RPI 2019 Shae Top Ten in Baked Potato-Dawn Brings Her A-Game to the Tater Tot

Rebecca Rusch leads out the Baked Potato

This was my fifth Rebecca’s Private Idaho. Followers of the blog will know that I love Rebecca’s a lot. In spite of its growth with about 1000 participants, RPI continues to set a very high standard for cycling events. It provides a fun, festive weekend with incredible gravel riding, spectacular scenery, significant charitable contributions, and plenty of good schwag.  It was a hot, dusty day at Rebecca’s. I had decent legs and a bullet-proof stomach. Over the course of the day, I drank eight or nine bottles of water and various electrolyte mixes as well as two Red Bulls.

Shae had a great day, finishing (we believe)* 6^th place in the Women’s 100 mile Baked Potato and taking home another RPI bolo tie.  

Dawn finished 12^th of 97 female participants in the Tater Tot.  You can scoff at the Tater Tot, but almost a hundred men and a hundred women cared enough to pin on a number and race a bike.

The big news at Rebecca’s this year was the modification of the Baked Potato course which historically has measured a little less than 100 miles. Rebecca commented at the awards presentation that she believed the new course was better and more challenging. I did not love it. The 2019 course included an out-and-back in Wild Horse Canyon and a late race diversion. In Crusher-speak, think of the diversion as a Sarlacc Pit filled with jagged rocks somewhere around mile eighty. I was OK with 40 mm tubeless tires and a light touch, but a lot of other riders and equipment did not fare as well.

* There are still some technical issues to be resolved with the reporting of the top women’s finishers.