Regrouped after the first climb. Matt Shriver pushing the pace and the wind as he did for 40 miles. Image by Kurt Hoy/Singletrack.com
This year’s race started so fast! It was something I had never experienced in my 6 years of racing at Leadville, and it never let up. For the first time ever, we were chasing the police escort down the pavement and out toward the dirt; big ring, small cog, nearly spun out. Once the escort pulled off and we hit the dirt, Matt Shriver, one of Trek’s late entries into the race, a recently retired domestic road pro and the current head coach of the juggernaut Fort Lewis College cycling program, went right to the front setting a blistering pace. We had a few miles of gentle, rolling uphill and a heard of spooked cows to contend with before getting to the base of the first substantial climb of the race, the ascent up St. Kevins (pronounced St. Keevins.)
It was here that Matt, with Lance glued to his wheel, opened up a gap that would take me several perilous minutes to finally close, all the time thinking that I may not get back to the front at all. In past years, I’d always been able to gear way down (small ring two or three cogs down) and spin up this fairly steep climb, easing into the race soft pedaling and saving my legs for the efforts to come later. Oh but not in the 2009 Leadville 100; my legs were on fire! As this climb relented to undulating terrain that continued to gain elevation, I remember thinking that I was riding way beyond my comfort level; that I may be sealing my fate with this early effort to the point that even finishing might prove difficult; and, that I wouldn’t have liked it any other way! This was a different Leadville 100, the 2009 Leadville 100, the balls to the wall, let’s see what you’ve really got Leadville 100.
The course is in there somewhere! Image by Brian Riepe/Mountain Flyer Magazine
Longtime mountain biking legend and all around great guy Tinker Juarez charged by with his teammate, Alex Grant, but I couldn’t react; couldn’t get on. They made contact with Matt and Lance as I still dangled, not making up ground, but not losing any either. It was still a few minutes before I finally was able to press one of the transitions enough to roll up onto the back of this group with Len Zanni on my wheel. Okay, I’m on. Good. I think. We cruised around Turquoise Lake and at the bottom of the climb up to the Hagerman Pass road Lance asked me if it was cool that the pace was steady at the front. I was able to sputter something out about it being a bike race and that he shouldn’t be worrying about me. I had recovered somewhat and the climb over Sugarloaf, the second major climb of the first 50 miles, was comfortable, although my legs had that torched feel to them. I doubt I was the only one.
Exiting the Powerline early on, wondering if I'll even see the finish line. Image by Kurt Hoy/singletrack.com
A cold rain started to fall as we dropped into the Powerline descent, the high-voltage wires overhead buzzing ominously. Matt, riding the course blind, pulled over and Lance lead us down the upper part at breakneck speed. He’s a fine, aggressive descender and obviously knew his lines. I don’t remember just how it switched, but I ended up leading the final bit, the trail getting wetter as we went. As we rolled the final stretch of the descent toward the pavement, I think everyone was cold. I know I was, even with a base layer, arm warmers and a windbreaker vest – and the rain continued, dark storm clouds all around. Matt went right back to the front and picked up where he had left off driving the pace.
This next section of the race, from the bottom of the Powerline descent to Twin Lakes, is pretty quick, doesn’t climb too much and is a mix of pavement, gravel road, double track and this year featured a brand-new section of singletrack. This new trail replaced a steep section of rutted road called the North Face or the Cobra. Outbound as we were, the old Cobra was a fast and direct line to a short section of paved road leading to a little climb on gravel up and over a glacial moraine to Twin Lakes.
The Cobra singletrack. Image by Kurt Hoy/singletrack.com
However, the new Cobra winds back and forth and easily adds four or five times the distance. This new trail, neat as it is, deleted a classic feature of the Leadville 100 course, not to mention added time and mileage to the overall race. Prior to getting to it though, things were happening at the front. First, Tinker’s seatclamp broke and he had to bail from the lead group and eventually from the race altogether. This was a bummer because he looked strong and, while I don’t think anyone was going to challenge Lance, it would have been interesting to see how Tinker would’ve fared. Then, with Matt on the front with his head down, Lance on his wheel and the rest of us hanging on, we missed a left turn. I saw the flagging out of the corner of my eye, hollered out and got us all back on track. That would have been weird if all of the sudden we pulled up in front of Lance’s house in Aspen! Breakfast anyone?
As we approached Twin Lakes and my first chance to see my crew – my amazing wife Susan, our good friend Kirsten, my dad and his wife Paula (my oldest son Cooper and his buddy Joel, Kirsten’s son, were there, too, but they typically are catching minnows, much too busy to be bothered by seeing bike riders going by!) – my hands were cold and not working so well. I was having some trouble shifting with my thumbs and, looking across the valley up toward the highest part of the course, the ascent to the 50 mile mark and turnaround at the Columbine Mine, all I could see was the potential for more weather, maybe even snow. I had to make a decision. My gloves were soaked and my hands definitely affected by the cold. If the weather up there was fine, I’d be okay, if not, I could have serious difficulty getting back down with blocks for hands, not being able to brake effectively or even hold on to my bars. I made my decision, rolled to the front of the group and entered the support area first. Instead of grabbing my feed bag as I rode by like always, I pulled in – the first time in 7 years I had stopped in a feed zone in this race – and dug through the “contingency bag” for my warm gloves.
I had two pairs of gloves in there, warm and warmer. I went straight for warmer and have been fielding heat ever since about my “mittens.” It turned out that I would have been okay without them as the weather, while never warm, certainly improved, but once I had them on, it wasn’t as if I was going to stop again to change them for the sake of fashion. I rolled out of the feed zone with the longest climb of the day and the turnaround ahead of me. Once I could see a good distance ahead, I only saw three riders, each riding alone with good gaps between them. I felt like I was in 9th or 10th place, having not noticed how many riders came by while I was stopped. I caught and passed the first two, Len and Alex, before getting into the trees and the beginning of the climb up Columbine proper. Once firmly into this climb, I noticed that the rain had turned the usually smooth and fast surface, to a slower, mucky one that sucked at your tires. But I was still able to climb using gears I have in the past so I was confident that I was going reasonably fast; and I was closing on and finally passed Matt. I offered him some words of encouragement but he seemed pretty spent from his efforts of the first 40 miles.
Leadville unique: Lance coming across riders still outbound on his way back toward the finish. Image by Kurt Hoy/singletrack.com
Once these guys were behind me, I was maybe a quarter of the way up lower Columbine and I felt like there must still be a few guys and Lance up ahead. A friend from Gunnison, Jesse Crandall, was on the course and I asked him who all was ahead and he said that I was in second. I was psyched to hear this but the splits I had been getting told me the real story: Lance was simply crushing this climb. I heard 1:45, then 3:15, then 5 minutes. You get the idea. I think he topped out more than ten minutes ahead of me, and I felt like I was was going pretty well. When he passed by on his way down we exchanged brief and subdued pleasantries. I continued to the top, made the turn and then got to size up my chasers as to relative position and observable state of being. They were all strung out and looked to be hurting at least as much as I was. Alex was now in third but I had a decent gap.
From here to the finish it was simply pushing on the pedals and ticking off each tough part of the course in my mind, continuing to fuel as I went: I’d eaten a PowerBar early on; three PowerBar gels between each aid station; and PowerBar endurance in my bottles for hydration. Coming back through Twin Lakes I’d taken half a PB&J bagel and downed it as I climbed up from the dam toward pipeline. I took another PB&J from Susan at Pipeline and a can of Starbuck’s Doubleshot. The PB&J I ate immediately, the DoubleShot went into my pocket.
As expected, there was a big crowd on the Powerline climb and I was able to ride the first tough bit but had to come off soon into the second and push my bike. I was so worked that I couldn’t acknowledge anyone. I only had the energy to focus right in front of me and keep on keeping on. I know there was a ton of support for me on that climb and all along the course. I heard plenty of shout outs from Gunnison Valley folk, too. I appreciated everything immensely even though I couldn’t acknowledge much of it.
The mental ticking off continues: lower Powerine, middle Powerline, upper Powerline. Finally I topped out; descended to the Hagerman Pass road and grabbed for the can of Doubleshot, popped the top and slammed it. Getting over Powerline is huge but you are by no means home. The pavement of the Turquoise Lake climb rolls nicely but it’s still a decent climb, especially tough when you’re hurting. Luckily, there were favorable winds here. At the top of the pavement, you turn onto the dirt and have a few more poppers and undulations to get to the top of St. Kevins. I was starting to feel pretty bad, like I might be blowing, as in really blowing. I grabbed a green apple gel, a brand-new flavor to me, and the tart, snappy taste and the substance of it started to bring me around right away. Finally, I got over St. Kevins and headed down the backside. In the flats at the bottom, I ditched my mitten and knew it was almost over. All that remained was the slightly downhill mix of double-track, gravel and pavement and then a hard left and a short, steeper and cobbly climb up onto a long, gradual uphill gravel road to the city limits called The Boulevard. I have felt worse on this section and nobody was stalking me; I could see way back and no one was in sight.
Lance approaching the finish line. The final plateau is the top of that blurry gray in the distance. Image by Kurt Hoy/singletrack.com
This gravel road goes by a brand new football field and T’s into a paved road. One last little climb and I’m on that plateau overlooking downtown and the finish line, a welcome sight indeed. The people are thick and deep and roaring as I make my way to the line and I’m overwhelmed and stoked all at the same time. Our twins, Ben and Sam, are running along beside me and I’m really happy to cross the finish line in second place with a sub-seven hour time. It was clear who was the strongest guy in the race today and was feeling lucky to finish where I did considering the blistering pace at the start and the way I felt early on. Racing in the TransAlp back in July and all of the hard training I had done leading up to race had paid off. Without it, those miles and efforts, I wouldn’t have been able to start the way we did and still finish in a respectable time.
Of course, huge props to Lance as he essentially put on a clinic out there, crushing the course record he helped set before his comeback. Other top riders who had impressive rides included Leadville rookies Alex Grant and Len Zanni. And while I came across in second place, I think it’s safe to say that the next strongest guy in the race to Lance, and also a Leadville rookie, was Matt Shriver. He drove the train alone, breaking the wind for all of us to Twin Lakes, battled at least one mechanical and ended up just ten minutes behind me, a really impressive effort in my opinion.
Ben and Sam wait with Race Director Ken Chlouber for their old dad. Image my Kurt Hoy/singletrack.com
Leadville 100 finisher's medal. Image by Rob O'Dea
But more than anything, a massive shout out for everyone that lined up and headed out into that misty mountain morning! Some of you achieved your goals, others did not. But either way, you had the courage to accept a tall challenge, work toward it and then embark on it. You gave it your all and regardless of how it came out, it’s likely that you experienced at least some sort of personal growth and added some measure of meaning to your life and to those close to you. You are all champions!
