Leadville 100 recap 2012

I knew I had a spot to the Leadville 100 2012 edition way before the lottery was done. Almost 12 months before. With that in mind I was prepairing for my most focused summer ever of endurance specific training before 2011 CX season even started. After CX Masters Worlds were over I hit the couch for a couple weeks to recharge.

After the 2012 season started, and at the advise of Zach Brace, I was skipping races left and right and going out for long rides instead. It felt wierd, it felt wrong even, but I am not an endurance person. Zach is so I followed his advise.

Soon it was May and I was riding a ton. 12, 14 hours a week. Some weeks close to 20 hours. For me, with a full time job, this was a lot.

ok. Fast forward to Leadville.

I got to Breckenridge 1 week before the race to sleep, ride, and relax. I went to Leadville a couple times to check things out but there isnt much to check out for the leadville race. Just gravel and a couple sketchy decents/climbs.

Come race day I was fresh and ready to go. My goal early on(and late) in the year was under 9 hours. As the race got closer this goal became more and more daunting and un-realistic for me. Having said that, there was still a chance for sub 9.

I lined up in the "White" corral which is the very back of the race. I was new to this race. I was at the back of a the field starting with around 1700 people in front of me and a couple hundred behind. Yuck!!

Sitting there, next to all the Port-O-Potties(which stunk like shit bad on race day), I waited patiently for the race to start. At 6:25, 5 minutes to race start, I pulled my jacket off and waited for the gun.

BANG!!! - 2 minutes later I start to move.

The gun goes off and we wait. We wait for the race to start moving. 1 minute. 2 minutes. Then we start to move and we are way behind already for a good time. By the time we crest the first hill you can see riders WAAY down the road already. I have no doubt that this alone could cost a rider 15, 20, maybe 30 minutes in overall time starting at the back vs. starting near the front.

So we are moving along at an okay pace. When we get to the first climb we were moving about 10 mph. It was a pretty flat climb but long and it was early. I checked my HR and it was about 155 and I was chatty with the people near me. I was in a good spot.

Before long the road turns down and the pace goes up quick. My max speed was 48 here on the pavement. We soon made our way to Powerline which, according to the internet, has more challenges and failures than the Apollo 13 shuttle mission. Technical? Yes. Insane? Not even close.

To go fast here you have to know how to ride a bike for sure. But it wasnt that crazy. Just a washed out steep decent that had riders who are used to areo bars during group rides calling for mommy.

We soon hit the pavement heading for Twin Lakes aid sation in a group of about 10 moving about 22 mph. Not fast but not slow. Good enough for me. I sat on the back and rested as much as possible.


My goal and neccessary time to Twin Lakes was 3 hours or better. Not today. Didnt happen.


I arrived at the Twin Lakes aid station about 3:25 into the race. I felt very fresh still. Being stuck behing riders all day so far, and the course being mostly down hill to this point(minues all the uphill), made it a great warm up, but slow. Starting where I did, I am not sure I could have done much better without riding in the gutter a ton. Flat tires happen in the gutter... I wasnt here to takes major risks so I sat in.

When I found my pit(the best ever, my brother, his wife, and my girlfriend Leslie) I grabbed two bottles, a hammer flask, and a bar for the Columbine ascent/descent back to Twin Lakes again.

My goal to the top(12,600 feet) of columbine and back to Twin Lakes was 2:30. It took me 2:40. Pretty close but I was now already 40 minutes behind the sub 9 hour goal.

Back at Twin Lakes I grabbed 3 bottles, a flask, another bar, said my thanks and headed out for my final 40 miles of riding. This is when the wind picked up(head wind). To about 20 mph...

Not long after Twin Lakes I knew sub 9 was a wet dream at best. Knowing it wasnt going to happen I did some calculating and started repacing for sub 10. Easing off a bit was nice but now my food calories were not adding up. I was only carrying food from each stop for a sub 9 finish. Hmmm...

Remember.. the wind was picking up... and in the wrong direction.


The road from Twin Lakes back to Powerline was a flat as they get in Colorado. But, with 20 MPH head wind, and being alone at the time, I was only going about 9 mph. Thats as shitty a number as you can see when you start adding up the time. "I need to go 10 miles, and at 9 MPH thats going take over an hour...". Fuck.

It wasnt long before I heard someone yelling... "Hop on..... Hop on..."

I look over my left shoulder to see a brand new BMW X5 full of people yelling "Hop on". Behind it, was a rider drafting the X5. My first thought was "that is cheating". My second tought was "Fuck it im drafting that bitch". Thats what I did but not for long. Lasted maybe a half mile before the BMW pulled off and we were on our own again to deal with the wind(at an intersection where the cars couldnt go I think).

After a while we finally made our way to the base of Powerline climb. The rider in front of me unclipped almost as soon as it got steep. I stayed clipped in and rode what I could. I made it past the first couple turns and started up the fall line ascent crossing back and forth over the rain ruts 6 or 7 times. Nope. Crazy steep. I know you have most likely seen video of people riding this, but, after 80 miles, 7 hours, no fucking way for me at least.

(No less than 2 people knew what TEAM SEAGAL was on this climb. Coach - Jim Davis - you are well known and made my Powerline climb a better experience) :)

Powerline climb(hike) never ended. I rode as much as I could but had to walk some of the steeper sections. I was starting to fade. I was now nearing my longest ride of the year and my numbers were starting to show that.

Getting tired, I ate what I could and pressed on. Watching my HR and clock I couldnt help but notice the 10 hour cut off soon getting close(2.5 hours-ish away). I asked a rider next to me what he had for a time and what he thought he would finish at....
{Note: My cumpter wasnt registering for about 10 or 15 minutes so I wasnt sure of the exact race time. This happened a couple times during the day. First time ive ever noticed a problem with my computer.}

He said, "about 7 and a half, we will probably break 11:15 ride time". Huh? I thought.
Another rider at that point chimed in. Nah.. we will finish around 10:45 hours in. Better but not what I wanted to hear.


I soon shut my mind down of goals, finishing times, and anything other than just pedaling. I knew I was was better than on target for at least a buckle. I stopped thinking completely and just pedaled.


Moving slowly I pedaled along and took in some scenerey. It was nice. Well on target for a buckle, but way behind my original goal. It was relieving and stressfull all at the same time.


A couple of hours later I finally found myself riding back into town to see the rolled out red carpet. I rode up the carpet and crossed the line with a time of 10 hours and 43 minutes. Not great but not bad either. I have no doubt I could do it faster than this but, it wasnt my day this year.

Overall this race was a pretty great experience. The amount of support given to riders through out the race is top notch. My own support given to me from my girlfriend Leslie, my brother Adam and his wife Kate was also top notch. I cannot thank them enough. I also cannot thank my good friend Zach Brace enough for helping me prepare for this race and getting my first buckle.

After 5 years of trying to get in, this one is finally in the books.



Thursday before the race relaxing by a stream. Some parts of my legs never see the light of day..


My bike ready to go the night before the race.


Lance made an appearance. He was later outside in the parking lot with his hat held out looking for leagal fee donations.


Leslie and I at the start. It was pretty cold but not as bad as years past. It was about 45 degrees.


Todd "Honey Badger" Holtmann at the start showing my brother and I how to sneak up on and catch pit vipers.


Minutes before the start.


Refueling at Twin Lakes. Leadville inbound.


Just a few more feet...


Done!


After a 15 hour straight drive home and sleeping about 5 hours, waking up to deal with this was by far the worst part.

If I get smart enough, I will get some cell phone videos of the pits and finish on here.