Long Live the Queen!

Rebecca Rusch proved herself as “The Queen of Pain” yet again. Just two weeks ago, she set a new speed record during “Red Bull Rusch Hour” on the Kokopelli Trail linking Utah and Colorado, when she biked 142 miles in 13 hours and 32 minutes—crushing Linda Wallenfels’ 2006 record (15 hours, 3 minutes). Oh, and did we mention Rebecca rode unsupported? Just a girl, her bike, a GPS, 16 hours worth of calories, a water filter, and a broken helmet light.

Rebecca Rusch talked to us by phone about mountain biking, facing obstacles, and riding by moonlight.

WA: Why take on the Kokopelli Trail? Describe it for us laymen. What makes it iconic?

RR: It goes from Moab [Utah] to Fruita [Colorado], two mountain biking meccas. On the Moab end, it goes from high alpine (9,000 ft. elevation) to dropping into the desert. You’re traveling through several different ecosystems. There’s no one out there. You don’t really cross any roads. It’s quite isolated. Normally, people do it in 3-4 days and camp along the way.

I’d always heard about it, but I had never ridden it. I knew there were some endurance records on it. The woman who used to hold the record is a friend. The reason I did this by myself is that I wanted a personal challenge. With the Kokopelli, it’s all about planning all your gear and equipment, water filter, and where are you going to get water, and how much food should you carry, and how are you going to navigate your way to the next turn. To me, that adds a lot more adventure. I don’t need 2,000 people lined up next to me to feel competitive. It’s my own little race.

WA: Wait. Am I right to understand that you had never ridden that trail before you attempted to break the record?

RR: That’s right. I did some research through Google Earth. I called some friends who had done it, including Linda, the previous record holder. But, it was very unknown. And I actually really like that. I liked not knowing what was coming.

WA: So before you began, did you announce that you were going for a record?

RR: Yes. I tried not to think about that ahead of time. There were a lot of odds against me: the fact that I didn’t know the trail, the fact that it was spring. It’s hard to be at your fittest in April because it’s been snowing and raining, and I haven’t been on my bike that much.

They say that when you want to accomplish something, you need to tell a lot of people to hold yourself to the fire. So, I did put myself out there, and there was huge trepidation about whether I could do this. If I fail, I’ll just tell people I tried. And I can always come back and do it again. That’s okay. There have been lots of races I haven’t won. People who can win and lose gracefully are the best athletes.

WA: You rode unsupported. What provisions and gear did you bring?

RR: I did the race unsupported so this would be considered a legitimate record on this trail. That’s just the style people do it in—fully self-supported. The record was 17 hours, so I carried 16 hours

worth of food. You have to have a water filter, because you can’t carry enough water. Filtering from the Colorado River, which is sandy and brown, is kinda gross. I practiced at home in my sink!

The GPS and the mapping were really important, because I didn’t know the trail. I loaded the maps into my GPS. I took extra battery mounts for my Garmin and headlamp, obviously. Temperatures were in the 30s at midnight when I started, so I had gloves, a jacket, knee warmers. I was wearing a Spot tracking device to legitimize the record. I brought two tubes, chain breaker, extra chain. I really went as light as I possibly could, knowing that I was rolling the dice a little bit.

I didn’t take a backup headlamp. That ended up biting me in the ass! I’ve never had a light malfunction but, sure enough, at 4 a.m. my light malfunctioned. I had two and a half hours of riding by moonlight. If there hadn’t been a moon, I would have been completely shut down.

You know, I also crashed and hurt my finger. All this stuff happened, but I’m actually glad it wasn’t perfectly smooth and simple. For me, that makes it a better achievement.

WA: So, you fell early on and dislocated your finger.

RR: And tore my ligaments in my index finger. My finger basically went back all the way to the back of my hand. It tore the skin underneath my knuckle, which I didn’t know. I had my glove on. I saw that my finger was pointing the wrong way and put it back into place. I didn’t even think about it.

WA: Have you ever had to do that before?

RR: No. It was just reflex. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins. I put it back into place. Got up. Kept going. That was only hour number three. I used that finger the rest of the time. I was still able to operate my break levers.

When I stopped at the finish and took my glove off and saw the big tear in my skin, I passed out.

WA: Did you ever think about giving up, after falling and losing your helmet lamp?

RR: No. That never entered my mind. I had to cut my losses. I would lose time with my light out, but I can make it up when it gets light. I was on a pretty decent pace; I knew I needed to stay around 10 mph to get close to the record. Even if I wasn’t on track to break the record, I was going to finish it.

WA: When you have to spend 15 hours on a bike, what’s going on in your head?

RR: I was really focused on this event. I focused on the trail and not missing the turns. My mind wasn’t wandering at all, which is a sign of a really great event and a great trail…. It didn’t seem hard to stay focused for 13 and a half hours, because I was really engaged.

WA: How did you train for this trail?

RR: I do a lot of cross-country skiing. I do some time indoors on the bike. I try to take a couple bike trips, just so I can get on the mountain bike. I went to South America to do the Trans Andes in February. I did Old Pueblo, a 24-hour race. Having little goals was great. It definitely kept me honest, training more, and getting out the door when the weather was crappy. That’s the great thing when you choose a goal or sign up for an event. It does keep you honest, gets you out on the days when you don’t feel like it. It happens to me. It happens to everybody.

WA: In honor of National Bike Month, can you describe why you love to bike? And how do you feel when you hop on the saddle?

RR: Now, the reason I love to bike is the places it takes me—the amazing places you can go, even outside your backyard. When I swing a leg over, it’s an adventure: “Where am I going? What am I going to do now?”

WA: What would you say to inspire women to try mountain biking or anything else they haven’t tried before?

RR: I think sometimes it takes a catalyst, it takes something that seems too hard, like Kokopelli, and you think, “God, can I really do that?” Nobody would ever have thought I would become a professional bike racer because of how terrible I was [when I started]. It was just perseverance and sticking with it. I think the things that are the hardest, are the most frustrating in the beginning, but, in the end, they are the biggest rewards, because they weren’t easy. They weren’t handed to you on a platter.

Catch Rebecca Rusch on the Gold Rusch Tour this summer. For more details, click here.

Category: Cycling