It’s official. Snow is now in the forecast for tomorrow’s Leadville Trail 100 running race.

Snow showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning…then rain showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Snow accumulation around 1 inch. Highs 45 to 53. Southwest winds up to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Because there will be a mix of snow and rain, it’s going to be very tough keeping my clothing dry, especially critical items like gloves.

Also, racing in cold weather makes me want food with higher fat content. Typically I would do this race with just Hammer Gel and a protein-supplement. Now I plan on having raw cookie dough on hand.

The Race Medical check in is underway now. The race starts with an early morning shotgun blast at 4 AM.

Leadville's weekend weather forecast

It’s just a couple days away from the start of the Leadville Trail 100 running race.  Running 100 miles at altitude in the mountains is epic in its own right.  The race doesn’t need to be made tougher with lousy weather.

It appears Mother Nature wasn’t made aware of that.

This weekend’s weather looks wet and cold.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw snow.  I’m glad I packed some winter running gear.  It’s going to be interesting!

Lance Armstrong rides past Twin Lakes (mile 60)

A group of us from Michigan have been racing the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race since 1996.  It’s a tough race to finish but an easy race to become addicted to,  And as my friend Stani noted that everything about this race is epic: the course, the promoters, the volunteers, the altitude, etc.

Normally this race flies under the radar for everyone except the endurance racing junkies  Last year was an exception as Tour de France racer Floyd Landis showed up.  Landis eventually came in second to Leadville-favorite Dave Wiens.

This year Lance Armstrong did the race, putting Leadville in the national news.  And similar to last year, Armstrong came up short, finishing second to Wiens.  As the race announcer said, Armstrong did win his age group.

I only got one lousy photo of the leading duo.  Some of the best coverage is at Super Human Mag and the Denver Post.

The majority of folks I spoke with seemed satisfied with that result.  Wiens is a super nice guy and now a six-time winner at Leadville.  He could have been the seven-time winner, but the race promoters didn’t let him in that first year.  The race was full and they didn’t have any pro slots for late entries.  Wiens said he appreciated not being treated differently than the rest of the racers,

Stay tuned for more Leadville blogging on the Michigan racer results and photos.

I recently signed up for a very interesting 4-mile run through Detroit’s scenic Mt. Olivet Cemetery. The race is this Sunday. There’s a 1.5 mile walk option as well.

The key selling point? Post-race pancakes!

I’m already thinking up some punny excuses, e.g. “I nearly died out there.”

You can register on-line. Also, the Free Press has an great article about the race.

In case you missed it, the April Detroit Alleycat was a great time as these photos show.

The theme was “drug wars”, so basically you got a brown bag at the start containing “medications” and directions. You had to ride to the different locations, deliver the medications, and get paid. You had to be at the bar by 6pm. Whoever got there first with the most money won.

The key to doing well is knowing your streets and choosing an optimal order and route between all the stops. Fortunately Skeez and I know the area pretty well. Our team made all the sales. There were around 50 teams (over 115 riders) and we finished 7th or 8th.

The after party was at TV’s on Grand River at 4th. They had $2 beers and grilled cheap food for us on their outdoor patio. The decor was very, very mod and cool.

The next alleycat, called The Gay Velocipede and the Darling Buds of May is scheduled for May 7th, 8PM at Hart Plaza.