First off, just look at Rebecca's resume, National Champion in 24 hr mountain biking, and Silver Medalist in the world championships. She's the real deal.  But with her, being a pro wasn't just about kicking tail.  Cordial emails, great communication, generous lead times, great handling of her sponsorship duties.  No surprises, everything was on time.  All her commitments to her sponsors that we were asked to handle, she made it super easy on us.  It was clear that we were working for Red Bull and Specialized, not just Rebecca. It just made us excited.

When we got her first bike, it was looked just like any other Epic Pro that we sell, except this one was about 2.5lbs lighter.  After doing some diggin, we were told that the frame was custom drawn M5 tubing specifically for her.  It was very cool of Specialized to "specialize" a frame just for her.  Anyone who wants a frameset custom built for them, I am sure Specialized would be happy to build it for them and give it to them, you'll just have to show them first your a Professional National Champion.  

When our Bob met up with Rebecca in downtown Nashville,  Rebecca threw a big hug around him.  Bob said he could tell immediately, that this woman was SOLID.  Bob loaded up her gear and they agreed to headed of to Fayetteville.  Specialized  and Dirt Sweat and Gears were kind enough to comp all Bob's travel expenses.  

Rebecca comes with her own travel team.  It was cool that her mom, dad and boyfriend were all out their managing her every need. While Bob was doing the bikes, Mom and co were prepping the food and other supplies.  I had asked Bob to pay special attention to what she was taken in, cause I have never raced 12hrs full throttle,  and I wanted to know.  How do you stay so Gas'd up.  So Bob got her secret recipes, but you got to come in the shop to get the scoop.

The race course was sweet and extremely hard.  Most of the riders around here couldn't ride the whole 12 hrs solo.  Most solo riders quit with 4 or 5 hrs to go.  Not Rebecca, she hammered 11 laps in under 12 hours and never slowed down a bit.  Unfortunately, a cut side wall caused her to lose almost 10 minutes to her arch rival.  Rebecca chased hard, but ran of time.  She was definitely gaining and would probably have caught her with another lap to go.  So she got second, only got $1000.  "Cant win them all"

Great time at Dirt Sweat and Gears.  It was our first experience with a 12 hour race.  So it was a great opportunity to watch and learn from one of the worlds best, Rebecca Rusch.  Thanks, Red Bull, SPECIALIZED, Dirt Sweat and Gears and Hammer Nutrition.  By sponsoring Pro's like Rebecca, it really helps people like us learn how to Spread the Love.