Most would think that riding a mountain bike for eight hours over a 100-mile dirt course would rank up there with the most painful self-induced challenges. For Rebecca Rusch, however, this is a relatively paltry amount of time in the saddle.
Exactly three weeks after winning her third straight 24-Hour Solo World Championship, Rusch rode for victory in Colorado's Leadville 100, in only one-third the time she it takes to earn the rainbow badge of the world champion.
Of course, that's not to say Rusch rode downhill both ways on the out-and-back course.
Faced with snow, near-freezing temperatures and stinging sleet for the first half of the race, Rusch was forced to stop at the first aid station to don a pair of insulated gloves simply be able to shift gears on her bike.
"It was almost the coldest I've ever been," Rusch said. "At the top of the Columbine climb, the sleet was coming down sideways and all I wanted to do was get down."
Having never raced or ridden the Leadville course, Rusch competed with a self-drawn map taped to the top tube, and said that the lack of prior experience added significantly to the difficulty.
But this was not nearly enough to keep Rusch from handily winning the women's category while taking the highest-ever overall finish for a female.
"The most amazing part was the sheer number of riders and what was reported to be 20,000 spectators," Rusch said. "It felt like the Tour de France with crowd pushing in and yelling at the aid stations. It was very surreal for a mountain bike race and crossing the finish line was deafening."
And in addition to a large ore wagon trophy and bragging rights for winning one of the most prestigious mountain bike races in the world, Ketchum's star athlete got an added reward for her effort.
"It was obviously a huge honor to share the podium with Lance [Armstrong]," Rusch said. "He shook my hand and told me I did an awesome job."
