Elke Brutsaert stands behind her counter cutting up bananas and strawberries for oatmeal. It's a rest day after the national downhill mountain biking championships and before the world championships. Brutsaert is in her new condo but there's really not much of her present in the place aside from a large pile of stuff in the livingroom, which just sits there wondering if it will get unpacked or not. There's evidence of a deep tiredness in the 29-year-old, too. Maybe it stems from the fact that she just woke up but more likely, she's showing the signs of a gradual let down, her body getting it's rest before the worlds in Switzerland, which will take place when W.i.g. goes to press. She's just come off a season of winning two NORBA down hill events and the World Cup opening in South Africa.

But right now, Elke isn't 100 percent. She bent three of her five fingers completely back in a high-speed, gnarly wreck during a World Cup race in Caprun, Austria. "There was a chance to win the overall title, providing that I won the race and the other points fell correctly [meaning if the two top contenders had a bad day]. It was a good course for me, I hung it all out and as a result of pushing my limits to the edge, I crashed. But I did have the fastest half-time split," explains Elke.

Her fingers hyperextended to the point where they were on top of her wrist--but she didn't break any bones. Just a couple of days ago, she said, she thought her skin would tear because her hand was so swollen. Just a couple of days ago, she raced on it at the National Off Road Bicycle Association's national championship race at Deer Valley, Utah. She was able to "get down the course," which was enough to ensure her a spot on the national team.

Lisa Sher, 28, who's been staying with Elke since the Deer Valley race, and who's ranked 4th overall on the NORBA circuit, makes her way to the kitchen. She smiles and introduces herself, incognizant of the cool-looking black eye she sports, an injury from Deer Valley as well. As she sets to her task, making a huge pot of oatmeal, both begin to share their experiences as professional downhill racers.

Brutsaert and Sher are members of the elite group of pro women downhill mountain bike racers. This group of Amercian women consistently have seven riders among the top 10 World Cup finishers on the international pro mountain bike circuit. That's formidable in the face of the ever-growing Euro-domination of international mountain biking podiums. Both of them live and breathe the sport and the lifestyle, which, according to Sher, can only really be understood by those who live it.