Check out 24 Hour World Camp "Rebecca Rusch's" Interview at www.ride424.com!

Rebecca Rusch has been working with us for years, all while heading Team Montrail adventure racing. She knows what it is like to commit to full-time racing, being for the most part, a nomad as a professional athlete. She is very aware of the strain of training, sacrifice, and commitment it takes to get to the top. She is special, and there is more than meets the eye than being 24 hour World Champion.

A fair question is what drives people to the top? Rebecca never knew her dad, as his jet fighter was shot down in southeast Asia near Thialand. I am sure this is part of what drives her, because she is a go-getter, pushing it to the limits, not doing the normal things. She works for herself, not simply working for a wage, letting someone call her shots. Hanging around bars to be seen is not her style, she is doing things, not dreaming about them. Her road has been like many pros "starving", as many would say, being bike bums. One day your a bum, the next your the hero.

When she jumped into the mountain bike game, the only person she knew was Georgia Gould, another girl who understands how much effort is required before success. She took the National Championships that year. Both gals lived in Sun Valley, Idaho at that time. When you live in a ski town, it takes the edge off from trying to become a pro in something. More support for the "free spirits"? Perhaps, but surely less stress from the system saying you can't do that! You can't make a living doing that, you need to go to get a real job.

We know well that people not only want, but will go to every effort to see you fail. There are many forces (people) that want to stop you from doing what you want to.

Rebecca made her mark in many sports, was on front page of Outside Magazine, and has seen the world. She stays the game with the industry that helped her make a living, she is not a "flake" like so many who jump from one resource to another, only to take and not give back. That is what makes her a "Gem". That is why Red Bull is behind her.

We have even had her doing ads on TV with Lyle Pearson Motors with her going up Bogus Basin Road on her bike with the Myo-facts sEMG/Dartfish, following her in a 400hp Jaguar with the top down. "Fun." She's worked long and hard to earned her World 24 hour Championship title, and she is Wobble-Naught fast!

Rebecca is one of the few female pros who has stood the test of time and has been able to move from one sport to another sport, just like her friend Mike Tobin (Nike ACG).

There have been scars! There have been times when life had no meaning, as a result from mourning. No one races to risk life or watch friends die. One day in a race, a huge rock in a steep gully dislodged with 8 people below, in its path. Cries of "Rock" from teammates above as the rock just missed her and then the sight of a face that she could not register was a friend who was killed. She plunged into a hermit lifestyle, attempting to find her soul and make sense of it all. She felt lost and alone, her sense of purpose was gone. Rebecca is perhaps her harshest critic, and is not a quitter, she made the right decision, challenged herself, came out of isolation and is now a World Champion. She is a pro.

This year, she even has a light named after her! Light & Motion has a limited 2008 edition "High-Output LED, The Rusch" the same color of her 1975 Ford Bronco named Betty.

Reba almost dropped out of sport after seeing the death of a racer, taken out by a rock hitting him in the back of his head. That was a sad day and time, almost taking her out of sport.

I recall sending her an email, that there are many people in the world who want to see her still race, as she impacts many. Good that her and Betty are reliable.

There is always more to the success than meets the eye.

Congrats,

Reba