2024 LEADVILLE 100 MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE - BUCKLE #17

A baby born the summer of my first Leadville 100 is now 18 years old and heading to college. I’ve been doing this a long time. This was my 17th Leadville 100 . . . 18th if you count the Covid year where the folks at Leadville had everyone do a 100,000 foot vertical challenge in lieu of the cancelled race. I still remember well the feeling I had when I crossed the finish line in 2007.  I wanted Lisa to throw my bike in the nearest lake and never look at it again. That feeling lasted 24 hours until I woke up and thought of all the ways I could improve. Now I don’t even question it. I know I’ll keep doing the race. It’s what I do. It’s part of me. It somewhat defines me. 

I didn’t train that hard this year, but I was by no means a slacker. I rode consistently starting in January with a Peloton program, skied my ass off and played ice hockey all winter, and hit the trails in May once the snow melted. I didn’t do excessive intervals or big volume, but felt pretty good coming into race-day. I figured if all things went perfectly, I might throw down a 9:30 time, but would definitely be somewhere in the 10-hour range. 

I started in the orange corral with my buddy and 1st-timer, Dan Gilbert. Was hoping to spend a good chunk of the day riding with him. Weather was perfect, mild and partly-cloudy and the forecast was for a nice cool day with a chance of showers. 

We lined up at 6:15 and our corral was off at 6:40. First 5 miles to the base of St Kevins were pretty uneventful. Kevins climb felt great and I was on pace to hit Carter Summit at 54 minutes, which would have been 3 minutes faster than last year. Then, on the descent to Carter, I heard the dreaded “hissssss.” Rear tire. Flat. Fuck. My tire luck had run out. It had been 12 years since my last Leadville flat. 

I ran the bike the last few hundred yards to the Carter Aid area and found a guy with a pump. I made several attempts to pump the tire and hope the sealant did its job, but there was a clear leak along the rim and I didn’t have the patience to try to solve the issue. So I pulled off the wheel, ripped off the tire, cleaned out all of the gooey sealant, made sure there were no holes or rocks or pine needles in the tire, inserted a tube, pumped it up, replaced the wheel, and hit the road. Unfortunately, the whole ordeal took about 10 minutes, during which time some 500 slower riders passed me. Oh well, so much for time goals. 

Repercussions. How much was a 10-minute fix early in the race going to cost me? Turns out a lot. On the final push up Sugarloaf, I was pretty locked in at a speed that was slower. On the Powerline descent, it was slower. On the Columbine climb, especially toward the top, it was WAY slower.  All in all, I figure I lost 30-40 minutes in those three spots simply because the pace of those around me was a lot slower than 500 riders farther up. Such is life. 

I hit Twin Lakes outbound at about 3:20. This was a really fun aid station this year as two of my daughters, Arlyn and Bailey, joined Lisa there for the first time (as they were always at camp in August). Also had several friends come out to watch and join the fun.

Great push from Captain Kevin!

As mentioned above, the Columbine climb was slow, particularly the hike-a-bike at the top. C'mon people, don't you want to get to the damn top?!  Started feeling my usual exhaustion about halfway up the climb, and got my usual leg cramps about a mile below the summit. Popped an S-Cap and massaged the cramp away. Reached the turnaround at 5:35 and chugged my first Coke of the day. Descent was fun, but I am definitely more conservative now than I used to be. Just not worth getting hurt to gain a few minutes. Kinda like why I refuse to play Pickleball. Too dangerous.

Top 'O Columbine

Rolled back into Twin Lakes at 6:25 and was happy to join the aid station party for a few minutes of rest. Joked that I wouldn’t mind a beer and a chair! Told Lisa to expect me at the finish right around 5:10pm as I was estimating a 10.5 hour finish.

As I hit the Pipeline section, dark clouds were amassing to the west and it looked like we were in for some wet weather. Fine with me. I’ll take cold and wet over hot and sunny any day. Sure enough, the heavens opened just past Pipeline and I quickly donned my rain jacket. Rolled into the new Outward Bound aid station at 7:40 and was happily surprised to be greeted by Lisa, Arlyn and Bailey. There was a new shuttle-bus system in place this year and they had taken the shuttle to their car at Outward Bound. When they arrived at their car, it occurred to them that I had probably not passed through yet. Serendipity. 

It stopped raining just before the Powerline climb. I was pretty spent at the start of the climb, but no more so than past years. Other than the obligatory hike-a-bike on the first steep face, I was able to ride the whole climb. Did a quick calculation when I reached the top and determined that I could come in under 10:30 as long as I didn’t fuck around. I don’t know why that was important to me at that moment, but I always like to have a goal when I hit the last 20 miles.

No issues getting down Sugarloaf and I passed a lot of riders going up pavement Kevins. Hit Carter Aid at 9:30, chugged some coke, lamented that there was no watermelon, and steadily continued on. Kevins descent was fun as usual and, when I hit Leadville Junction at 10:02, I knew I would arrive under 10:30 as it was only 25 minutes home on even my slowest day.

Sure enough, I hit the wire just as the clock struck 10:28.  It was especially fun hitting the final 100 yards before the finish with high-fives to Lisa, Arlyn, Bailey, Kevin Kane and Larry Brown. Unfortunately, the finish area was so packed with spectators this year that I didn't get my annual hug from Merilee. 

 I turn 57 in a few weeks. Every year I question whether I’m getting too old for this shit. Then I see a 73-year old finish the race and I tell myself to quit whining about my age.  I'm still shooting for 20 finishes, but I also say that every year could be my last. When the usual exhaustion that always hits me about halfway up Columbine starts hitting me much earlier, I'll know it's time to be done. For now, I will definitely be back next year for #18.

As an aside, Dan finished his first LT100 in 9:36.  Great effort on his part. My first-timer buddy Teddy Leonard also finished in 9:45. I take pride in both of their finishes as they are two more in a long line of suckers I have goaded into doing this race.  Another local friend, Ian Bruce, was given a spot in the race just two weeks before race-day and he finished in 10:45. Pretty crazy!

Aside #2 - as of the date of this writing, I have raised over $104,000 this year for First Descents and our Team of Leadville racers have raised a record $268,000. BooYah!