News from Reba ....
As Reba prepares for the defence of her World 24 hour title this weekend, here is a recap of her recent races.
By Reba:
This summer has been jam packed with some great racing for me. All of these races have been part of the master plan leading up to 24 Hour World Championships on July 26th. My coach, Matthew and I, made a few changes to this season’s race schedule to include a lot more cycling specific training that began in February and quite a few shorter races to work on my speed. The season is now in full swing and the benefits of the many hours of training are paying off. Below is a quick re-cap of the most recent races on the road to 24 Hour Worlds.
National Ultra Endurance Series, Mohican 100, May 31, Ohio:
Reba on start line beside Floyd Landis
This 100 miler was full of fun single track and some stiff competition. It was a last minute decision to go to this race as a good long training day and a chance to see my Mom, who’s living in Illinois. I felt pretty flat during this race, but it was a great day of training and after over 9 hours of racing, I ended up taking 2nd place by just over a minute.
Wild Rockies Cross country race, June 7th, Salmon ID
Cross country racing really isn’t my strength, but I’ve been throwing these 2 hr races into the mix to work on my speed and bike handling and for a great training day. It’s always hard for me to train as hard as I race, so these short races have been great intensity workouts for me. I was outnumbered in this race and was the only pro female who was not part of the Idaho Team Tamarack. I was pretty tired for this race due to some hard training that week, but ended up taking the win. In these shorter races, it takes me a while to get the engine going and I usually don’t catch people until the end. For most of the race, I was in 3rd place. I ended up moving into 2nd about 30 minutes before the finish. I was about a minute back from the lead, but found out after crossing the finish line that she had taken a wrong turn and was not officially ranked. So I ended up winning, but not knowing it while I was riding.
USA Cycling Ultra Endurance Series, Cowbell Challenge, June 21, North Carolina
This 12 Hour race was a very fun technical course. The laps were only 35-40 minutes each, but it kept your attention the whole time. It was hard to take my hands off the bars to eat and drink. It was a great race to work out my logistics with fueling and transitions for a long, multi-lap race format. I also ended up with a win here and earned points that moved me into the lead for the overall USAC Ultra Endurance Series.
Reba's support crew
Idaho Short Track State Championships, June 28th, Hailey ID
Reba suffering during the Short Track
Short track racing is about as far away from ultra endurance racing as you can get. These races are held on very small, technical loops. You go around and around in circles at top speed for about 40 minutes. It’s a bit like a circus with a lot of people crammed into one ½ mile course. The event is full of crashing, passing and chaos. I’ve raced three of these local short tracks this summer and much to my surprise have won each one that I lined up for. They are 40 minutes of all out intensity and my heart is in my throat for most of these races. The State Championships were held locally, so I turned out for this one as a training race and got to take home a title that I never imagined would grace my resume. It doesn’t really fit in with the endurance stuff and is completely out of my element, but I’ll take it! These races are also a really fun way to see most of my local riding buddies and to support the local race community.
USA Cycling Marathon Nationals, July 4th, Breckenridge CO
This race was a very tough 50 miler that started at 10,000 ft and went up from there. It was a 2 lap format of very hilly riding at very high altitude. The field was stacked with a ton of really good pro men and women, many who live at very high altitude or were staying in Breckenridge to acclimatize. Ketchum, ID is around 6000 ft., and I came straight up from there just one day before the race. I definitely felt the additional 4000 ft. from the moment the race started. We rolled out at the start of the 4th of July parade with hundreds of people lining the streets. It was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen for a bike race. The festival atmosphere disintegrated quickly as soon as the course turned uphill and the race was on! I got dropped by the top women almost immediately and decided to start a bit conservatively due to the altitude and the amount of climbing. I was feeling pretty slow for the first lap, but started to come around about 2.5 hrs into the race and began to pick off competitors. I finished the race in 5th place in a super strong field and was really happy with my performance. I was getting stronger as the race went on and am confident that I could have caught a few more people if I’d had another lap to go. This was my last hard effort before 24 Hour World Championships and I feel like my early season preparation and racing has been better than every before.
Podium at the USA Marathon National Championships