The 2008 Leadville Trail 100 race begins as the bikers head towards the mountains

This is the first year I’ve crewed at the Leadville bike race rather than bike it. Besides getting another perspective on the race, I also got a lot of race photos. Unfortunately I only got two photos of the now infamous David Wiens and Lance Armstrong battle.

Congratulations to all who raced, including Stani Bohac (first timer and finishing well under 9 hours!), Jim Janowicz, Jeff Tenniswood, Doug Cannell, Randy Guymer, Jenn Dice (IMBA), Garth Prosser, and Patrick Olson.

The race photos are on-line at https://allyeargear.com/gallery/2008-leadville100-bike

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.

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.

It was 1998. I was racing across one of the flatter sections of the Leadville 100 when I caught a guy with a strange riding style. He would spin madly then coast, repeating this over and over again. “Weird,” I thought. But later I realized the rest of the story. He was one of those singlespeeders I’d read about. He proceeded to stand for 90-some minutes of climbing and put a half-minute on me. As I spun along in my granny gear I thought how insane he must be. (more…)

My watch alarm beeps at 2:30 AM on race morning. It’s time to wake up and get to the starting line for my first 100-mile running race.

Leadville, Colorado is still sleeping except for the 465 runners, their support crews, and spectators milling about the dimly lit downtown area. It’s a rather balmy 43F and runners are getting in their last minute stretches.

At 3:59AM the announcer excitedly states “The shotgun is cocked.” (more…)