From the Library: Rusch to Glory

Rebecca Rusch was already an accomplished athlete when she discovered a talent for racing bicycles. Having made a name for herself in adventure racing, rock climbing, and white water paddling, it should be of little surprise that the physical and mental traits required to become a champion on two wheels was already in place. Latent those traits may have been, but once the focus was discovered, the outcome might have been predicted.

When Rebecca writes "even though I'd done a fair share of biking in adventure racing… I'd never learned to love it; in fact, I hated it more than any other sport I'd tried. Bikes were complicated. They always broke. And I wasn't any good on technical terrain, so I'd end up pushing or carrying the damn thing" then follows up by winning four consecutive Leadville Trail 100s, and topped off by multiple national and world MtB championships, well, you kind of wonder if there isn't a good deal of leg-pulling going on. Technical terrain is my Achilles heel as well, but you won't find me turning it around and winning Leadville a few years down the road.

Rusch's story here is that of a true champion, one who has earned success in a wide variety of activities, one who has, through determination and effort, overcome fear and doubt to reach both personal and very public pinnacles, and one who now takes as much pride and pleasure in giving back to the community, by sharing some of her life's passion with others.

Rusch, Rebecca with Selene Yeager   Rusch to Glory: Adventure, Risk & Triumph on the Path Less Travelled   Boulder, CO: Velo Press, 2014