Rebecca Rusch

Recent Rebecca Rusch Videos:
Rebecca Rusch's Gear:
  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=64178

    S-Works MTB Helmet

    The lightest certified helmet in the world, worn by 2008 UCI World XC Champion Christoph Sauser...

    Learn More at Specialized.com

  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr/gloves

    Specialized Gloves

    Protection, Comfort, Control.

    Learn More at Specialized.com

  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr/shoes/mtb-shoes

    MTB Shoes

    Legendary Trail Toughness

    Learn More at Specialized.com

  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqSCLander.jsp?scid=1008

    Tires

    The product that started it all.....

    Learn More at Specialized.com

  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/epicfsr

    S-Works Epic

    The Only Full Suspension 29er World Champion.

    Learn More at Specialized.com

  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/fate

    Fate

    Trail Capable. Race Ready.

    Learn More at Specialized.com

S-Works MTB Helmet

Rebecca Rusch wasn’t thinking about world championships when she joined the Downers Grove North High School cross-country team. “I just wanted the free track suit,” recalls Rusch, who, 28 years later, finds herself among the ranks of the world’s elite endurance athletes. In July of 2009, Rusch won her third straight mountain biking 24-hour Solo World Championship.

Since donning those gray cotton sweats and Lycra shorts, Rusch has outfitted herself in the kit of numerous other disciplines: racking up ascents of big walls from Yosemite to Zion, paddling on the world-famous Offshore Canoe Club’s women’s outrigger team in the brutal Molokai crossing and winning adventure races around the world.

When not training in one of the five mountain ranges surrounding her hometown of Ketchum, Idaho, the 41-year-old known as the “Queen of Pain” can be found chasing adrenaline from Tibet to New Zealand to Kyrgyzstan, constantly adding titles to her impressive and extensive resume.

In addition to those three 24-hour solo mountain bike World Champion rainbow jerseys, Rusch is a three-time national champion in 24-hour team mountain biking. She’s Idaho’s Short Track state championship (twice), and its Cyclocross state title. An accomplished Nordic skier, she’s won the Masters Cross Country Skiing World Championship, in addition to taking the top prize at Raid Gauloises Adventure Racing World Championships. And although that’s just cross-section of her palmares, it’s easy to see why Rusch has been profiled by Sports Illustrated, Outside Magazine and Adventure Sport Magazine.

Talking about age draws a laugh as she gestures at her surroundings. "People around here are all 10 years younger than they actually are. And I don’t mean they just look it; they are actually 10 years younger," she said. "Everyone’s out there constantly doing stuff, from biking to skiing to hiking. There’s a collective mentality that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it."

This mentality, along with what she calls "perfect terrain for training," provides a home base for the typically itinerant Rusch. She is part of the community; for more than two years she has been a stalwart volunteer emergency medical technician and firefighter for the Ketchum Fire Department, and a homeowner. On breaks from her race schedule, she works on her condominium, though the domestic idea continues to bemuse her; the last home she owned was a 1975 Ford Bronco.

All In a Week’s Work

April 2, 2009

The Cape Epic has been over for 5 days now and I’ve been struggling to write the final report. Not because I have bad news to report, but I’ve just been busy catching up on sleep, eating food that is not squeezed out of a bottle, getting a pedicure and making the 36 hour jaunt home. 8 days of high intensity racing in a row have taken a toll on me.

Overall, the race was harder than I expected. The competition was stiff, the pace was high and so were the temperatures. Matthew and I had a solid race and we worked great together as a team. Although I had originally been hoping for a podium finish, instead we were only able to pull off 6th in the mixed field and 45th in the general classification. I was feeling a little disappointed in our placing until I looked up some results from last year. Just for reference, 45th would have placed us in 3rd in the mixed division last year. The 5th place mixed team this year was 2nd last year. In 2008, Christina and I were also riding in about 150th place in the general classification before she broke her collarbone. So I was riding much higher in the field this year. The course this year was also shorter and all of the divisions rode approximately 15% less time over 8 days than the course last year. I do think the longer stages in 2008 suited me better as well.

Perhaps it seems futile to pull up these comparisons and statistics in order to justify my experience. However, this race was an important training tool for the season and a gauge of how my winter training has been going. At first glance, I was really disappointed in my performance and was having some serious doubts about my fitness. After deeper analysis and realizing that this year I was riding in the top 50 teams out of 600 each day, I have been able to get a more realistic look on the benefits of this event.

Here are a few key points that I came away with from the Cape Epic:

1. Matthew is faster than I am. Racing as a female in a mixed team is just plain hard if you’re racing with a fast guy. It’s always more fun to be the stronger person on a team and this time, I was the weaker link. Matthew was pushing the pace and I was constantly on the rivet and never really riding at my own pace. It’s great to get out of my comfort zone and push hard than I would on my own, but it does wreak havoc on the ego and makes it more difficult to stop and smell the roses along the way, especially in the grips of an asthma attack!

2. The mountain bike brotherhood/sisterhood is alive and well. One of the best parts of racing is the travel and the like-minded people I get to interact with. Matthew and I rode and bonded with teams from Israel, Germany, Spain, Brazil and South Africa. Although, I learned very few names, I got to know these people from their riding style, their race jerseys and their passion for the sport. We exchanged drafts, encouragement and sweaty hugs at the end of each day. This universal glue from sharing hard work and the joy of riding a bike spans the globe and exposes what people are really made of.

3. Training is a long-term, often frustrating process. Pay now and you will not receive your payback until months or years later. There is often very little immediate gratification. This cycle of breaking down and building up is tedious. For someone who is impatient like me, this process can often challenge my motivation and psyche. I completely trust Matthew as my coach and he has never steered me wrong. Much of the reason I need a coach is for the reassurance that what I am doing is working. After spending 8 days of every waking and sleeping moment in close quarters with Matthew, our bond as friends and working partners has grown even deeper. He has seen me at my best and worst and this experience will help him personalize my training program even more. Our goal for this race was to get a week of early season intensity in my preparation for 24 Hour solo world championships in July. A podium or higher placing would have been icing on the cake, but I have to remind myself that the Cape Epic was not my primary goal for the year. It was an important building block that is now stored in my legs!

Here are few key statistics that we gathered from our Suunto T6c watches during the race. A full training article using this information is under way, but here is a teaser of what was included in a week’s work at the Cape Epic.

Distance: 685 kilometers

Ascent: 14, 663 meters

Total race time: 35 hours 47 minutes 51 seconds

Top Speed: 59.87 km/hr

Average Speed: 18.35 km/hr

Total Breaths Matthew: 98,482

Total Breaths Rebecca: 84,269

Total Kcal burned Matthew: 32,878 kcal

Total Kcal burned Rebecca: 17,882 kcal

Average Respiratory Rate Matthew: 45.87 breaths per min

Average Respiratory Rate Rebecca: 39.25 breaths per min

Max Heart Rate day 1 Matthew: 190 bpm

Average Heart Rate day 1 Matthew: 178 bpm

Max Heart Rate day 8 Matthew: 168 bpm

Average Heart Rate day 8 Matthew: 126 bpm

Max Heart Rate day 1 Rebecca: 173 bpm

Average Heart Rate day 1 Rebecca: 164 bpm

Max Heart Rate day 8 Rebecca: 150 bpm

Average Heart Rate day 8 Rebecca: 125 bpm

Thanks for tuning in. Next up, Sea Otter. I hope to see some of you there.

I’ll be at the Specialized booth. Come by if you want to chat and hear more stories.

Reba

Stats for Rebecca Rusch are coming soon.
All content © copyright 2013 Specialized Bicycle Components. All Rights reserved.