Last weekend as most of you know, there was an encore showing of Race Across the Sky in Boise. I wanted to share some photos from last weeks fun.

I threw the party at G Fit Studio where my mechanic Jason holds court along with exercise physiologist, Corey Hart.  Fearing no one would show up for the party, I did a media blitz in Boise with an appearance on the Channel 7 evening news.  I also did a radio spot with the most listened to morning show in Boise, 94.9 The River.  That was topped off with a great story in the Idaho Statesman newspaper. I also cruised around to local bike shops and coffee shops and putting up flyers and chatting with local cyclists. The response has been great from these little, more personal shop visits and the fans are loving it!

The plan worked and over 100 people jammed into G Fit Studio to eat, drink and get prepped for the Race Across the Sky movie showing.  We spent a couple hours mingling over food, Red Bull, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Prosecco.  I hosted a free raffle with three tables full of great products from SRAM, KT Tape, Suunto, Light and Motion, Hammer Nutrition, Hydrapak, Skins compression tights, Smartwool, Smith Optics and Buff.  Free food, free drink and free gear!  Everyone seemed very happy!

After the party, the crowd moved over to the movie theater.  This was the 2nd showing of Race Across the Sky in Boise.  The first showing sold out and this one was no different.  I was glad that I had purchased 10 tickets online for myself and a few others.  It was actually oversold and a few of us ended up sitting on the floor to watch the film.  The Boise cycling community is super active and it was great to here them cheer when I came onto the screen.  It was a great night and the film gets me fired up for the 2010 bike racing season! Thanks to everyone who helped with the Boise movie event, especially Jason Bauer at G Fit, Shea Andersen and Outside Media. You are all awesome! – Reba

Nov 16, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Boot Camp and Pump Tracks

Morning!

Boot camp is going well.  Last week was multiple days of long threshold intervals.  The last one of those was yesterday and consisted of 8 minute hill repeats, five times on Trail Creek Road.   It was brutal but better than the intervals a couple days before. I already feel like my form is coming back a little and my body is being reminded of what it is supposed to do.  I did enjoy the casual schedule for the last month, but now it does feel good to get back into some work and feel my legs and lungs responding appropriately.  This week will consist of intervals again every other day, but way shorter and way harder.  After this week, it tapers down until Cotopaxi.  This has been a super compressed training peak, but I’m sure I still have residual fitness from the whole year of racing.  I also trust my coach, Matthew.  He has never steered me wrong and he’s way smarter than I am.  The weather has cooperated really well for the training schedule too.  It has been cold, but clear.  It’s the time of year where each day, I look outside and hope that I won’t have to do a workout in the rain or snow.  So far, so good!  I’ve also been able to rally a few training partners to join me on some of the workouts, so it keeps me honest.  Yesterday, the Ipod was the motivating training partner.  A friend of mine plays in a disco band called Sparkle Motion.  He made me a disco playlist and I must say, I was ripping up those hill repeats to Shake Your Booty, Disco Inferno, It’s Raining Men, etc.  You KNOW you remember those lyrics!

This week is also full of planning for the encore showing of Race Across the Sky, the Leadville 100 film.  This time around, I’m heading to Boise to introduce the film and host a pre-party before the show. Click here:  http://georgescycles.com/ for info on the Boise showing and pre party at G  Fit Studio.

If you don’t live in Idaho, but still want to see the film, click here: http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/Sports/RaceAcrossTheSkyENC.aspx Put in your zip code to see if the movie is playing near you.  It’s one night only, so don’t miss it.

Pictures here are Greg and I playing on the new pump track a block from our house.  It’s so much fun and now makes me realize, I need another bike!!!  A friend of ours won this Specialized P3 in a raffle and he’s been kind enough to “store” it at our house.  We’re just making sure it gets a good workout.  The track is awesome.  I just usually have to wait for all the kids to go home for dinner before I drop in, so I don’t embarrass myself.

Cheers

Reba

Nov 09, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Race Across the Sky Encore!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hilary Hutcheson, PR Director

hilary@outsidemedia.com

Leadville 100 Champ to Make Special Guest Appearance

At Encore Showing of “Race Across the Sky”

 
Rebecca Rusch will be featured at the Boise screening of the highly-anticipated documentary 
 

Boise, ID – November 5, 2009 Rebecca Rusch, three-time reining 24-Hour Solo Mountain Biking World Champion, will attend an encore presentation in Boise of Race Across The Sky, the new documentary about one of the most intense endurance mountain bike races of all time, the Leadville Trail 100.  The Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race covers 100 miles of challenging terrain, climbing 9,000 feet in elevation and dipping into the valleys in Leadville, Colorado.  Rebecca won this year’s Leadville event, sharing the podium with Lance Armstrong.

The film will show nationwide on Thursday November 12^th.  Rebecca will be on hand for the screening in her home state of Idaho at the Edwards Boise Stadium 22 & IMAX, 7701 W. Overland Road. Showtime is 9pm, and Rebecca will be at the door to greet attendees of the show, sign posters and hand out free gear from her sponsors, including Specialized, Red Bull and KT Tape.  She’ll also mingle with riders and fans at a special pre-party for the documentary beginning at 7pm at George’s Cycle & Fitness G Fit Studio,1414 W. Grove Street in Boise.

This one-night encore screening of Race Across the Sky will be shown concurrently across the county.  The documentary, depicting the 2009 Leadville Trail 100 bike race, features candid conversations with elite and amateur riders, including Rebecca, as they compete in one of the most high-profile mountain biking races in the sport.  Rebecca was in New York City last month for the film’s premiere.  The first screening was intended to be a “one time only” showing, but this special encore presentation of Race Across the Sky was added after fans packed theaters and demanded another shot at seeing this incredible film.

“I’m so excited to be a part of this documentary,” Rusch said. “The race itself was amazing. But to be able to share the experience through this film is going to be awesome for racing enthusiasts. The premiere showings sold out so quickly, I’m glad they’ve added a second screening for all the people who couldn’t make it or missed out on tickets the first time around.”

Rebecca is available for interviews.  Contact hilary@outsidemedia.com if you’d like to meet her.  Tickets for Race Across The Sky are available at individual theaters or online.  Check the Fathom website for locations and ticket information.

Adventure racing calls for a deep well of skills: paddling, rock climbing, biking, navigating, skiing, and more. Since turning pro in 2001, Rebecca Rusch has proven to the world she has what it takes to execute any of the above even after going beyond her limits in far flung places like Kyrgyzstan and Tibet. After winning adventure races became routine, she added 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike racing to her résumé and proceeded to dominate the sport, and is currently three-time World Champion. Rusch blogs daily about her adventures and training and her thoughts can be found here at http://rebeccarusch.wordpress.com/.

www.rebeccarusch.com.

Nov 06, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Fires, Ecuador Bootcamp, and Leadville Encore

Morning,

This week has been hectic.  The three-week boot camp that my coach Matthew concocted is under way in hopes of pulling one last mini peak out of my body for the last race of the year.  I head to Ecuador in a couple of weeks for an awesome 2 day stage race around Cotopaxi volcano.  Since Moab, I’ve had a bit of downtime, but the party’s over right now.  The next two weeks are hard workouts every other day.  Monday started with two 20 minute lactate threshold intervals.  Today will be four 8 minute hard efforts.  The intervals get shorter and more intense as the race approaches.  I’m enjoying the structure, but the fall mountain weather is making it tricky to get out and motivate. Some days, the weather is majestic with a little frost in the morning to keep the trails firm and temperatures warming into the 60’s.  These days, I am on cloud 9 and loving the fall leaves, the sun, the dusting of snow on the peaks.  Other days, it’s bitter cold, gray, icy with temperatures in the low 40’s.  These days, my teeth chatter and my hands are numb and the workouts creep by much more slowly.  The neoprene booties, wool socks, knickers, hats, jackets are all right at the front door and ready.  Rain is in the forecast in the next couple of days, so it could make these already hard workouts even more character building.

I did miss my planned long workout over the weekend, but for very good reason.  All of the Wood River Valley fire and medical resources were stretched thin when a call for a multiple car accident with numerous patients was paged out.   Ambulances, air ambulances, fire engines with extrication equipment and emergency medical personnel were all called to action.  Less than an hour later, a page went out for a house fire in the rural district.  This meant more engines, more people and more resources.  Our department is a combination of full time and on call staff.  At any given time, we could be paged out and most emergencies cannot be handled by the full time staff alone. It’s up to the on call staff, like me, to drop everything and go help.   I ended up on standby for the motor vehicle accident because at least one ambulance had to remain within city limits in case of a third emergency.  After the first motor vehicle accident was cleared, my crew was released to go out and assist with the house fire.  The fire was extinguished by the time I arrived, but there were still hours of work doing overhaul and clean up.  Much of the roof had to be removed to be sure the fire was not still smoldering within parts of the building.  There were also hours of cleaning hoses, equipment and getting the engines back in order for the next call.  Although I missed a cycling workout, it was still a huge physical and emotional effort.

On a happier note and related to my other job, Race Across the Sky, the Leadville 100 movie will be showing for an encore in about 50 different theaters around the US on Thursday November 12.  The first showing was so well received that they’re showing it again!  For those of you who missed it the first time, check out

http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/Sports/RaceAcrossTheSky.aspx

for tickets, show locations and to watch the trailer. I am not shown in the trailer, but I promise you’ll see me in the film.  It’s a great movie and a very dramatic portrayal of endurance mountain bike racing.  If this film does not motivate you to ride, I don’t know what will!

Cheers

Reba

Nov 05, 2009 | Blog | 1 Comment »

Media Success in NYC

Hello,

I wanted to write a short blog and thank everyone who helped make my trip to New York City such a success. I would never have thought that such a short trip could have afforded me such exposure in mainstream media. The crew at Outside Media set up a wonderful trip and made appointments all over for me. Now that I am in planning mode personally for next season, I don’t know how they do it full time, it’s amazing.

During my trip I met with Laura from Travel & Leisure, and she wrote a blog about me and my favorite places to ride. Well lo and behold, it was picked up by the New York Times! You can check it out and share it with your friends, it’s a great feeling to be recognized by a media outlet that usually focuses on baseball and football. Already I have been receiving some queries from Women’s Health looking for bike tips, and  Shape Magazine also confirmed an article for March. The trip is paying off.

Thanks again to everyone who made this trip possible, and thanks to all my fans on all my social media sites. That is a new avenue I started this year, and the interaction is really fun for me. I look forward to more to come, and now I have to pack for South America!

Cheers

Reba

Nov 04, 2009 | Blog | 2 Comments »

Mountain Bike Magazine

I headed out to Emmaus, PA the other day while on my massive media your, to visit the Rodale Publishing offices of Bicycling and Mountain Bike magazines. They also have a lunch ride that heads out everyday, similar to the Specialized lunch ride. Except here in Pennsylvania, it isn’t at race pace, people talk and it’s social. I loved it. One of the best parts about riding is seeing new scenery and locales, and riding in Pennsylvania at this time of year was gorgeous. Check out the little write up they have in their website already. Thanks to everyone at Bicycling and Mountain Bike, as well as Outside Media for organizing everything!

Mountain Bike Story

Oct 22, 2009 | Blog | 1 Comment »

Wednesday Morning in New York

“Wow” is about how I would sum up this city. From the noise, the traffic, to the crowds of people it is hard to imagine living here full time. I would have to find an extra gear to handle this pace compared to Ketchum! This morning was great though and I had a meeting with Oprah Magazine that went really well. I am also extremely happy to be back on foot, as I rented a car yesterday to visit Rodale Publishers. Driving here is impossible, terrifying, death defying, and just about every other “fying” adjective I can think of. I’ll stick to walking as my preferred mode of transport around here, I might live longer that way.

Last night was the Toga Bikes clinic and it went perfectly. We talked mostly about endurance racing and one of the shop guys made a video that I will be posting soon for everyone. Tonight is when the real culture comes into play. Through the kindness of some well connected friends, I will be seeing Hamlet by Shakespeare tonight, front row center. I don’t think Specialized makes a ball gown…

Cheers

Reba

Oct 21, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Toga Training Clinic

ENDURANCE TRAINING CLINIC

with World Champion Cyclist REBECCA RUSCH

TOGA BIKES WESTSIDE

110 WEST END AVE
NEW YORK, NY 10023
212-799-9625

Tuesday October 20, 7:00 PM

Rebecca is a 3 time 24 hour solo mountain bike World Champion, multiple time National Champion, elite adventure racer, paddler and skier.  She has been a professional athlete for over 10 years and is joining us to share her tips and experience on training, racing and elevating your fitness to the next level.  This informal discussion will give you the chance to pick her brain on nutrition, gear, motivation and anything else you might want to know about endurance training.

Red Bull energy will be provided, schwag will be given away and admission is free!

Oct 11, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

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

Oct 09, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

New York City Media Extravaganza

Good Morning,

I am in Moab, UT getting ready for the 24 Hours of Moab, doing some minor photo shoots for some new content, and hanging out with the Ketchum contingent of friends and racers. I have been putting together a little media trip to NYC coming up on October 19th-22nd to do some rides and hopefully meet some new media contacts as well. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello.

Cheers

Reba

Oct 05, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Catching Up in Delaware

Whew,

In the last week I have been in three states, doing media and sponsor obligations, group rides, and now I am in Delaware. Yes, “The First State”. I am have switched roles from professional mountain bike racer to mother and student. It is quite the change. As some of you might have seen from pictures I posted on Facebook, I am teaching my sister’s daughters how to ride their bike, as well as taking them to school, and making their lunches. My nieces Kira (9) and Haley (6) are assuming the roles of my temporary children while my sister is at a work conference. Some time off from my life and taking on the role of someone else’s is fun! I will be here until Friday morning, living the quiet life on a military base and watching plenty of animated movies.

When I get back to Ketchum, I re-group and head south to Moab for the 24 hour race, where I am racing a duo team. This is one of my favorite races since tons of my friends from Ketchum travel down, Moab has awesome riding, and it is towards the end of the season. Nevertheless it is one more chance to put in a solid race finish!

Keep your eyes peeled for a new rebeccarusch.com as well, my friends on Montana at Chewy Creation are putting in the long hours doing a complete overhaul!

Cheers

Reba

Sep 30, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Thanks to Conte's

Hello,

After a long week of walking and smiling at Interbike I jumped on a plane and flew to Washington D.C. for a women’s only group ride. Even though all the little anodized trinkets, and 11 pound race bikes were exciting to look at, these group rides are way more fun because I love getting women involved in the sport and helping them grow. I want to say thanks to Conte’s and Specialized for organizing this event, it was a great success. Check out their website, or visit their shop if you are in the area.

Cheers

Reba

Sep 27, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

Made it to Vegas

Talk about a culture shock! After riding in a small group through the wilds and deserts of California, landing in the city of lights was a huge change. Temperatures through Furnace Creek reached 115, and we were fried. Arriving at the Outdoor Demo meant one thing, cold beverages and rest. Thankfully we headed into the hotel for a much needed shower and some down time.

Today is the first day at Interbike, and I am doing the rounds for my sponsors, hanging out at booths and schmoozing with the crowds and dealers. Tonight is CrossVegas at 8pm, and I’ll be sure to get some pictures for everyone. Here are a few photos from the last day of the Specialized ride, which was a huge success.

Cheers

Reba

Sep 23, 2009 | Blog | 2 Comments »

Interbike Ride Update #3

Hello!

The ride has been great so far, and my tan lines are filling in nicely. Yesterday we rode 100 miles in 4 hours with a ripping tailwind, and it felt awesome. And the best part was arriving early to the hotel pool for some R&R time. When the outside temps are around 100 degrees the pool is the best place on earth! We did manage to catch some europeans, or possibly triathletes, eyeing our new 2010 bikes.

Today we are riding from Lone Pine to Death Valley. 104 miles, 6800 ft of climbing, temps predicted to be 115 F!  Going to be a wild day!

Cheers

Reba

Sep 21, 2009 | Blog | 1 Comment »

It Begins!

Today was the start of the Specialized Group Ride to Las Vegas for Interbike. We are riding to help raise awareness and money for breast cancer, a subject that is close to many of us. I will be posting pictures along the way, as well as some text updates to spread the news. I’m sure there will be some funny storytelling, lots of suffering, and even more beautiful scenery. Here are a few photos from today’s start.

Cheers

Reba

Sep 17, 2009 | Blog | Leave A Comment »

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

Sep 01, 2009 | Blog | 1 Comment »