All in 2010. Remember that Rusch, who started out as a rock climber and dominated adventure sports before moving to endurance mountain biking in 2001, is a three-peat 24-hour solo world champion. Her full list of accomplishments makes you want to sit down and take a breather just reading them.

Then again, Rebecca Rusch is the kind of person who would be stoked at meeting you or me, or walking down the street, or watching paint dry. She’s stoked at everything life has to offer. That’s just one reason why she’s everybody’s favorite champion.

Climbing at 2010 Leadville 100. Todd Meier photo.

“I just love to ride,” she said in a telephone interview after her Leadville win.

Notably, Rusch finished a remarkable 22nd overall at Leadville, passing half a dozen guys on the fearsome Columbine climb up to the race’s highest point at 12,550 feet. Rusch is matter-of-fact about it: “For the most part the guys are super cool. Especially in an endurance race, everyone is working super hard — everyone’s in their own little suffer fest.”

Women racing in male-dominated mixed events has come a long way from the early days, when just a couple of female names would show up in mountain biking competitions. Back then, a lot of guys weren’t particularly keen about getting passed by someone like Jacquie Phelan, winner of the first three NORBA nationals who had to endure a lot of pushback and ostracism on the trails.

With trophy next to men's winner Levi Leipheimer. Todd Meier photo.

Today, “I think the guys have changed,” Reba said. “What can they say? You’re beating them fair and square, they have to kind of take their hats off to you and say, OK, good job! Nobody likes to be chicked maybe, but people are more used to seeing fast women. The overwhelming majority of them are willing to shake your hand and give you a pat on the back.”

They call her the Queen of Pain, but it’s unclear whether the reference is to her own threshold or what she inflicts on the competition. At last Saturday’s Leadville, Rebecca not only won for the second year in a row, she beat by 11 minutes the course record set in 1997.

She credits women’s silver winner Amanda Carey with pushing her early and often.

“For the first 40 miles I couldn’t shake Amanda. I was thinking OK, OK, gotta keep at it. We were in the Top 25 of the men so obviously both pushing it.”

Then, after the Twin Lakes Dam aid station and start of the 3,200-foot Columbine ascent, she “decided to put the hammer down and mini-time trial. It was make or break at that point for me. I put six minutes into her on the climb up and another few on the descent, so by the time of the Twin Lakes return I had about 10 minutes on her.” She ultimately finished 25 minutes ahead of Carey, who was 42nd.

It wasn’t a cakewalk. She was cramping on the Columbine descent and almost slid out on a couple of corners. “I was like, OK, OK, take it easy,” she said. “It ended up being a clean, solid race for me.”

It helped that the crowd this year knew her name. “You hear people shouting out your name all along the course, it’s definitely super inspiring.”

As strong as Rebecca is, she admitted you always need a bit of luck to win an endurance race. No flats. No mechanicals. No bonking.

“I was prepared, but you have to have a little luck to get through 100 miles without something going wrong.”

Crediting the 29er. Todd Meier photo.

Rusch rode a Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper 29er hardtail. Although she’s “barely 5-foot-7, I’m sold on the 29er, especially on that course with its fire road sections.” All Specialized riders, including men’s bronze medalist Todd Wells, were on 29ers, she said.

She arrived 10 days before race day to get acclimated and meet the locals.

“What’s really cool about Leadville (race) is the sheer amount of people there. They all love to ride bikes, it’s definitely the biggest mountain bike race I’ll ever attend. It’s hanging out with your tribe.”

Rusch is a bit of a jill-of-all-trades on the racing landscape. Asked to characterize her forte, she answers, “Endurance.” “I’d get really bored doing just one thing (discipline),” she said. “I think it comes from my adventure racing background and doing other sports, like skiing in the winter. I like to mix it up.”

Asked which male counterpart comes closest to her style, she says Adam Craig. “He does Super D and World Cup cross-country stuff. He hasn’t done 24-hour racing but he’s a really good technical rider as well as an endurance guy.”

Another one: Mark Weir. “He’s super technical too and loves the downhill.” We would love to see Mark and Reba sit down together over a couple of beers. He Stoke meets She Stoke.

As for her goals, Rebecca says she accomplished 2010′s No. 1 with her win at Leadville. She’ll be back in sky country in a couple of weeks for the 24 Hours of Leadville (Sept. 4-5), but beyond that she’s still mulling over the rest of the racing season. And 2011? “That’s too far away to plan,” she said with a laugh.

Check SingleTrack.com for “near real-time” coverage of the Leadville 100 this Saturday.

Beware potential con men on bikes!

The burning, er, pressing, um, well, how about musical question of the day: Should I buy my son a jockstrap for mountain biking? is ably answered by BikeExchangePDX.

The Cedar River Trail east of Renton is closing from August 16th to September 3rd. More details from BikingBis.

Robb asks, “Does mountain biking require the mountain?” All you have to do is read our Sun Valley series on “Real Mountain Biking, in Real Mountains” to know we wholeheartedly agree. [And yes, Joe Breeze and Gary Fisher rode Mt. Tamalpais and Pine Mountain back in the day — and still do!]

The allegations against Armstrong have received wide publicity, but only recently have similar charges against Leipheimer gotten similar notoriety.

Wiens will be back in the mix this year, and Lance’s lackluster showing at the Tour may provide Dave some glimmer of hope. The only problem will be Levi’s coming off a strong Tour performance.

Should be a good show, this Saturday in Colorado.

According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, Landis has for the first time fully acknowledged using performance-enhancing substances, i.e. blood doping, and says he is naming names re others’ use. The biggest on the list of course would be the King himself, Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong has been implicated repeatedly over the years, in documents, books, court testimony and by association with physicians linked to doping. But he has managed to raise enough doubts to deflect suspicion. And for the record, he has never actually been caught — or at least if he was, it was never made public.

The list of names already disclosed in Landis’ accusations, which comprise a series of emails to cycling officials, is depressing, sad and unsettling: George Hincapie, another rider considered straight and narrow. Levi Leipheimer, currently favored to win the Amgen Tour of California (where Lance is riding in his support). Johan Bruyneel, Lance’s longtime team manager and confidante, currently head of Team Radio Shack in the Tour of California. David Zabriskie, the current leader of the Tour of California. All American riders, considered all-American riders as well.

If true, Landis’ accusations mark the potential passing of an era similar to what baseball went through a couple of years ago with congressional hearings and all-star confessions regarding use of steroids. No one knows if usage has really been stopped. But the aura of sportsmanship for the “roids era” of baseball has been forever tarnished.

If there’s been a pattern to doping in any sport, it’s that athletes need assistance to pull it off. And typically the cover gets blown when someone steps forward. In Lance’s case, his inner circle has been consistently tight over the years. We always guessed his former wife would be the one to finally state the case. But Landis beat her to it. [See Joe Papp's post on this point.]

Lance has been subdued in the Tour of California and uncharacteristically muted about his racing form and ambitions so far this season. If he had any inkling of Landis’ action, it might explain his low profile. Now the cycling world will be in an uproar — the equivalent of the BP Gulf oil spill — while news media continue to probe and investigate Landis’ allegations. It will hardly be a copacetic environment for pursuing racing glory this season.

Our stance on Lance has always been that his charisma, commercial drawing power and huge international following put doping authorities in an impossible bind. Even if they did manage to test him positive, what would it mean for them to disqualify him from an event like the Tour de France? It would cost the event and the sport millions in lost sponsorships, American disenchantment, TV and media coverage, advertising and general tainting of the grand and glorious sport of cycling.

Our theory has always been that mum was the word. Now, as details emerge from the Landis confessions, we may see if our suspicions were correct.

Our hope is that Lance will make a clean breast of it and move on, so that his foundation and his worthy work all over the globe for fighting cancer and bringing fans and attention to cycling can continue without a morbid cloud hanging over it. It takes a true champion to own up to his or her faults. People like to forgive and forget, and if Lance comports himself moving forward as well as he has in the past, he can put all this behind him with an “everybody did it” defense. In that sense he can rise above Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds “syndrome” — stars who were jerks before they were accused and remained jerks afterward.

One last thing: We can only hope that Lance was clean last August when he rode away from the field in the Leadville 100 to deprive local hero Dave Wiens of a 7th straight championship. To think that Wiens, a true sportsman and humanitarian, was deprived of a legitimate win on the basis of drug cheating would be one of the more depressing circumstances we’ve encountered in our lifetime of cycling obsession.

One woman raced, the other got the trophy. They’ve been charged with felony impersonation.

Like you’re going to fool everyone and the world — all gathered to watch Lance Armstrong compete against local hero Dave Wiens.

It looks like a favor kind of thing, but still:

Miller said Brazelton could not race because of an injury and didn’t want to waste the $250 fee.

“Wendy and Katie are passionate about this sport, and it was never about doing anyone harm or doing anything wrong. It was about getting an opportunity to race a great race,” said Miller, who will race her 10th Leadville Trail 100 this summer and finished sixth in the 40-to-49 group last year. “I don’t think it helps the organizers to make this such a big deal. They should just deal with it with Wendy and Katie directly.”

From one of our veteran correspondents, the lowdown:

HUGE crowd!! Probably the most I’ve ever seen. The economy…nobody can pay list. They changed the direction of the lineup outside pointing the bodies down the sidewalk to the north. By 9:00 it had almost reached the gates to the building where the Expo has been. That’s a freakin long way. It was so packed in there after 30 min or so you could hardly move. As usual my hunter gatherer instincts held me in good stead. Got what I went for; an oversize stem for that sexy 26” handlebar with the gold trim and a new carbon road bar. Both were crispy, brand new. List for the 2 was somewhere in the vicinity of $350.00 and I shelled out $90.00. Was tempted by a few items but held firm.

Chilly Hilly a record-breaker. BikingBis was there. But wha…? No video?? (Update: Michael Snyder at SeattleLikesBikes says he has some coming. In the meantime, check out Garrett Wesley Gibbons’ time lapse.)

Is that 100 their IQ? Cozy Beehive weighs in on the Leadville scamola. Basically what happened was that the folks who lost out in the lottery to enter the Leadville 100 (chance to ride with Lance!) and pay $275 for the privilege got a “SECOND CHANCE”! All they had to do was pony up $1,250 for a training “camp,” and an entry ticket would be theirs for FREE!

Warning to bike promoters everywhere: Bad idea.

Always yield to Bambi. Teen feeling better after hitting a deer while riding a bike. I’ve almost hit deer on mountain bike epics. Doesn’t seem like it would be a whole lot of fun.

SF Gate: Bike camping in the Bay Area. Good piece, bookmark it if you do bike camping. I’d add to the list New Brighton State Park in Santa Cruz. Its bike camp area is close (100 feet) to restrooms and the stairwell down to the beach, with spectacular views off the bluff. Plus it’s nicely segregated from the main campground, which can get a bit noisy and trafficky.

EcoVelo’s server change is complete. Now pedaling isn’t the only thing Alan is doing faster…

Is there someone you’d like to injure and maim in L.A. and get away with it? It’s easy: Make sure they’re riding a bike at the time. Cyclists conducted a protest ride in the City of Angels on Wednesday to highlight the lack of justice in a hit-and-run incident. Driver hit cyclist, got out of car to look, ignored stricken rider’s pleas for help, got in car and drove off. No ticket. No justice. No comprende. But there is hope: The chief of police says things will get better. LA Streetsblog: Yeah right.

On the other hand … Try that kind of crap in Seaside OR and you’re in big trouble.

Bicycle Retailer: Crankworx attendance was up despite crappy weather. Really? It didn’t feel that way. It felt more like numbers were a bit down, and in any case I’d be curious to see the data. If you read the release carefully it says attendance was up the “final weekend,” which was fairly sunny. If so, it was not by much. The rest of the time was noticeably slack. You could just look at the lift lines.

No knock on the ‘worx, it’s a great event. Which is all the more reason it has no need to exaggerate.

BikeRumor: Camelbak’s new electronically monitored flow meter showing how much liquid you’ve sucked up on a ride. Christmas stocking stuffer, but otherwise file under Things You Could Probably Survive Without.

SF Bike Expo is set for November 21st in the Cow Palace!

Martha Hucker interviews Melissa Buhl. Next, how about Jill Kintner?

Buhly: “Women’s racing in the US has dropped off a bit. Not from lack of talent by any means, just the depth in entries at the events. I think a lot of it is because it is so costly for them and there is lack of support. Some of the race promoters don’t give enough incentive for pro racers to make the trip. We are racing for free or next to nothing at a lot of the events, and that’s unacceptable for any pro. There are so many talented riders here, but you’ll find them doing other events and other types of riding and racing they enjoy more. I hope we can get a consistent series going that offers that kind of enjoyment in racing again and bring them back.”

One last look back at this year’s Leadville 100. Yes Lance was King, but the ever-humble, gentlemanly and gracious Dave Wiens made a lot of fans too.

Mark the calendar: Seattle Bike-In is this Sunday at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill.

Cycle Killer, qu’est-ce que ce? On September 28, David Byrne will be at Town Hall with his new book, Bicycle Diaries. A $30 ticket gets you a copy of the book too…

Great video of Lance and Wiens at Saturday’s Leadville 100.

MTBR has roundup and Top 10 results.

A look back at the Top 10 reasons Wiens was sure to beat Lance.

Humble pie: Yeah I was wrong, Wiens couldn’t hang with Lance after all. Not a surprise, really, but wished it could’ve been a closer race. Sounds like Dave is hanging it up, so next year’s race (assuming Lance defends as he says he will and Levi can keep from breaking something) will be between Lance and Leipheimer. I’m going with Double L! Stay tuned!

Cyclelicious: Empire Grade Road closed due to fire. Richard is a roadie but notes the smoke covers huge mtb sections of the UC-Santa Cruz campus, Wilder Ranch and back down to Henry Cowell State Park. Let’s hope the disruption was only temporary. There’s not much else for mountain biking in that section of the Santa Cruz range.

Crankworx wrap: PinkBike has video of Greg Watts’ winning slopestyle run.

Mountain Bike Action has photos.

Sam Hill and Emmeline Ragot took top honors in the Canadian Open Downhill…with Seattle-based Evil’s Steve Smith taking a bronze. Smith has been putting in some standout results this season after signing with Evil, which was at Crankworx showing off some cool hardware. More later…

We close with a tantalizing thought. Jill Kintner creamed Emmeline Ragot in the “mini-Downhill” Grand Slalom at Crankworx. If Jill had run the Canadian Open Downhill and presumably won, it would’ve given her 3 golds (as well as a silver) for Crankworx 2009! We continue to suspect Jill (maybe nudged by BF Bryn Atkinson) will enter downhill comps some day soon…

Some quick links, then I gotta go RIDE!

PinkBike has the rundown on the big Slopestyle course tomorrow. It may be tamer than last year, but that’s probably good. Too many crashes last year. Looking it over, and having seen every Crankworx Slopestyle at Whistler, my view is that this one has more diversity (read opportunity) than any previous. And it’s really set up for viewing.

Let’s hope the crowds come. Whistler is soaked, bros! There are puddles in the parking lot and the trails are not just damp but sloppy in some spots. Plus it’s cold at night.

That said, the sun is out today (Friday) and skies definitely appear to be clearing! So hopefully everyone will come on up tonight and tomorrow for the world’s signature Slopestyle event, Kokanee Crankworx.

As for tomorrow’s Leadville 100, now the “signature” enduro MTB event because of Lance’s omnipresence:

BikeRumor has pics and descrip of Lance’s proto Trek Fuel 9.9 XX whatever. Why doesn’t Trek just call it the Lance Armstrong? If I was at Leadville and Lance whizzed by I’d have a hard time choosing between looking at him or his bike! It should be a great race.

There’re some other familiar names in the lineup, including Travis Brown riding his own customized Trek, caught by Mountain Bike Action. Early on Floyd Landis was supposed to have registered, but he’s not on the official roster. Neither is once-rumored Tinker Juarez. Nor is Chris Eatough, history’s greatest 24-hour racer, who’s apparently racing the FoolsGold 100 instead.

But Dave Wiens, despite modestly downplaying his own chances at a 7th straight title, is still in the mix. BikeRumor has great Wiens interview on the whole enchilada.

Check out the UltraRob blog for inside coverage.

AP setup story in Seattle Times on the race.

BIkePortland is tracking a disturbing cycling-auto encounter.

If you’re in Seattle Sunday and want to pay respects to Jose Hernando and the other fallen of our sport, Michael Snyder at SeattleLikesBikes has a suggestion.

Watching videos of interviews and the Tour, however, I thought his shoulder was quite a bit less than 100 percent. In conversation, he used his left arm and hand more in gesticulating, etc., and never raised his right arm above his shoulder.

On the Tour’s wrenching climbs, Lance stayed more in the saddle than the Lance of old. And he never attacked, either. Maybe his riding style has changed. But a reluctance to sprint or attack would also indicate not wanting to stress the shoulder, since out of the saddle requires more pulling on the bars.

It may well be that the shoulder is virtually healed by now (it’s been more than 3 months). But if there’s any test to tell for sure, it would be this Saturday’s Leadville 100. Nearly seven hours of up and down riding on uneven surfaces takes a toll on perfectly healthy shoulders. If anything’s askew, Lance should start feeling it about hour 4 or 5.

The subject of his shoulder hasn’t come up anywhere in news coverage lately, and I imagine that if asked, Lance would brush it aside. And let’s hope the shoulder isn’t a factor, because we all want a level playing field (so to speak!). But it remains an X-factor at Leadville, because this race is a different beast from what he’s been doing.

Don’t forget you’ll be able to see a live Webcast of the race and get full updates from the Leadville 100 site. As for news coverage, still no rundown on Lance’s prototype Trek Fuel full-suspension bike, and nobody’s apparently talking to Dave Wiens about all this. One problem: Crankworx’s signature event, the Slopestyle competition, is the same day, sucking a lot of mountain bike journalists to Whistler. Let’s hope The New York Times gets on Leadville…Juliet Macur are you there?