Leadville Recap

Ok so i guess it's been enough time since i turned my body inside out up in the high country....i can comfortably come out of my shell. Since returning back to the lowlands I've had little motivation to rap about our CO trip, for whatever reason the motivation has been gone....not just for blogging, but for riding as well. Who knows, i guess after your one big goal race of the year is over your body just shuts down on it's own. Who knows, but here's how the race shook out.

The days prior everyone was in a tissy about what to do for the weather....it was predicted to be nice and sunny, but a few days earlier it changed. 38 degrees with a rain/sleet mix...needless to say everyone had different opinions about what to wear and how it was going to change their entire race strategy. I opted for a sleeveless baselayer, arm warmers, and kneee warmers....seemed to work well all day. Luckily the start was dry, cold, but dry....it wasn't until about an hour in that the rain started falling. The start was pretty amazing, 1400 riders cramming into narrow Leadville streets all trying to get that "perfect" spot. Since Lance was there in all his glory, there were helicopters flying around as well as flash bulbs going crazy....love him or hate him....it was cool to line up with him.

Shotgun goes off and we start rolling....10 seconds later we slow for some dude who wrecked on the pavement...no idea how that happened. The first 5 miles or so are pretty flat and rolling, no major climbs.....so on a single speed this means you get passed a ton! All you can do is spin like mad and stay off too the side of the road, this is the part where everyone thinks their fast....all the geared guys in their big rings trying to keep pace with the pros up front....it doesn't last long. Before you know it the climb up St. Kevin's in on you....this part was really annoying. You take 1400 riders that are all pretty close to each other and funnel them down on a small dirt road then funnel, then even further when the climb begins while everyone is muscling for the best line....you now have the makings of one annoyingly long climb. If you're on a geared bike it's not that big of deal, you just shift down and spin...on a single speed, you're screwed. Less then 10 miles in and i was walking up the hill. This isn't a big deal, often times on a SS it's better to walk these sections...you're going almost as fast and you're not having to dig deep to go so slow. This is how most of the climbs went....ride as far up as you can until you catch all the geared guys taking up the whole road....then hop off and walk till it thins out. One cool thing of note...I'm riding up and see a lady wearing a Richardson Bike Mart kit....i ask if she knows a good friend of mine...she does, we chat for a sec while i follow her up....then pass her and she yells out my name? I turn and it's Kim Chance, a lady i did an adventure race with in Oregon maybe 10 years ago...havne't seen her since....small world. Not sure how she did, as i never saw her again.



The first half of the race was pretty uneventful...except for the rain. Everyone warns about how difficult Powerline is to descend....lame. Have them come out and ride Pisgah for one day and they will see difficult descents. I will say that the rain coupled with all the people did make it a little more sketchy, but nothing that was too hairy. Now that might be a different story if you were one of the 4 tandem teams i saw...those folks are amazing!!! Descending Powerline in a crowd and in the rain on a tandem....pretty cool. The section from the bottom of powerline to Twin Lakes was what killed my time i believe...in addition to the altitude. I was hoping for a 10:30ish finish time, but once we got to the flats and i had to spin like crazy to keep 12mph i knew that time was shot. The Twin Lakes feed zone was an absolute mad house...people for miles on both sides of the trail cheering for everyone...amazing to see so many people....odd though that they weren't there on the way back through.....oh ya, Lance was already done by that point....figures.


After fueling up at Twin Lakes with the help of Ashley and Daphne, thanks ladies, you were awesome, it was off to tackle the 10 mile climb of Columbine. I was just starting to head up when the almighty Lance and his motorcycle parade came screaming past me on his way to the finish, that's crazy fast.....amazing. In case you are wondering, this climb is no joke. It starts out on a long twisty fire road with lots of switchbacks, up, up, and up...until it pops out above treeline.....this is where it got just stupid hard. Not only are you at around 11,000ft but it's now two way traffic on an already narrow road and it's INCREDIBLY rocky....unridable with so many people around. So for the next hour+ me and god knows how many of my closest friends hiked to the top of the almighty Columbine. This was no joke hard, can't breath, it's now raining again, windier than Chicago on a winters day.....hard. I've also come to the conclusion that if i ever do Leadville again, that i won't wear stiff carbon soled shoes....I'm gonna find some entry level rubber soled shoes that are comfortable to hike in...just an FYI for all you beginners out there. Honestly i don't know how long the climb took, but i do know that at 50 miles and 6:02 in the race i was at the top. I couldn't afford to stay long so after two minutes...i was headed back out on the bike after grabbing a coke and some more water from the aid station up top. This is where the race took a different turn. Until now i was confident that i would finish no problem...now I'm pretty sure i won't. It was a mental battle to continue at this point. They tell you that just because you are at the 50 mile marker...it's not half way. You still have 50 more miles with the nasty Powerline climb to go, and this is when your body starts shutting down. All these things are going through my head at the 6:00hr mark, and continue for the remainder of the race.

The decent of Columbine was amazing...fast and rocky...and took probably 35 minutes. Back down at the Twin Lakes aid station the warm sun and no rain felt pretty good after chilling myself to the bone. Another hard part of this race was the fact that i was pushing so hard now to make the cut offs there was no time to chill at the aid stations....it was literally, refuel and move on....2 minutes tops. After a quick stop, it was back out to the flats between Twin Lakes and Powerline...don't get me wrong, it's really not flat...more like rolling hills....there is more climbing in this section then we could have ever found in Mobile....nonetheless, it was a challenging section on a SS. Like i said earlier, from the half way point on it was a race against the clock. I had checkpoint times taped to my stem for a 10:30 and an 11:00 hr finish.... i was now behind all of these, all i could do now was ride as hard as possible and hope for the best...i knew it would be very, very close.

There is an aid station right before you get to Powerline called Pipeline...it's here that you get pulled from the race if your not through at the 9 hr mark. Unfortunately my buddy and training partner Jeff got pulled here....no worries man, next year. I luckily came through here at 8:04, knowing that according to my stem times it was roughly 3 hours to the finish....on a geared bike of course. Somehow our support got mixed up and I didn't have anyone at this rest stop....not good. i was forced to take whatever they had on hand...nasty red power aid and some chocolate power gel....the worst kind. This was a little frustrating...but there was no time to complain, i knew it was going to take me every bit of 4 hours to get back. From here there is a long and literally flat road section until you get to Pipeline, this sucked. There was a head wind and all the folks on gears were flying by me in a paceline and there was nothing i could do....just sit and spin all the way to the base of Pipeline. I had no idea what to expect for this climb...i was shooting for an hour up knowing that anything longer would really put me in trouble for finishing. According to all the things I've read and people I've spoke too there were 4-5 noticeable false summits on this climb....5 summits in, I was still counting. This climb is completely doable..but 75 miles in with people crowding the trail....the legs weren't having it. Luckily most people were taking the hiking idea to heart and we all walked...for an hour fifteen minutes of pure fun. At the top of Powerline you have a very long descent back down to the fish hatchery....this is where i had to make up some time. My thought process was either i was gonna blow a tire, wreck, or i was gonna make it...either way i had to hang it out on these sections just to get my overall speed back up and I passed a ton of people on the way down...it was a last resort move.

Once down at the fish hatchery there is a 4 mile paved climb back up to the top of St. Kevin's and to the last water station before the end...luckily i felt good up this climb and was able to keep a solid pace. It's amazing how much adrenalin will get you through certain things....I'm pretty sure the last 4 hours were nothing but a prolonged adrenalin rush. I can't tell you the times i looked at my stem, back to my watch, did some math and sped up. Over and over for 4 hours. Finally back at the top of St. Kevin's i filled up for the last time and received some, "you better hurry up", advice from the volunteers...all of them telling me that it was gonna be close....thanks, i didn't know that. Luckily once your at the top of St. Kevin's its pretty much all down hill back to the finish...sort of...there are plenty of steep rollers to get your attention but nothing major. Like the backside of Pipeline, this was a section that i had to carry a ton of speed, which became harder and harder....at this point my lungs are now raw, spitting up some blood, legs are extremely heavy and not wanting to spin....nothing wanted to work right. It's amazing how many gear folks i passed in this section...not sure why or how, but i was motoring....I'm gonna attribute it to shear desire. I really wanted to finish this race. There was one person i wanted to prove wrong...he said i couldn't do it....suck it Ford...i did it.

The last section of note is called the Boulevard, it's about a 2 mile slight incline, that is nothing, but at this point is everything....to the finish. From here on people are starting to line the roads..cheering and in some cases yelling that you have 4 miles to go....this was a huge pshcyoligical killer. Some jerk yelled this out and i knew if he was right, i wouldn't make it....i was already at 11:50 at this point. No way to do 4 miles in 10 minutes. Luckily he was just drunk or a jerk...or both....an actual volunteer said, "just make it over this hill and you'll love what you see", and they were right. Standing up and trying to power over this last little hill was one of the hardest parts of the day, i hung it all out there, nothing left. The top of the hill was a sweet, sweet site....1/2 mile away was the red carpet finish. I'd made it. I rolled across the line in 11:56.28. Hardest day of my life....let me repeat, Hardest day of my life. I've never had to push so hard to reach a goal, ever.
There are so many things that i left out, so many emotions that will be left unsaid...and who knows in weeks to come i might add a little more to this, but for now...this is it. Leadville lived up to everything that was said about it, all the hype, all the talk was completly true. It truely is a special event. The riding is nothing special, scenery is good, not great....but something about it is just special. I'm glad to be a part of it, glad to have carved my name in the hills as a finisher. Hope to be back next year...I still have 10:30 on my mind.