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.

Specialized Headquarters and Sea Otter Classic

April 20, 2009

The past few days have been spent in the Specialized offices in Morgan Hill meeting with designers, staff and some of the other Specialized riders. I’ve been hanging out with 4X world champion Rafa Alvarez, Xterra World Champ Conrad Stoltz, XC world Champ Christoph Sauser, and fellow teammates Lene Byberg and Burry Stander. We all got briefed on new product, marketing plans and company history. I learned that the first Specialized branded product was a bike tire!.

After a couple of days at the offices and getting pummeled on the world renowned Specialized Lunch Ride, the team headed down to Monterrey for the Sea Otter Classic. Sea Otter is the only time most of the Specialized athletes will be in one place and it’s the only time of the year where we get to ride and hang out with the Specialized employees. The company brings a full fleet of demo bikes, the team trailer, the Rider’s Club tent and a product booth, so there is a ton of representation. One of the best parts for me is to see all the staff racing and being in their element with the bikes.

So far, my time at the venue has been spent riding with journalists, checking out the new bikes, pre-riding the cross country course and connecting with friends. The mechanics have also been tweaking all of our new race bikes and I have been trying a few different options with prototype tires, new Rotor Rings and some SRAM products that are just coming out. It’s a bit of trial and error, but this is the perfect way to work out some of the kinks.

I also raced the Super D. It was my first gravity event EVER. I signed up because I knew this course was not very technical and figured it would be a great way to work on one of my weaknesses. I pre-rode the course and there was nothing technical about it. It was a high speed fire road with a lot of pedaling and some loose, gravel cornering. You could basically go as fast as you were willing. I had Benno put on some beefier tires than the usual Fast Traks and opened up the suspension on my Era. I tried to ask Rafa in broken Spanish for some advice, but all I could get from him was not to touch the brakes. I’d never even watched a Super D race before, so I had a bit of apprehension. I was filming the race with a GoPro helmet cam and my main goal was to get some downhill practice, get some race footage and get to the finish line without any injuries. I was successful on all fronts.

The race started LeMans style with a short run to the bikes. My first mistake was accidentally down shifting when I grabbed my handlebars to jump on the bike. I wasted a bit of time getting back into the right gear. Super D traditionally involves a bit of pedaling, so many of the XC riders do well on these courses. The whole race lasted just under 8 minutes and it was a lung buster. There were 3 climbs of under a minute each and they about killed me. About 4 minutes into the race, it was clear that my position was not really going to change, so I just rode and had fun. I must admit, the speed was somewhat addicting and I crossed the finish line with a huge smile on my face. I’m not going to make any predictions, but I could see doing more of these sort of events in the future.

The short track race was today and it was awesome to watch. Specialized had a strong showing with Lene finishing 2nd in the pro women. Todd Wells won the pro men and Burry was 2nd. Christoph flatted and and did not finish. Conrad Stoltz (Xterra world champ) also entered and really impressed me in an event that he’s never raced before. Sam Hill, another Specialized athlete also won the dual slalom. Rafa, unfortunately, crashed during his run and roughed himself up pretty well.

The cross country is the main event for most of the team members. I’m racing that event and expecting the competition to be gnarly and the start to be really fast. Stay tuned for results.

Stats for Rebecca Rusch are coming soon.
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