Idaho

Ruthie Matthes

(1165 -     )

Ruthie Matthes was born on November 11^th, 1965 in Sun Valley, Idaho.  While she was in high school, Ruthie enjoyed cross country skiing.  Her skiing coach asked her to start bicycling as a way to train for skiing.  Ruthie decided that she liked bicycling even better than skiing, and she’s been doing it ever since.  At first, Ruthie concentrated on the road race circuit.  When she was 19 years old, she moved to California to train and race.  During this time she had little money, and sometimes she even had to sleep in her car. Ruthie was determined though, and after only two years, she made the U.S. national team.  In 1990, Ruthie was the National Road Cycling Champion.  At this time, Ruthie became interested in mountain biking.  In 1991, Ruthie participated in road races and mountain biking races.  By the end of 1991, she had decided that mountain biking was way more fun than road racing, and she decided to put all of her energy into mountain biking.  Ruthie won many championship races.  She retired in 2001, after 18 years of bicycling.

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