Favorite Things - Gear Review

By: Robin Rongey with Chuck's Comments in Red

Every year Oprah has a favorite things show, so I thought I am the Trek Mountain Girl, and half of ROCK Racing, so why shouldn’t Chuck and I have a favorite things Post. We lean somewhat towards gear when we talk about our favorite things, but we do stray a bit. So let’s just say this is a Favorite Things – Gear Review. We hope you find this interesting and that you may even want to try some or our Favorite Things out.

Trek Top Fuel

One of my favorite mountain bikes is the Trek Top Fuel, I know that it is the age of 29er, but there is still a place in my heart for the old school 26er. My TF rides smooth, shifts so well that I hardly even here a chain click, it is super maneuverable and the front shock lockout on the handlebar is a feature I can hardly live without. It’s kind of like upgrading in a car, once you have the extra’s you never want to live without them again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking my Superfly, it has its place in my heart, but my true love will always be my Top Fuel.

Trek Superfly

So Robin still likes 26” bikes. Not me. I’m sold all the way on 29ers. And the top of the line 29er is my Trek Superfly. It is light, fast, and maneuverable. It climbs any hill I point it at. It’s tough too. All that talk about carbon frames not handling crash damage is wrong. I’ve crashed it several times and the only damage so far has been a bent hanger and a crushed rear derailer. I can ride this bike for hours and hours, it is hard to believe it can be this comfortable on top of the speed and toughness. I have only made a few mods over the year I’ve owned it. A wheel and tire upgrade and a carbon handlebar, just improving on perfection.

Ice Breaker Everything

I can’t even begin to tell you which of my Ice Breaker gear I like best. I might say the base layer, the bike shorts, the running shorts or the socks, but then I would be lying because I can’t live without the running shirt, bike jersey, hat or gloves. Still I can’t say they are all my favorite, because I wear my IB casual v-neck t-shirt every time it is clean. The Marino Wool is so soft and doesn’t itch at all, and if I were to see this gear on the street, I would not even know it was wool. This is not your old school wool, but your new high tech wool, that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, while wicking away sweat and never feeling wet and slimy. There is nothing I would rather workout and race in than my Ice Breaker gear.

She is right on about IB. My favorites are the 200 base layer and the bike shorts.

Honey Stinger

Waffles, Waffles, Waffles, that is all I have to say, I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, add a little ice cream in-between two waffles and you have dessert. I still love my Rocket Chocolate and everything else Honey Stinger, but Waffles are by far my go to food, anytime, anywhere.

The waffles are amazing. They came out with some new flavors this year. I wasn’t sure about the strawberry flavor when I first saw it, but after I tried it, I like it too. Not a fan of the vanilla though.

Ultimate Direction Water Bottle

When we decided to do a post on our favorite things, I started thinking about which gear I use the most. Socks, Shoes? Yeah I use those a lot, like everytime I run, but I switch off between road and trail shoes. My Ultimate Direction hand held water bottle goes with me everywhere. We are always told to buy new shoes every 400 miles or so. This bottle has outlasted multiple shoe trades. I can’t even begin to guess the mileage this bottle has on it. 2000m, 3000m, or more, and still going strong. The 20 oz BPA-free polyethylene molded bottle fits my hand perfect and the adjustable strap with the small pocket keeps it all secure. But the best part of the bottle is the leak proof Kicker valve. All this mileage and still no leaks.

Hardnutz Helmets

Unfortunately, a helmet is something you don’t always want to use, but you have to. I never ride without one, no matter how hot it is. Here’s the thing, I don’t mind wearing my Hardnutz Rock Hard helmet because it is so breathable and comfortable, and because of that I have to sometime reach up to make sure I have it on. Besides that, it is a really cool looking helmet, with a marbleized stone look to it, which makes it the perfect helmet for ROCK Racing.

Nike Cycling Jacket

This has to be the single most used item I have. I received this jacket as a Christmas gift about four years ago and let me tell you, I have used it to no end. It is great when it’s super cold outside, I wear a base layer and a jersey under it. When the temps fall between 30-40 degrees, I wear it with just a base layer under it. This jacket has been washed about a 1000 times and still looks as good as it did on day one out of the package. It is warm, yet breathable and although it is not advertised as wind proof, it sure does a great job blocking the wind. Unless I get too fat to fit in it, this jacket will be a staple in my winter wardrobe, at least until it falls apart.

XX2i Sunglasses

These glasses are not only cool looking and make the ROCK Racing girls look hot, (the guys are something other than hot) but they are also functional, comfortable and crystal clear. I love the styling of the USA frame, not as much for racing as for just wearing around, I wear mine everywhere. For workouts though, nothing can beat the France frame. What I like about the France frame is that it has an open bottom that lets air circulate and my glasses don’t fog. Another great feature of the XX2i is the ease of swapping lens, I can pop out the clear lens and put in the yellow lens, in just seconds and that is all the time I have while out on the trail. With adventure racing you are out day and night, you need to be able to have glasses that adapt easily to the changing light and these glasses do. As far as safety goes, let me tell you this, in my last race, I was smacked hard in the face by a thorn branch, my eyes had no injuries and my glasses didn’t even have a scratch, I feel good knowing that these glasses can hold up under all conditions and protect my eyes. Oh, and I have to say that the white pro athlete version of the glasses, not only make me look cool, but I swear when I have them on I race faster, I’m not sure if I’m faster because I think I look cool or if it’s the crystal clear lens paired with no fear of injury, but whatever it is.. Fast is always good.

Quik Trip (QT) Soda

I am a diehard Diet Coke aholic and have even had to make new years resolutions to force me into cutting back on my diet coke consumption in past years. I have a new twist to my diet coke issues now, it’s called QT build your own soda fountain. Not only can I have my diet coke, but I get it with my own twist. I have profected the mix. You need the perfect amount of ice, followed by the perfect amount of cherry and then topped off with the diet coke. Very few people know the formula, but lucky for you I am going to show you how to make the perfect cherry diet coke. I should probably patent this mix and sell it, but for ROCK Racing readers, I will give it to you for free.

Doris, ROCK Racing’s favorite lunch lady

Have you ever eaten somewhere and became attached to one of the employees, well Robin and Chuck have. Her name is Doris and she makes lunch very entertaining. First she has a personality that some people may not get, but we do. She seems a little gruff when you first meet her and if you ask her how the food is, she will say “shitty” and if you ask her how she is, she will say “shitty”. Oh, but she makes the best home cooked meal around, meatloaf to die for, and chicken fried steak, smothered in gravy. She even puts out some really good peach cobbler once in a while and if by chance you get her to take a liking to you, she will make sure you get some. So if you ever get to St Louis, head down Lindbergh, about 2 miles from the St Louis International airport and stop in at Mattingly’s for lunch, I know you will enjoy it.

Andy Gibbs, ROCK Racings favorite bike Wrench at our favorite Bike Shop

If you are ever in the Edwardsville, IL area, you have to head over to the Cyclery and check in with the #1 bike mechanic of all time. Not only is he a top rated mechanic, but he is also a certified coach and bike fit technician and to top it off, he is an expert mountain biker. Andy has setup the fit of our bikes to perfection and also fixed them every time we crash them. He always explains everything he does and shows us how to do repairs on the trails. As a bonus, he gives up great training tips. Don’t miss out, if you’re in the area, stop in and see Andy! Be sure to check out the Cyclery too, it’s our favorite bike shop and I know they will have anything you need on hand.



And if you are in need of a new bike, you won’t find a guy that knows more about the components that come spec’d out on all the models they carry. There are a ton of decisions to make on a new bike and you want the best to help make them. Plus you might score big time and get the chance to buy Andy’s ‘last year’ race bike with all the perfect upgrades like Lori did!

Broemmelsiek Challenge

This was one hot race weekend, both Saturday and Sunday the temps were in the mid 90’s with the heat index well above 100 degrees. Of course I picked this weekend to do two events. Saturday was the Great Urban Race, that me and my Rock Racing partner Chuck competed in. You will have to see the Great Urban Race post for all the details. In a nutshell, we ran for 3 hours and 24 minutes in the heat, in the city of St Louis, it really wore me out, but was so fun that it was completely worth it. Day two of the weekend was the Broemmelsiek Challenge Mountain Bike race. This race was originally scheduled for a date in June, I had not planned on doing this race because I had another event on the same day, but lucky for me, or maybe not lucky for me, it was rained out and rescheduled for this weekend.

So I headed out in the morning, picked up Patrick and Kate, and we zipped on over to the park, after a short stop at QT. The three of us can’t go anywhere without stopping at QT, it has everything we need, but I really go there for the fountain soda that I mix myself. As we pulled into the park, Chuck and Lori were already there and had a tent up right next to the bike chute. It was a perfect place because we could stop for water and food if necessary as we completed each lap.


We unloaded our bikes and got our coolers and gear situated for fast transitions. My Superfly was ready to go with my race number attached, I had a great number 444.


Chuck, Patrick and I all planned to ride the Marathon race, while Kate rode CAT 3, this being her first ever mountain bike race. Both races were scheduled to start at 10 am and the temp was about 90 degrees at the start of the race. We pulled up to the starting line and were told that if we were riding marathon and came through the finish line before 3 hours, we had to go back out for another lap, so anyone ending the race before 3 hours would earn a DNF. This was good to know, I might have to slow down if it was getting close to 3 hours and I didn’t want to start another lap, I would want to make sure I didn’t cross the line until after 3 hours if it was close.

The gun went off and we took off, it was really crowded, but we were led through an open field for a while before we hit the single track so there was time for the racers to spread out. Since I had never ridden Broemmelsiek before, my plan was to take it easy and get the lay of the trail on the first lap. As soon as we hit the single track, we turned a corner and went down into a creek bottom with some deep sand and rock. The guy in front of me went down and I had to do a quick turn to get around him, I somehow stayed up and made it through, don’t ask me how, it had to be all dump luck. That was about the only luck I had all day you will see why when you get to the raffle part of this post. Next I came past Patrick on the trail and we rode together for the rest of the lap.

The course was all single track, but part was in the woods while other parts were dirt trails in open fields. It was like riding in an oven when we came out of the woods and hit the open fields. I was drinking constantly and still felt like I needed more. Before I even finished the first lap, my gloves were dripping and my shoes had sweat squishing out of them. I finished lap 1 in 31 minutes, I didn’t stop at the tent, but kept riding. Patrick and I were once again together and as we passed a small pond Patrick said if you wanted to go use that pond, I wouldn’t judge. I think that was his way of saying you look death warmed over and maybe you need to cool off in the pond. Or he was trying to trick me, so he could get in front of me. I’m not sure which it was. My next lap seemed faster, but I had to stop twice when people in front of me crashed or got off their bikes.

I finished lap 2 in 32 minutes. I still didn’t stop for water, I just went on because I thought I had enough water to make another lap. By the time I finished lap 3, I was starting to bonk, so I stopped at the tent. Kate was there after finishing her race and she quickly handed me a Gatorade and then filled my pockets with ice. I ate some sport beans while she worked to get me back on the trail. I checked my watch and pulled off a slow 35 minutes for lap 3. I headed out for lap 4 and I was soaking wet and covered in dirt that had started to turn into mud and the mud was drying, I felt like I was turning to concrete and that was exactly how my body felt. In fact, one creek we rode through had some gray water that looked and felt like quickcrete. I’m almost sure the mud and quickcrete was turning me into an immobile statue.

I was now starting to slow down, but was thinking it was a good thing, because I did not want to do six laps so I didn’t want to go too fast and finish lap 5 before the 3 hour time limit was up. So as I powered through lap 4 I dreamed about how I only had to do one more lap then I could stop and stand under the water hose. Coming through the chute at the finish of the 4th lap I stopped once again for water. This time both Kate and Lori were at the tent and quickly filled my camelbak with water, filled my pockets with ice cubes and gave me an update on the number of girls in front of me. They also told me that after lap 3 Patrick was about 10 minutes behind me. I finished lap 4 in 36 minutes, I was really starting to slow down. I have to hand it to Kate and Lori, they did not once mention that I looked like hell and smelled about the same, they just smiled and did everything a great support team does for their rider. Chuck, Patrick and I were very lucky to have them there working for us. Even though I ate a handful of sport beans during my stop, I was really starting to feel tired, lap 5 was tough and to make it worse the CAT 1/2 race had started and the riders were flying past me, I had to keep riding over to the side of the trail to let them through. I didn’t want to slow them down, so I would just move over to the side of the trail when I heard them coming. They were like a flash of lightening when they rode by. Every single rider said thanks and were very gracious telling me good job and to keep it up. A couple of the riders even told me to make sure and drink, I guess I was looking pretty bad by then.

I came through the chute heading for the finish of lap 5, stopping at the tent. Kate and Lori told me that I was 4th and the third place girl had a pretty good lead on me. The time was 2:51, and I didn’t really have a reason to do a sixth lap since I wouldn’t be able to catch the 3rd place girl, plus I really didn’t want to do another lap so this was the perfect reason not to cross the line before the 3 hour point. I hopped off my Superfly and sat down in a lawn chair in the shade of the tent and watched the time. The one thing I didn’t want to happen was to have Patrick come by and go out again, because if he did, I was going to have to go. At 2:59:30, I got back on my bike just as I saw Patrick coming toward me. I slowly rode to the finish line and crossed it at 3:00:14, Patrick finished a couple seconds behind me. We stood at the finish line and waited for Chuck, he came through about 4 minutes later, but he had completed 6 laps, while we only completed 5. He also almost fell off his bike because as he pulled his leg over the bar, it started cramping up. We were all moving pretty slow at the end of the race, I just hoped I could make the ride of about 200 yards back to the tent.

I was really glad that I had worn the red Trek kit, I would have miserable in the black in the heat.


We went back to the tent and hung out drinking QT sodas and eating Honey Stinger bars.


As I looked down at my legs they were so dirty, I didn’t want to touch them.


I finished in 4th place, and there were these really cool trophies made out of a CO2 cartridge and a piece of a tire. I really wanted one because they were so cool, so I was a little sad about 4th place. Come to find out, the Marathon division didn’t get the trophies they got money, so then I felt better about missing it by one place.


As we hung out at the awards ceremony, they started giving away attendance prizes. I think they chose every single number except mine. Chuck, Patrick and Kate all won something, but I didn’t win anything. The race director started throwing out schawg and Kate caught a shirt and gave it to me. So at least I ended up with a shirt that had a scary clown dripping blood out of his mouth on the front of it. Hey, I’m not complaining, any prize is a good prize.


All it was a good day, even with the heat. Best of all, Kate finished her first mountain bike race. Now we have to talk Lori into trying one.