Rebecca's Private Idaho, and Private it felt

My teammates and me at the start line

Last August I took part, along with some other VQ teammates in a unique gravel event called Rebecca's Private Idaho. I was asked to write a story about the ride for an Israeli on-line cycling magazine called bikepanel. Flattered but a little worried (as it's been years since I wrote something in Hebrew that is longer than one sentence), I accepted (with the help of my friend Nimi editing and reviewing my Hebrew). Although it took me what seemed like forever to write, I enjoyed writing the article so much that I accepted the invitation to become a permanent panelist for the magazine. I also decided to translate my article to English (with some minor changes) and have that be my post about the event. I will skip the introduction to the article about myself (mostly written by Nimi) and head right to the article.  I am using the same photos that were used in the article.  The event photographer, Linda Guerrette, gave me permission to use her photo for the article and I am using the same here, in addition to photos taken by myself and my teammate Nan.

This is a link to the video the was posted in the article to get the readers into the mood.

Rebecca's Private Idaho 

I first read about the event in an article about the gravel riding trend that was published in BikePanel back in 2013. The article only included a short paragraph about the ride, but that was enough to peak my curiosity; especially because Rebecca Rusch needed no introductions to me, her YouTube video that documents her breaking record ride of the Kokapeli trail is on my favorites list. Excited about this ride, I marked it as a must do for my personal riding bucket list. Therefore, when my team (Vision Quest Coaching) announced in 2014 a mini training camp in Idaho that included this ride, I jumped on the opportunity and immediately signed up. I did not think twice about the fact that this ride will take place 2 weeks after IM Mont Tremblant (my main race for 2014), half joking I though to myself, it should be a piece of cake as after all I'm an Ironman :-)

So the time has come to see if there is more to Idaho than just potatoes ...

The event is called Rebeca's Private Idaho, and despite the fact that over 300 riders took part in the second edition of this ride, the feeling was that Rebecca is showing each one of us her back yard with personal touch.

Here is a video from the inaugural ride in 2013.

So Who is Rebecca Rusch You Ask?

With Rebecca Rusch (photo by Nan Doyal)

Rebecca "the queen of pain" Rusch is one of the most famous endurance athletes in the world (at least in my book). She started her athletic career as a rock climber and adventure racer (races like the Eco Challenge), cross country skiing and whitewater rafting. After about 10 years of podiums, world championship titles and other countless achievements in those sports, at the age of 38 she was facing the tough decision of whether to retire or reinvent herself (as she writes in her new and fascinating book, Rusch to Glory). Naturally, the queen of pain chose the latter, and so at the age of 38 she became 6 times 24 hours mountainbiking world champion. Among her other achievements are: 4 times winner of Leadville 100, and she also competed 4 time in La Ruta de Los Conquestadores (a race that I finished this past November). In her "spare time" she also volunteer as a firefighter in her hometown, Ketchum, Idaho.  She told us that this was her backup career in case that thing called professional sports would not work for her. She is also working with local youth in the cycling arena.  WOW!!! More about Rebecca you can read in her book Rusch to Glory. 

Race start (Photo by Linda Guerrette)

Getting organized, arrival and the Pre-ride days

My Weapon of Choice - The RPI website stated that the race course is rideable with any type of bike: cyclocross, mountain and even regular road bike (hmmmm). Personally, I spent zero time debating which bike to use, RPI was supposed to be my first training ride for La Ruta, and therefore I rode my mountainbike. The majority of our group, naturally, chose their cyclocross bikes. The advice we all got from Rebecca with respect to cyclocross bikes was to choose wider wheels (something like 25mm) and wider tires (something around 38mm). With respect to gearing, well, a mountain bike is probably an overkill for this course, but for cross bikes the classic cross crank with a rear 28 cassette will do the trick, or if you are looking for easier ride uphills, compact crank would be the way to go. 

My Nutrition Storage Solution -  Since I chose my mountain bike, for me the next step was to find a solution for storing my ride nutrition (since the jersey pockets are blocked by the camelback and I prefer minimum stop time at the aid stations). My solution was to use my running hydration pack that has pocket on the front straps, so fashion policy please accept this triathlete's apology, I promised to find a better solution by La Ruta (and I believe I did). 

Getting There - The event registration and participation was arranged by my team and our itinerary included 2 more days of short riding in the area, so all I needed to do was to drop my bike at the pickup spot a week before our flight, book flights and reserve a room in the race hotel. The even starts and ends in Ketchum, Idaho (same area where the famous Sun Valley ski resort is located). This is a small town in the middle of nowhere USA, which means no direct flights from the East Coast or the Midwest (well at least this time of year). Since it is a ski town, there are lots of lodging options starting with the famous Sun Valley Lodge (where we stayed) as well as condos that one can rent by the day (if I ever do this ride again this would be my choice). The town itself is small and no car is needed. To me Ketchum has the classic feel of a true cowboy town, so needless to say I packed my cowboy boots :-)

Feeling like a cowboy

The Days Before the Ride - In the days prior to the event, our team organized 2 short rides. For the first ride, Rebecca made sure that a local guy would meet us and take us for a sample gravel ride on a route different than the race course, but that includes similar conditions. At the end of that ride, some of us who chose to ride our mountain bikes (and one brave guy who tried it on his cross bike) got to taste some of the amazing single tracks of the area. We were lead back to town through a flowing fun single track that goes on the side of the mountain through tight trees and then opened into a vast valley with breathtaking view. Wow.

The next day we got to opportunity to ride with Rebecca. The purpose of this ride was a short course recon and the ride included the first and longest climb called Trail Creek that was about 10 miles long. During the ride Rebecca gave us some explanations and tips on the course, aid stations, best tire pressure for the race conditions (40 PSI for cross bike, in case someone is curious), the KOM competition, finish line and then just general talk about riding, equipment etc.

We started the ride as a big group, but after a few minutes the group split into several smaller groups. Sadly, I am not strong enough or fast enough to hang with Rebecca and rest of the fast people, but since the ride was an out and back, when I was close to the top of the climb, Rebecca blew past me going downhill, with impressive speed.  In fact she rode as fast as Robbie (Robbie is Robbie Ventura, the head of our team, an Ex-pro cyclist for the legendary team US Postal, Floyd Landis' former coach, and a commentator for NBC Sports). I have to say that Rebecca got SKILLS.  Once her red vest disappeared in the distance (well that took about 2 seconds), I finished the climb turned around and started the fun part (despite the rain) - the descent. Lucky for me on the way back to town we see Rebecca standing on the side of the road and waiving to our group to stop.  She explained that this spot will be the official finish line for timing and that the next 2 miles into town will not be timed.  After this short explanation, we continued to ride, this time with Rebecca.  I had the fortune of drafting her wheel and I have to say she is one of the smoothest and steadiest wheels I've ever ridden on. It was a chill ride full of chitchat, and we even got to joke about the local shooting club located by the finish line, well, it is a wild west after all - right?      

Nothing but wide open road and mountains

On Friday night we were invited to a VIP dinner with Rebecca and some of her personal invitees, which included her sponsors Specialized, SRAM, Patron Tequila and additional cycling and electronic media celebs.  Despite the long list of attendees, I was amazed that Rebecca made sure that she spent time with each guest, and she even managed to spend time with Michelle and me and give us tips about La Ruta and recommendation about other races like the Trans Andes (I see the next challenge in my future).

RPI takes place on the same weekend of the Ketchum Wagon Days Festival, thanks to that we even got to experience some of the wild west atmosphere (see picture).

Left: our short MTB ride. Right: Wagon Days Parade 

The Ride

You can opt to ride one of 2 distances: the Little Fry that is 56 miles long and approximately 4,100 ft of climbing and the long course, the Big Potato, that is 93 miles and approximately 6,000 ft of climbing. All on bone rattling gravel roads, full of fist size rocks and washboards, that caused even those like myself who chose to ride a mountainbike to be bouncing all over. Add to it the fact that Ketchum is located at 5,853 ft above sea level and the maximum elevation of the ride hits about 8,200 ft, there you have a recipe for a lung and quad burning ride, regardless of if you're actually racing this or just riding for fun. 

The race started at 8am, at a chill temperature of 39F and with the max temp for the day creeping up to about 65F (well at least there was no rain in the forecast). For me this meant using arm warmers, wind vest and wool socks, a bit on the minimal side and not really warm and cozy, but the race starts with a long climb so I took the chance. During the pre-race morning briefing we are told that due to recent rains in the area, the roads are in excellent condition (and I'm thinking to myself well, I guess like everything in life, it's all relative) and together with the mild temperatures, today is the perfect day for a fast ride and a new course record. 

Right before 8am people start to line up, moving slow and very chill and relaxed, this is so different than road races or triathlons I've done, where everything is so tense. This is exactly what I like about mountainbiking and gravel rides. The pros, last years winners and other cycling-world celebs are being called to the front row, the rest of us started to line up behind them, but again, everything seemed so chill and civilized, feeling so foreign to the triathlete in me. Being the gear-head that I am, I'm checking out the other bikes and equipment. I spot people on mountainbikes, a few brave soles on tandem bikes, surprised I spot quite a few single speeds and of course the new boys in town, fat bikes, but the vast majority of the riders chose gravel/cross bikes. I would note, that those who don't own any of the above list (and are not brave enough to ride their road bikes, and yes I did spot a few), Specialized provided 2015 demo bikes that included it's gravel Crux Carbon Disc as well as mountainbikes (including new woman specific Era with the new Brain mechanism), all for no charge on a first come first serve basis, all this I am assuming as support of the "Big S" in to their superstar rider and her event.  I also noticed a respectable presence of women.  Rebecca proudly mentioned that 30% of the race participants were women, and that as someone that aspires to promote women in sports she is hoping this number will grow in the next years.     

Gravel, gravel and some more gravel

The countdown started and we start moving. The first miles of the race going out of town are neutralized, and the entire pelaton is making its way towards the mountains, escorted by a herd of horses that was gazing in a nearby field and started galloping when they noticed the big group, real Tour de France feel. The lead car moved to the side and now it's the pelaton's turn to gallop. The course starts with a slight incline on a paved road , but as soon as the road gets steeper, we say goodbye to the paved road and hit the gravel climbing towards Trail Creek. This is the longest and steepest climb of the race and the first time point for the king/queen of the mountain (KOM) competition. Even at this early point in the race we are exposed to the beautiful landscape of the Wild West.  This is where the real race begins, and the big group I was part of falls apart, the fast riders speed up and disappear in the dust, while the slower riders stayed behind in a much smaller group. I find myself somewhere in the middle with a few other girls from our team, I'm climbing at a good pace, my legs feel good, that is a real surprise (I guess my body somewhat recovered from the ironman 2 weeks before), so I decided to pick up the pace a little, and with this my plan of taking it easy flew out the window ... leaving my group behind, I am hoping that Michelle will not get mad at me, but a race is a race and not a walk in the park (side note: OMG what happened to the girl that used to get off her bike at the sight of a short hills and walk, I wonder - I sure came a long way). I decided to skip the first aid station and head straight for the downhill. This is about the only advantage of riding a mountainbike on this ride (while everywhere else on such gravel roads it is much slower).  At the bottom of the hill, a slight right turn and I find myself alone, in the middle of a vast valley that is surrounded by mountains, a herd of cows gazing nonchalantly in the meadow. I feel like I'm in a scene from Broke Back Mountain, like a cowgirl riding her horse, herding all these cows. This is exactly the reason why I came here ... never-ending landscape of green and mountains, and cutting all this in the middle is a cruel gravel road.

I make my way on the "stick" towards Copper Canyon, where the loop portion of the course start. On a quick stop at the third aid station, I notice that Rebecca is there cheering on the riders (she was there about 1.5 hours later when I pasted by that aid station finishing the loop - this lady sure knows how to host an event!!). At the aid station, I discovered that the rumor is in fact true and in addition to Red Bull you can find also cold cans of PBR. On top of the usual food you can find on rides like this, they also offered roasted potatoes seasoned with salt, rosemary and olive oil (well we are in Idaho after all), needless to say that I had to try some of that. Yummy.  I must point out that one of the guys in our group made it his goal to down at least half a can of PBR in each stop, I am happy to report that he finished the ride in one piece and was a proud contender for the last rider to finish the course (there is an award for that too!!!).        

Trail Creek Climb

On I go, the road is winding, going up and down, and aside from a near collision with a cow who decided to cross the road right as I was zooming by on a fast downhill, and the scream of my brakes ripping through the quite air as I hit them, most of the ride was peaceful and I passed the time having nice conversations with random riders that I met on the way while enjoying the breathtaking views. I did pass a number of riders with flat tires, among them one who rode his road bike (when I asked him if he needed help, he told me that this was his 3rd flat. Same guy passed me a few minutes later, just to see him again standing on the side of the road and fixing yet another flat - funny, the things that one notice on a ride like this). About 20 miles or so from the finish we start climbing on this false flat road, the wind picked up and of course its headwind, which made the ride more challenging especially when you are by yourself with no pelaton to shelter from the wind and share the load.  This was the hardest part of the ride for me, not only due to my fatigues from the ride and the IM, but also because I was alone, no other riders in sight, just me, the mountains, the gravel road and this annoying strong headwind, my only consolation was the fact that the last 10 miles are almost all downhill ... the road kicks up and then I notice that this is the beginning of the second KOM segment, at this point the wind slowed down and we are more protected by trees, this is also when I started to see more riders. I'm at the 1 mile to the top sign, "YES! the nightmare is almost over" I pick up the pace in anticipation for the downhill and of course the headwind to come. On the downhill I catch up to a teammate and we decide to work together to the finish line with the secrete goal of catching and passing the guy the was riding ahead of us. After a few minutes of work, we see the sign telling us that there is 1 mile to go, we pick up the pace, hoping to brake the 7 hour mark, and decide to cross the finish line together. My Garmin shows 7:02 hours. Not a bad time for what I defined as a chill ride on my mountainbike. The last miles to town go by with an easy ride and a big smile, right turn and we cross the finish line.

It's party time!!! 

At the finish line area we can chose from a few local food options, but more importantly we can enjoy Patron tequila and some great brew from Laganitas Brewery - O Yeah, now we're talking. Appropriate finish to a superb ride. The drink of the day was the Head Rucsh, think tequila, red bull and some lime.  Everything is flowing and it's all a great party feel. 

The awards ceremony took place late afternoon and included men, women, juniors, king and queen of the mountain podiums. The men's winner was a local guy who rode his road bike! Respect! I have a feeling that in a few years we will hear about him in the pro pelaton. Robbie Ventura, our coach, took second place 30 seconds behind, and I am sure he was pissed. All winners got a very cool RPI cowboy hat, sadly these hats are custom order and for winners and special guests, so I had to settle for the cowboy boots I brought with me :-) The first 75 finishers in less than 6.5 hours received an RPI Bolo Tie, and the highlight, last place award, a potato sculpture made by a local artist (it was so cool that I must admit that a thought has crossed my mind for a second that I should have competed for this prize). 

Post award ceremony is when the real party starts with the Guelande Quaffing contest, to be honest I had no idea what it was, but it involved sliding beer on a table, catching it on the other side, drinking and doing tequila shots (sounds like lots of fun to me), all to the sounds of local band jamming and dancing into the night, because after all we are endurance athletes (as RPIs website stated). 

The Big Potato course and elevation

Final Thoughts

This long weekend of riding in Idaho left me wanting more of the same. It is very clear that 3 days of riding in the area are not enough to show what Ketchum has to offer, certainly not for mountainbikers, the very small sample of the amazing single we rode on the first day left me wanting to come back to check out the local trails. I have no doubt that I will be back, both in the winter and summer, with my bike and skies.

About Rebecca's Private Idaho, I cannot think of a better suited name for this event. Rebecca personally oversaw every stage of the event and it was clear to me that she invested a lot of herself in creating this event and making it a success. It would be interesting to see in a few years when the event is bigger and more established if this personal touch will still be the case and if the event will maintain its family feel. I certainly hope so and something deep inside me say that the answer will be yes.

Robbie Ventura, summarized his experience for me saying "this is a unique event in that it requires all participants to be a complete bike riders.  Cyclists have to be fit, well adjusted to altitude, good climbers, good descenders, great bike handers, good solo riders and good pack riders.   Rebecca's Private Idaho ride encompasses a complete skill set unlike any other event I have ever done.  The beauty is stunning and the small intimate feel surrounding this event made all the suffering worth it!!"
I couldn't have said it better myself.

For me, this ride was the official start of my off-road training for La Ruta. My tri bike was cleaned and stored for the season, and my Specialized Epic regularly gets to see dust and mud.  RPI was my first real gravel event, and this triathlete believes it will not be the last.  My bucket list is getting longer and longer with rides like Dirty Kanza 200 and more mountainbiking events. 

The challenge will be how to combine it all, so stay tuned ...

Rebecca and others on Trail Creel Climb

Rebecca's Private Idaho - The Future

Let's start with the fact that next year RPI will take place on September 6, 2015, so mark your calendars and plan an unforgettable event.  While writing the article a few questions crossed my mind about RPI and gravel riding in general. I send an email to Rebecca and she was nice enough to share her thoughts with me:

Before, here is a video that I only found after writing and publishing the article that shortly summarize Rebecca's view on RPI.

Q: Last year’s event was by invite only, what inspired you to make this event bigger and open it to everyone? 

A: Last year was actually open to the public as well.  We first did an initial invitation to media, VIP’s and friends to drum up excitement and give them first dibs on entering the event ahead of the public. A month later we did open to the public and had a great variety of people from all over North America.  This year (#2), was also open to the public and we grew our numbers by about 100 people! My vision has always been to have the event be welcoming and open to anyone. I’ve always wanted to share the beauty of my Idaho home and training ground with riders from around the world. The goal will be to grow the event to a manageable size, while keeping it intimate and a really quality experience.  Since I’ve never launched my own event before, year #1 was a bit of a test run that went better than I could have imagined.  Then year #2 was even better.  

Q: What is the plan for the coming years? 

A: See above:  grow, keep it authentic and a celebration of cycling, show people the beautiful place I call home, host a great party and full weekend experience, strengthen the competitive end of the field while still encouraging it as a tour or social ride or attainable goal for anyone.

Q: Is there a date for next year’s event? 

A: Labor Day weekend:  Sept 6. 2015

Q: Where do you see the future of women in the sport developing (I believe you said that this year the event included 30% women and you want to see 50/50 in the coming years), and how do you see yourself being a part of it.

A: Encouraging women to ride and take part in cycling events is important to me.  Women are out there riding more than ever, the next step is to give them the confidence to sign up for an event and push their limits. The SRAM Gold Rusch tour is all designed around getting more women on bikes and developing their skills and confidence.  Rebecca’s Private Idaho is just another cog in the wheel of women’s cycling growth.  There are tons of great programs, women’s specific products and lots more women on bikes.  My goal is to be part of what is already happening by encouraging, educating and providing a great event for anyone to take part in.  We also have the mission to welcome more juniors to our event in 2015 since it coincides with the new launch of the Idaho NICA league.  

Q: Gravel rides are definitely all the rage thee days, where do you see RPI fitting in the mix of things

A: Yes there is a gravel rage going on right now and for good reason.  I didn’t launch a gravel event because I saw a growth in gravel riding and racing.  Instead, I launched a gravel event because I love to ride on gravel and it’s much of what Idaho has to offer.  I also knew that by having a gravel event, I could bring mountain bikers and road riders together on the same playing field and it’d be a challenge for both.  I designed the course on gravel to be able to welcome more people regardless of their chosen tool and to also be able to take the riders further into the remote Idaho terrain.

But, you know our timing of launching Rebecca’s Private Idaho couldn’t have been better.  There is enthusiasm for these events and I think it follows the natural flow of riders wanting to get off the beaten path, away from cars and really just go exploring.  I see Rebecca’s Private Idaho as developing into a competitive race at the front end for elite riders as well as a tour where riders can stop along the way and enjoy the roasted potatoes at the aid stations, soak in the view and ride socially.  Both years we’ve had a wide range of riders who are all challenging themselves in whatever way they choose.  The course allows for all levels of riders and we all come together for a great outdoor party at the end of the day.

Team VQ (or part of it).

Thanks for reading!!!