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.

The Beti Bike Bash

June 14, 2011

The Beti Bike Bash and stop #2 on the SRAM Gold Rusch Tour was fantastic! The SRAM pro ladies did a pre-race clinic on Saturday and we had around 30 participants who stayed for 4 hours of riding the course, working on cornering, curbs, leaning on corners, etc. The pros who helped lead the clinics were: Heather Irmiger, Jenny Smith, Krista Park, myself, Lindsey Voreis, and Lynn Bush. It was so much fun for me to hear the other pros coaching and I picked up a few tips too. Race day was sunny and perfect and there were 250 female racers from juniors to super masters. It was so much fun to see so many women and girls out racing while the boyfriends and Dads cheered. The pro race was full of great riders like Georgia Gould and Katie Compton. It was so friendly and such a great vibe, even when we were out suffering and racing. The course was just under an hour and way too short for me, but a great training day mixed in with a super fun weekend of inspiration.

I had a blast.  Thanks to all the coaches who helped out and to SRAM for making it happen for the Gold Rusch Tour.  Next stop on the tour is Ashland, OR for a womens only media ride camp and super D racing with me, Lindsey Voreis and Katie Holden.  I'm currently in Colorado Springs to visit Avid and take a tour of the offices there.  I'm riding into the offices tomorrow AM to sit in on the morning meeting, take a tour of the facilities, then get a tour of the local mountain bike riding.  Then I'll explore more riding in the area and get in some good training before heading to Carmichael Training HQ.  I'll be doing a slideshow and pep talk there to the Bucket List  participants who'll be racing Trans Andes with CTS in 2012.  I'll tell them about my experience there, share some tips and secrets and hopefully get them pumped up to start training hard.  I'll also check in with Chris Carmichael and make sure he's training because we are signed up as teammates for the Trans Andes as well.

From here, I head straight to OR. OK...gotta go to bed.  These work weekends make me super tired and I have a couple of big training days tomorrow.

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