Rebecca Rusch

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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.

I will tell you that I was thinking about

June 1, 2010

I will tell you that I was thinking about the great "Ask Reba" questions while I was in the pain cave during the second stage of Trans-Sylvania Epic today. I cannot remember having a more challenging and difficult day on the bike. There were quite a few times that your questions of "how do you keep motivated" kept popping into my head. So, I want to thank all of you for motivating ME today. I needed the help and in a strange way, your questions came to me while I was out there feeling all alone. The bottom line is that today's stage was a 40 mile, mostly single track stage with lots of climbing. It was REAL mountain biking and gorgeous trail. However, I knew from the very first hill that I did not have a lot of punch in my legs. I was

OK with that and settled into a pace I felt I could sustain. The top two women passed me and I struggled to hang on, but could not. I felt very flat and very hot. About 45 minutes into the race and on the 2nd climb I started to have trouble with my asthma anytime the trail turned upwards. I had forgotten my inhaler this morning, so I had to stop and get off my bike multiple times just to catch my breath and settle down. I was in survival mode and really scared without an inhaler. I pulled my pace way back and tried to ride as smoothly as possible when I could. I had to let the downhills rip because I was so hopelessly slow on the uphills. Aid station 1 was at 15 miles and I made it there and got an inhaler from the medics. I also took time to put water on my head, fill bottles and was in survival mode much more than race mode. 15 more miles of hard single track lay between me and aid station 2. Even with the inhaler, I was wheezing anytime there was an uphill. I walked, tried to pedal, tried to keep my nutrition up and really struggled to get to mile 30 and aid station 2. Chris Eatough, 6 x 24 hour solo mtb world champion was out on the trails filming. He found me out there floundering and shadowed me until the aid station just to make sure I was OK.

I was grateful for the company and the peace of mind that if something really went bad, he could go for help. I seriously considered dropping out of the race at mile 30, but the last 10 miles was fire road, so I slowly pedaled on and limped into the finish after about 4.5 hours. The course was incredible, the aid station volunteers, the medics and all the other concerned racers were awesome today. I finished 3rd in the women's division and lost a bunch of time off the lead. However, I'm grateful that I stuck it out and finished. I do not know how I am going to feel tomorrow. I went very deep into the hole today and am definitely not riding like myself. My bike was perfect, but my body was in revolt. Right now, I'm focusing on a good recovery and getting to bed early. Tomorrow is a new day, a new stage and my brain is still very ready to throw down and race myself back into contention. My hope is that the body will follow the brain's lead. Thanks for reading!

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