Rebecca Rusch

Adventure racing calls for a deep well of skills: paddling, rock climbing, biking, navigating, skiing, and more. Since turning pro in 2001, Rebecca Rusch has proven to the world she has what it takes to execute any of the above even after going beyond her limits in far flung places like Kyrgyzstan and Tibet. After winning adventure races became routine, she added 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike racing to her résumé and proceeded to dominate the sport in 2006, 2007, and is currently two time World Champion.

Rusch moved to California from the stark plains of Illinois after college to pursue rock climbing. She soon racked up ascents of big walls from Yosemite to Zion. Paddling was next as she rose through local competitive ranks to race with the world-famous Offshore Canoe Club’s women’s outrigger team in the brutal Molokai crossing. Adventure Racing was the next challenge. The first race she entered was a qualifier for the Australian Eco-challenge. “We ended up winning the race. The rest is history!”

So what do you do if you win the first major race you’ve ever entered? Quit your job, move into your Ford Bronco, and set your sights on becoming the best. After several years on the road, she landed in Ketchum, Idaho which is currently her home base. In the nine years since that first adventure race, Rusch became one of the strongest female captains in the sport and garnered an incredibly deep résumé.

In 2006, Rebecca successfully turned her talents toward endurance solo mountain bike races while continuing to compete in the toughest adventure races. In 2006, she won the Solo Mountain Biking Nationals, and took second in Worlds. In 2007, she became the 24 Hour Solo Mountain Biking World Champion. In 2008, Rebecca remained in the top seat by once again dominating the World Championships.

Morning!

November 10, 2009

Boot camp is going well. Last week was multiple days of long threshold intervals. The last one of those was yesterday and consisted of 8 minute hill repeats, five times on Trail Creek Road. It was brutal but better than the intervals a couple days before. I already feel like my form is coming back a little and my body is being reminded of what it is supposed to do. I did enjoy the casual schedule for the last month, but now it does feel good to get back into some work and feel my legs and lungs responding appropriately. This week will consist of intervals again every other day, but way shorter and way harder. After this week, it tapers down until Cotopaxi. This has been a super compressed training peak, but I'm sure I still have residual fitness from the whole year of racing. I also trust my coach, Matthew. He has never steered me wrong and he's way smarter than I am. The weather has cooperated really well for the training schedule too. It has been cold, but clear. It's the time of year where each day, I look outside and hope that I won't have to do a workout in the rain or snow. So far, so good! I've also been able to rally a few training partners to join me on some of the workouts, so it keeps me honest. Yesterday, the Ipod was the motivating training partner. A friend of mine plays in a disco band called Sparkle Motion. He made me a disco playlist and I must say, I was ripping up those hill repeats to Shake Your Booty, Disco Inferno, It's Raining Men, etc. You KNOW you remember those lyrics!

This week is also full of planning for the encore showing of Race Across the Sky, the Leadville 100 film. This time around, I'm heading to Boise to introduce the film and host a pre-party before the show. Click here: http://georgescycles.com/ for info on the Boise showing and pre party at G Fit Studio.

If you don't live in Idaho, but still want to see the film, click here: http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/Sports/RaceAcrossTheSkyENC.aspx Put in your zip code to see if the movie is playing near you. It's one night only, so don't miss it

Greg and I playing on the new pump track a block from our house. It's so much fun and now makes me realize, I need another bike!!! A friend of ours won this Specialized P3 in a raffle and he's been kind enough to "store" it at our house. We're just making sure it gets a good workout. The track is awesome. I just usually have to wait for all the kids to go home for dinner before I drop in, so I don't embarrass myself.

Cheers

Reba

Stats for Rebecca Rusch are coming soon.