Leadville 2009 a Success

Well, it's Monday and I don't feel like working, so I'll make a short recap post.

The race started under a clear sky with temps in the mid 30's and a light drizzle. By the 2 hour point the rain had turned to light hail and the mountains were covered in clouds. It was neat, but very surreal. The Powerline descent was done in total rain and mud, but it was fun.

Dwight Hibdon and I started together and paced each other for the first 65 minutes, about to the Haggerman Pass road, then he pulled away, not to be seen again until he came down from the Columbine Mine station. DH rode a wonderful race and came in under his goal of 10 hours. Congrats and well done DH :-)

My race can be summed up with too many pee stops, too many stops to put on a rain jacket, too much time at the aid stations, no climbing legs at all, no altitude lungs and too much pre-race worrying and analysis. That ought to cover just about everything.

I went out at a very manageable pace and was good for about 2.5 hours, but between Powerline 1 and Twin Lakes 1 the bladder started getting active and I started to loose my mojo. I kept up with my fueling plan, which I'm having 2nd thoughts about for future races, and thought I did well with fluids. Like always, after the race I checked my camelbacks that I thought were just about empty and they still had 75% of the water I started with! Why I carry all that weight is beyond me. I guess I'm just stubborn and stupid. Something has to change.

My plan was to blow through Twin Lakes 1 and carry my momentum up Columbine and stop there for more fuel and a jacket. I did that but, I had absolutely no legs. I crept up the road in my granny most of the time and people were passing me left and right. When the hail started again I stopped, peed, put on my jacket and began my slow crawl again only to stop a few minutes later when the sun came out. I seemed to be looking for an excuse to stop, and I found many. When the fire road turned to the steep rocky single track, I got off my bike and just pushed. Some of the sections people were riding, I just walked. I bent over my top tube several times and wanted to quit, but there was no one there to surrender my bracelet too. Crying wasn't an option because I peed out all my extra moisture, so I just kept going. I mentioned quitting to a guys behind me and he encouraged me on. Whoever you are, thank you - that's the spirit of mountain bikers. When I finally summited I hung out for 6-7 minutes, lubed my chain, ate some food and put on a wind jacket. I spent way too much time here, and I knew my 10 hour goal was not going to happen, so I shifted to just finish under 12 hours mode. I really wanted the finishers belt buckle.

Coming down off Columbine is both exhilarating and scary. There is constant uphill traffic on the right side of the trail, and the downhill line on the right side is very rocky and off camber. But, it's downhill and the air is getting thicker and the worst is behind me. I flew down to Twin Lakes 2 faster than last year and felt quite good. I bypassed the aid station and just an uplift in my spirits by all the cheering people, even though I was at the ass end of the race. The support of the crews, spectators and LT100 support people is unimaginable. That truly make this race an great, must do event.

That's enough for this post, I'll finish with another post and some pictures.