This recap will be short and sweet. 2018 was my 12th consecutive Leadville 100 mountain bike race. Once again, I raced for First Descents. I had no expectations for this race as I was still only a month removed from completing the Tour Divide, a 2,731 mile self-supported mountain bike race from Banff, Alberta, Canada down the Continental Divide to the US-Mexico border at Antelope Wells, New Mexico. I was still physically and mentally fried and also still injured in several places. Although I always start Leadville with a sub-9 goal, my only real goal for this year was to get through it and try to enjoy it.
The start was fast, but I was well off a sub-9 pace by the first checkpoint at Carter Summit. I tried to give a big push up Hagerman Pass Road and Sugarloaf, but I was even farther off pace when I reached the Pipeline Aid station. It was a beautiful morning, so I just settled into a comfortable rhythm and arrived at the FD Aid station at Twin Lakes at about the 2:55 mark. This was the first year that Lisa wasn’t there to greet me as she had to get home to help my daughter get off to school. Andrew “Tops” Coulter was my man on the ground and he got me resupplied with great efficiency and expertise. Though he was a little confused when I just hung around gabbing for a few minutes as my typical stop at Twin Lakes outbound is less than a minute.
Heading up Columbine, my legs felt heavy so I didn’t push too hard. I arrived at the Goat Trail at 4:34, hopped off the bike and happily enjoyed the hike, thinking how much easier this hike was with an unladen bike versus some of the crazy hikes on the Tour Divide toting 25-35 pounds of gear, food and fluids.
I reached the turnaround at about 5 hours, still pretty respectable as I was only 15-20 minutes off a sub-9 pace. I stopped, had some cookies, rapped with the volunteers and headed back to Leadville.
Back to Twin Lakes at 5:40, more lollygagging at the FD aid station and then off to enjoy the last 40 miles. Like 2017, there was something nice about not worrying about the finishing time and just enjoying the ride.
I hit Pipeline aid at 6:50 and stopped for more refreshments. It looked like I would finish sometime between 9:40 and 9:50. I didn’t really care either way, but I knew that my competitiveness would kick in if I started flirting with 10 hours.
The Powerline climb was the usual slog but, surprisingly, I did it in roughly the same time as my sub-9 years. While I felt cumulatively taxed from a long summer, the weariness thankfully wasn’t manifesting itself as misery in Leadville.
Tailwind on the Carter Summit pavement climb. #winning.
Reached Carter Summit at 8:48. Stopped for Cokes and salted watermelon. After 11 years of this race, I knew that I was between 50 and 55 minutes to the finish, depending on how hard I wanted to push.
Took the St. Kevin’s descent a little cautiously as my fingers, still totally numb from the Tour Divide, were not doing their jobs with my brakes. Cruised through the valley, hit the rocks at the bottom of the Boulevard, embarrassingly spun out and had to walk for about 50 yards, and then cruised up the Boulevard.
Hit the finish at 9:42:55 and was met by my Dad and several folks from FD.
Despite the soreness and weariness, I had a great day on the trail and found it to be a great cap-off to my Tour Divide summer.
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