Spring Escape by Rebecca Rusch
SPRING ESCAPE
April 25, 2008 by Rebecca
Reba on tire testing in South Africa (courtesy Gary Perkin)
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of spring cleaning at home. Despite the snow that’s still visible right outside my window, the skis and winter gear have all been packed away. The bikes are getting cleaned up and storage bins of tools and parts have been sorted. After returning from South Africa, I was super motivated to ride my bike. This motivation wasn’t really jiving with the weather in Ketchum ID, so I had to hit the road a bit.
The Sea Otter Classic was a great trip out to Monterrey, CA. It was a combo trip of a little adventure racing, a little mountain bike racing, some poster signing and sponsor connections. The adventure race was a very miniscule version of what I am used to, but still a great workout and I was able to wear shorts since the weather was warm. The race consisted of a couple miles of running, 20 miles of cycling and a sort of military-style obstacle course. Specialized dominated the podium with our team finishing first and the other Specialized corporate team finishing 2nd. I got to race alongside Nic Sims from Specialized Global Marketing and I’m always blown away by his “out of the office” speed and fitness. We experimented with a couple of new HERO mini video cameras that we mounted on a bike and a helmet. The footage was pretty fun and I’m learning more about these cameras, so you can expect a few video clips to be added into the mix soon.
The highlight of the weekend for me was the pro women’s cross country race. As you all know, I’m not a sprinter, so a 3 hour race is just plain hard and short for me. Sea Otter is generally a pretty stout field and the majority of the women in the pro category specialize in that distance. I signed up anyway to work on my speed and put myself into race mode and out of my comfort zone. I am definitely the type of person who gets more intensity training by racing instead of trying to duplicate that effort alone. Something in me clicks into another gear when I am in a race. The Sea Otter festival is held at the same location as 24 Hour World Championships last year. It is the location of one of the best races and memories of my life. Being back there again flooded me with great feelings, nerves and excitement. I found myself re-living memories from 24 Hour Worlds as I was riding around the course.
Reba tire testing in South Africa (courtesy Ryan Palmer)
The beauty of this event my training is that the cross country course is identical to last year’s course. I was able to have a direct comparison with my fitness and riding from the same time last year. I was happy to discover a noticeable difference in my riding ability and comfort on the course from last year. The turns felt smoother and I just felt more smooth on the bike. Granted, I did ride around that course for 24 hours, so I should know it pretty well by now. Last year at Sea Otter, I was in last place for much of the first lap. This year, I was middle of the pack on the first lap and was passing people one the 2nd lap. I finished 12th place and was 6 minutes faster than my time last year. I was riding with and in front of women who have previously been untouchable. I feel like the Spring training in South Africa and all the early season miles have set me up really well for a great season.
I also got out of town last weekend for a mini training camp in Boise. It’s only a couple of hours from where I live, but it’s down in the desert, so the climate is perfect for early season riding. This was also a multi-purpose trip with a speaking engagement at Boise University, a 100 person group ride with the Women’s Bicycle Festival and a visit to the Idaho Velo Park (www.idahovelopark.org). I was blown away with the size and great vibe of the Boise cycling community. It was super encouraging to see so many people out riding road bikes, mountain bikes, BMX bikes and commuter bikes. I even took a spin in the new pump track at the Velo park. I was mixing it up with 6 hr old kids, my mechanic, Jason and a bunch of other random riders. I came home from that weekend really motivated and encouraged about the cycling world and what bikes can do to bring a community together.
I had a few days at home and just left for another quick weekend jaunt. This weekend’s race is in Fayetteville, TN. It’s a 12 hr mountain bike race called Dirt, Sweat and Gears. The riding is twisty, fun single track on hilly, wooded private property. The forecast is for severe rain, wind and tornado warnings. It’s the night before the race and the storms have not yet arrived, but they are on their way. I’ve got two complete bikes, lots of rain gear and three different sets of wheels set up for changing conditions. Stay tuned for race pictures, video and a report after the weekend is over. www.dirtsweatandgears.com for the race web site.
Happy Trails!
Reba