TRIA Orthopaedic Center Your Cycling Blog

Rebecca Much is not your average professional cyclist. Cutting her cycling teeth in a non-cycling mecca like Chicago, Rebecca was able to drum up enough interest (and results) to catch the eye of the Webcor Builders Women’s Professional Cycling Team.

Now in her second year with Webcor, Rebecca has been called upon to contribute a few blog entries prior to and during the Nature Valley Grand Prix, a race that she holds near and dear to her heart. Let’s take a little trip inside Rebecca’s head to see why she likes the NVGP so much, shall we?

Everyone has their own reasons for liking one race over another, but the Nature Valley Grand Prix will always hold a special place for me because it is the best stage race in the Midwest. I grew up on the mean streets of Chicago about 9 hours south of Minneapolis, so as a Midwest native, NVGP has always had an unmatchable allure. Since 2004, I have raced at NVGP four times, experiencing the race’s evolution into greatness. The courses seem to get harder every year at Mankato and Stillwater, which includes a cool dirt section leading into Cannon Falls, along with downtown crits, and a brutally straight forward time trial that brings out the best in every racer. The evolution of the NVGP has the time trial as the initial stage, and then follows that up with stage two, in Downtown St. Paul. The St. Paul crit, after the morning race of truth, will already have the general classification (GC) in the works, something that is rarely seen.

I am also excited for the NVGP because it will be the third stop on the Women’s Prestige Series, where I am currently leading the Best Young Rider competition. I’m determined to win the Best Young Rider in Minnesota this round as well! My team will be arriving to Minneapolis in good spirits after the completing a run-up of races in Montreal and Philadelphia prior to June 10th. None of our riders are from Minnesota, with four of us being from the United States, along with two Canadians and two Australians rounding out the roster. On the flip side, our beloved soigneur lives in Minneapolis, so we can consider Nature Valley a “hometown” race for him.

Life gets interesting when you’re on the road all the time but, in reality, it’s the reason why cycling holds so much appeal. Week after week, I sit on airplanes going here or there; it can become mind boggling at times, but it teaches you to learn a lot about yourself quite quickly. I am 23 years old now, and have been on the road racing like this pretty much since I was 18. I am from Chicago and that is where my mom, pa, grandpa, sister, dog, cat, coach, and hometown friends live so I try to go back when I can, especially in the fall when I have some downtime. I try to build time into the following season but that time is short! This fall, I set a record, as I was home for three months straight! Once I need to ride more, I make my home in Tucson, Arizona.

Throughout the season, I go home when I can but usually find myself here and there wasting days between races in New Mexico or Arkansas, or in places like Boulder, CO where I’m spending a couple quality weeks between race blocks (that is where I am as I type this sentence). Ah, the life! Sometimes it gets hard to keep the story straight as I forget where I have been or where I am going. The most comforting way to deal with the constant change is to just be happy where I am at the moment…coupled with a lot of music. No matter what, my favorite songs are always the same no matter where I am.

On that note, it is time to become productive with my day as I can only sit around writing sweet nothings and drinking coffee for so long…

See ya at the races soon!

Minnesota Bike Festival,Nature Valley Grand Prix,Rebecca Much,Webcor     Comments Off