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.

La Ruta Ready

November 3, 2011

Day 0 and the race wheels are rolling. We start tomorrow at 5:20 AM. Today is the last minute bike prep and registration. My Specialized teammate Todd Wells has arrived, along with team mechanic, Benno Williet. It will be really fun to have Todd and his wife Meg out here. The last time we all spent time together was at Leadville when we took home double wins. Maybe if we're lucky, we can do that again. Benno is a world class mechanic and has been with Specialized for years. The last time he worked on my bike was the Cape Epic a few years ago and I've always been super impressed with his meticulous work and ability to tell jokes at the same time. Both those traits will come in really handy on a race as long and hard as this. The bikes will get beat up from the infamous Costa Rican mud and rain.

I've been here a few days doing some heat acclimatization and my last tune up rides. The humidity is crazy and the sweat just pores off my nose and chin. Its quite different from the dry mountain air in Idaho. My last few rides out here have felt really good. I usually don't say that before a race for fear of jinxing myself. However, I feed excited and anxious to start this thing. That is usually a good sign for me. This is my third time racing La Ruta and every year I learn more. It is the type of event that takes experience, the right frame of mind, course knowledge and a bit of luck to do well. The course had it's way with me the first time I raced it and I swore I'd never come back. It took a few years, but I broke my promise and returned in 2010 with a new attitude and had a great time. I now feel like I understand what it takes to do well here and decided to come back again and try to improve my result.

This is also a perfectly timed event for me to head into the winter with some miles in the legs.

I just read through my CyclingNews Blogs from 2010 and it was a great reminder of what's in store for me. Day 1 is the really hard day. They are all hard, but the first day seems to make or break people. It's probably the longest in time and has a huge amount of climbing, including hours of walking uphill through the Costa Rican jungle mud.

This race always draws a really strong field for both men and women. I don't really know who all the players are in the women's field. I know for sure that multiple winner "La Ruta Lou", Louise Kobin is here. She's actually a good friend and has won this race more than any other female.

She is a great competitor and will be super strong as always. However, as with Leadville this year, I know I need to ride my own race and see where the chips fall. I do best when I stick with my own strategy and pacing, so that's the plan again this year.

Stats for Rebecca Rusch are coming soon.
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