2025 LEADVILLE 100 MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE - #18

2025 TEAM FD LEADVILLE MTB

My Leadville career can now legally vote, join the military and star in a porn flick. It has reached the age of majority. Eighteen, baby! This one wasn't easy, but really none of 'em are. Heat, hellacious winds, poor air quality, and another year older. A quadfecta of hurt.  

I didn't slack off in my training this year, but I certainly didn't return to the intensity or volume of my carefree youthful 40s! I rode consistently starting in January with a Peloton program, skied over 100 days last winter, played ice hockey all winter, and started my outdoor riding in late April.  Like the last few years, despite the reduced training, I felt pretty good coming into race-day. I was hoping to get back under 10 hours, but I didn't really care if I didn't. My strategy every year is to just ride within myself and the final result will accurately reflect my fitness.  

I started in the orange corral under clear skies and temps in the low 40s. Unfortunately, it was supposed to climb into the mid-70s today with no rain in the forecast. When the sun shines with no clouds, 75 degrees feels like 90 degrees. Not my favorite. The bigger issue at the start was the poor air quality thanks to wildfires in the region. There was a smoky haze in the air and the AQI was well into the unhealthy range. Breathing at over 10,000 feet is tough on a good day. Breathing at over 10,000 feet on a dusty course for 10-ish hours is lung-punishing struggle.  What would breathing at over 10,000 feet on a dusty course for 10-ish hours with shitty air quality be like? Let's find out! 

I was joined in the corral by fellow Team FD teammate Anders Pokela.  We lined up at 6:15 and our corral was off at 6:40. There was nothing unusual about the first 5 miles to the base of St Kevins and the Kevins climb itself went smoothly with no weariness.  Anders had jumped out ahead of my, but I decided to keep the first 10 miles to Carter Summit pretty mellow to conserve energy for later.  I hit Carter Summit at 57 minutes. This was quite a bit slower than my faster years and even slower than last year, but I was feeling good and planned to pick up the pace on the climb up Hagermans. Most importantly, both tires still had air in them (after last year's flat approaching Carter).

On the glorious descent down Kevins pavement, I slammed some fluids and hit "play" on my Air Shokz.  When the road turned back up, I stood on the pedals and decided to test the legs. I started passing riders, including Anders, and kept a strong pace until the rocky climb section of Sugarloaf. I crested Sugarloaf at about 1:45 and figured I was on about a 9:45-9:50 pace. Fun descent down Powerline with no real hold-ups. Some refuel at the new Outward Bound aid station at 2:06. A lonely stretch between Outward Bound and Pipeline where I got stuck in no-man's land between pacelines. Smooth ride through the Pipeline and then an arrival in Twin Lakes at about 3:10 where I was happily greeted by the FD crew led by wife Lisa, daughter Bailey, and buddy Dan Gilbert.  

Leaving Twin Lakes, I had a sub-10 finish well in sights and was actually looking forward to tackling the Columbine climb. I felt pretty good for the first 4 or 5 switchbacks and even tried to push myself for another 1mph of speed as I hit switchback #7.  Then the bottom fell out.  The stretch between #7 and #8 is an endless 1.1 mile slog and I suddenly felt like I was riding in quicksand. My legs were lifeless, I was hot, and I just wanted to get off my bike and walk. I dropped down to granny and just spun my way slowly up to the A-Frame, losing valuable minutes in chunks. I didn't mind the slow hike-a-bike up the rocks as I was happy not to be pedaling. On the bright side, no cramps on this section for the first time in ages. 

I reached the Columbine Summit at 5:25 and chugged two cups of Coke. I also had to fix an issue with some rocks in my cleat that were not allowing the cleat to clip into the pedal. A 2:15 ascent of Columbine  pretty much killed the chance at sub-10 . . . though at least my midway time was 10 minutes faster than last year.  As always, the descent was fun, but I took it fairly cautiously. With no time goals to beat, it wasn't worth a crash to gain a few extra seconds.

Rolled back into Twin Lakes at 6:10 and was happy to join the aid station party for a few minutes of rest. Tried to put on a happy face, but I felt pretty trashed and was NOT looking forward to the next 45 miles. 

Getting a Great Push from Dan

On the climb out of Twin Lakes, the winds picked up to ferocious levels, further adding to the misery. Anders passed me on the climb up and I figured that would be the last I saw of him. I was struggling to just turn the pedals.  

I continued to slog through Powerline and then strangely started feeling a little better about halfway through. I re-passed Anders a few miles before the old Pipeline Aid station and once I hit Outward Bound, I decided it was time to set a new time-goal for incentive . . . mostly because I just wanted to be done and the faster I could make myself go, the faster I could get off the damn bike. Last year I hit Outward Bound at 7:40 and finished in 10:28.  This time I was at 7:33 and randomly chose 10:20 as my new goal. 

The start of the Powerline climb was its usual suckfest and the hike-a-bike was a windy hot deathmarch. Once past the hiking, I just kept on slowly pedaling and was more or less able to ride the rest of the way up. I reached the top at about 8:43 and determined that I could come in under 10:20 as long as I didn’t stop to smell the roses . . . all of which were wilting from the heat anyway. 

Had a lot of fun bombing down through the rocks on Sugarloaf and I passed a bunch of riders going up pavement Kevins, including another fellow FD buddy, Andreas "Dre" Harl. Dre was a good 15 minutes ahead of me at the halfway point, but was apparently suffering from a virus that was crushing him in the late stages of the race. There was nothing I could do for him, so I just kept moving.  I hit Carter Aid at 9:23 and didn't bother stopping as I still had a fairly full bottle of fluids. Had no issues getting through the rollers before the Kevins descent, rode the descent pretty conservatively to be safe, and enjoyed the tailwind on the valley dirt at the bottom. 

I crossed Leadville Junction at 9:57 and knew I needed to keep pushing to get under 10:20. Heading up the Boulevard, I had a guy on my wheel for a good mile who finally asked me why I was pushing so hard when we had already missed the 10-hour mark. I told him that "I always like to finish the round with a birdie!"  He laughed and then I dropped him.  I stood on the pedals for the last little climb up the 6th Street pavement and then enjoyed the fast descent to the finish, crossing the line at 10:18. Got the finishing medal from Merilee along with big bear-hugs from both Ken and Merilee. Another one down and so glad to be done. 

Spent and Dirty at the Finish

 I turn 58 in a few weeks. These races are certainly not getting any easier and this one was really tough physically and mentally.  The scuttlebutt after the race is that the poor air quality really had a big detrimental impact on a lot of racer's performance. I'd like to use that as my scapegoat for falling apart on Columbine. But I really don't know. Ultimately, I'm pretty happy with my time and I'm looking forward to coming back next year to continue my quest for 20 finishes.

As an aside, Anders and Dre both finished about 10 minutes behind me. Good for Dre for pushing through his malady to get across the line.  A more important aside is that as of the date of this writing, I have raised over $115,000 this year for First Descents and our Team of Leadville racers have raised over $260,000. That brings my 19-year total to over $1.7Million. I have such gratitude for all of my friends and family who have supported this effort over the years.  And the best aside of all is that my daughter, Bailey, who now works for First Descents, was in charge of this year's Team FD and actually wrote my fundraising missive this year. So cool considering that her first experience with my racing Leadville was as a 5-year old! 

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! 

2023 LEADVILLE TRAIL 100 MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE - BUCKLE 16

2023 Team First Descents Leadville

 This was my 16th Leadville 100.  My Leadville career is now old enough to earn a driver’s license. My buckles are all in a box in my closet. Time for another one.

Trained a little harder this year.  A little.  The memories of last year’s sufferfest were enough to kick me into gear back in January. So I followed a few Peloton powerzone programs through the winter and was in fairly decent riding shape when the snow finally melted in late April. Didn’t do many long training rides in the lead-up to Leadville . . . the longest being the Silver Rush 50 in mid-July. I also mainly stuck with endurance pace despite vowing to do intervals into the summer. Oh well. At least I’m playing great golf.

Team FD had 22 riders this year, but no good friends. So I kind of went through the motions the week of the race. The big bright spot again this year was the massive financial support of my friends and family. As of the date of this narrative, contributions on my fundraising page exceed $120,000 for the year and the team has raised over $250,000. Great stuff.

Race day.  Up at 4:30am, nuked some blueberry pancakes, and was out the door by 4:45am.  Arrived in Leadville at 5:35 and staged at the Delaney’s on 7th street. To the orange corral at 6:15 and off at 6:40 under cool cloudy skies. I threw down a finish time of 10:52 last year and figured that my fitness this year was about 30 minutes faster.

Smooth pace down the pavement to Leadville Junction. A week before the race, I switched my front cog from a 32-tooth to a 28-tooth as a surrender to age. This meant better spinning up the steep stuff, but less top-end speed on the descents. I noticed this immediately on the initial pavement descent as I had to spin ferociously to keep my speed up with the pace of traffic. 

Kept a smooth pace on the dirt and hit the St. Kevin’s climb with no stress. Loved my new 28 on the steeper sections and felt great all the way to Carter Summit . . . which I hit at about 57 minutes. 

Chugged half a bottle of fluids on the way down the Kevin’s pavement. Speaking of bottles, this was the first time I have chosen to forego a Camelbak and just go with two bottles. My plan was to simply carry some powders and refill the bottles with water at each of the aid stations. With no major time goals, I didn’t care if I spent a few extra minutes filling bottles. It was worth not having that weight on my back and shoulders.

Continued feeling great all the way up Sugarloaf and even passed a bunch of people on the Haggeman Road portion. Summited Sugarloaf at 1:45.  Fun descent down the Powerline. Kept it conservative while several guys blew by me.  

Found a paceline on the road around Fish Hatchery and hit Pipeline at 2:20. Refilled a bottle and continued on. Started feeling my first leg weariness in the Pipeline and scaled it back a bit to save myself for Columbine.

Hit the FD Aid Station at Twin Lakes at 3:10 and was in a great mood. I was 10 minutes ahead of 2022 pace, I felt neither strong, nor weak, and I was really enjoying the cool weather. Plus it was always great to see Lisa, Kevin Kane and the rest of the aid station gang for a few minutes. 

As I headed up the first climb out of the Twin Lakes aid station, I was thinking that sub-10 was a possibility at my current pace. Then the race leader, Keegan Swenson, passed me going the other way just 10 minutes out of Twin Lakes. That was a bit ego-crushing. I used to make it deep into the switchbacks on the Columbine climb before that happened.

Several more leaders passed me well before I even got out of the valley to the actual climb. Ouch. Then I hit the first steep part of the climb and my legs just weren’t there. They didn’t hurt, but there was just no juice to sustain anything more than a slow spin. So I just settled in as dozens of riders passed me and grinded my way up through the switchbacks. It took me 1:40 just to reach the Goat Trail. In my sub-9 years, I was at the top in 1:40. 

Reached the top in 2:15 after 35 minutes of riding and hiking. This was my slowest Columbine climb since my first year in 2007. Oh well.  I was still loving the weather and the fact that I didn’t cramp on the hike-a-bike for only the second time ever. 

45 minutes to the bottom and rolled back into the FD aid station at Twin Lakes still feeling relaxed and generally pretty pleased with how the day was going. A few high fives, a hug and kiss for Lisa, and it was off on the home-stretch. I knew I could try to still turn myself inside-out for a sub-10 finish, but that would require a sub-9 pace for the last 45 miles and I just wasn’t up for it. So I pretty much knew leaving Twin Lakes that it would take about 4 hours to get home, thus putting me in at around a 10:15 finish time.

Hit Pipeline Aid at 7:15 after very uneventful trip through the Pipeline. Had my tunes cranked on my speaker and was just happily pedaling and singing along.

On the road between Pipeline and Powerline, the winds kicked up and the clouds suddenly let loose with a torrent of rain. I threw on my raincoat and just kept pedaling along to the beat of my music. This beat sunny and 80+ degrees any day!

While quickly going to the bathroom at the base of Powerline, fellow FD rider Austin Mayeux passed me as I was getting back on my bike. This was the exact same spot where my buddy Mike Fitzgerald caught me in 2022. I rode Austin’s wheel to the base of the hike-a-bike and told him that we “were going to finish strong.” This was Austin’s 2nd LT100 and he was already a good hour ahead of his 2022 pace. Got a nice fist-bump from Matt Delaney on the hike.

Austin took my wheel at the top of the hike-a-bike and that gave me the incentive to show what an old man can still do as I led him to the top of the Powerline without putting a foot down again. This was the first time I had done that since 2016 and my Powerline climb time for 2023 actually matched my 2016 time.

We bombed down Sugarloaf and around the bottom of Turquoise Lake and then started up St. Kevin’s pavement. The effort up Powerline had taken a lot of my legs and I figured Austin would shoot up ahead of me. Sure enough, as happens every year, I found some reserves on the climb and Austin and I were able to keep a great pace, passing some dozen riders, reaching Carter Summit Aid at about 9:20.

I chugged a few cups of Coke, inhaled a few pieces of watermelon, and then we were off to see the finish. No issues through the approach to the St. Kevin’s summit, though I walked the last steep section while Austin rode it. Did a fairly controlled descent down St. Kevin’s dirt and smiled when it flattened out as I had survived yet another LT100 without injury or crash. 

Hit Leadville Junction at 9:50 and knew that 10:15 was going to be the number. Unfortunately, I derailed that target by a couple minutes as I had been holding my bladder for about 30 minutes and, upon reaching the bottom of the Boulevard, I simply couldn’t hold it any more.  I told Austin to continue ahead and I would try to catch him.  

After remounting my bike, I tried to close the gap to Austin, but with a 2-minute head start, that proved to be too tough a task as he crossed the line about 30 seconds ahead of me. My final time was 10:16. I felt the usual exhaustion, but significantly better than I felt in 2022. 

All in all it was a really fun day on the bike. I never turned myself inside out, I talked to fellow riders on the course, I enjoyed the hell out of the weather, and I felt my usual gratification when I got that big old hug and finisher’s medal from Merilee at the finish line. I told her that one day every year, she was my favorite woman in the world! 

That’s buckle number 16 on my way to 20.  There is a chance that two of my local buddies will do Leadville with me next year. If so, then maybe I will train a bit harder next year and try to return to the form of 5-6 years ago. Or maybe not. 

Note: my good buddy Jeff Hoffman’s son Kelly was racing for the second time this year. Even with a broken seat-post, the kid threw down an astonishing time of 7:15.  Youth . . . 

2022 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race - BUCKLE #15

I am turning 55 in a few weeks. Everything is starting to feel 55.  My legs. My lungs. My desire. I am enjoying traveling. I am playing a lot of golf. I am sick of solo training for a mountain-bike race. 2019 was a shitty training year for me. I was coming off the 2018 Tour Divide and I barely rode a bike for the first 5 months of that year. However, I rode a ton over a 6-week stretch from mid-June to early August and managed to throw down a respectable sub-10 hour finish in Leadville. I trained pretty hard in 2020, but the race was cancelled thanks to Covid. I trained modestly in 2021 and decided to joy-ride the race, finishing in about 10:20. Had a good time that day. 

2022 has been a joke. I didn't touch my bike until April. I took a two-week trip in May without pedaling once. I took 10-day and 3-day trips in late June and early-July and didn't pedal. I got Covid in mid-July and didn't pedal for 7 days. By race day, my total mileage for the entire year was less than 1200 miles. The Leadville 100 would account for 1/13th of my total mileage for the year. Yikes. For the first time since 2007, I actually had some subconscious doubts about finishing. I certainly had thoughts about #15 being my last race, even though I had been saying for years that I wanted to get to 20. 

On the bright side, this was my most successful Leadville fundraiser for First Descents since 2008. As of race-day, I had raised over $110,000. I have amazing friends. And Team FD Leadville (pictured above) has had our best fundraising year since our 2007 inception with over $230,000 raised as of this post.

Race-day morning was fairly mild at 44 degrees. It seems that the days of 30 degree starts are now long gone. Thanks climate change.  As always, I was hoping for a day of cloud-cover and cool temps as heat is my kryptonite. I started in the purple corral, which was the projected 9-10 hour finish group based on past two years performances. As much as I hoped that I would step up on game-day and nail a sub-10, I knew that I lacked the power and endurance for that kind of finish. 

My lack of fitness became evident fairly quickly. It wasn't so much the slow grind up St. Kevins, as you can only really go the speed of traffic anyway. Same thing with the 3 mile rolling stretch to the pavement at Carter Aid (which I hit in under an hour), and with the paved downhill on the other side. Where I really started to notice it was when I hit the dirt on Hagemann Pass Road at mile 14. I just couldn't sustain any speed and I started getting passed by A LOT of riders. I crested Sugarloaf at 1 hour and 50 minutes and knew this was going to be a long day. 

The Powerline descent was pretty uneventful. I took it fairly conservatively as there was no point getting aggressive and getting hurt to gain a few minutes. On the road around to Pipeline, I was passed by a line of riders led by my buddy Dave Gonzales. Gonzo started the race two corrals behind me and had already caught me. Jeez. I tried to get on the wheel of the last rider in the paceline and I couldn't hold their speed. So I got dropped. Good times.

I rode through Pipeline aid at 2 hours and 25 minutes and proceeded to get passed by dozens more riders in the Pipeline section. I simply let them go. The old me would have taken each pass as a personal affront. Today I just smiled and continued at my leisurely pace.

 

I  hit the First Descents aid station at Twin Lakes at about 3:20. I can't remember it ever taking 55 minutes to get from Pipeline Aid to Twin Lakes.  As always, it was great to see my wife, my great buddy Kevin Kane, and the FD crew, and I put on my best face. I was on my slowest pace since my first LT100 in 2007 and there was nothing I could do about it. I simply had no legs.

Thankfully, I have a lot of experience with this race. Despite feeling no strength, I knew I'd be fine if I just kept pedaling all the sections that needed pedaling and only focused on one section at a time. So first things first was getting through the 10 switchbacks to the A-Frame turn on upper Columbine. It took longer than usual, but I kept a steady snail's-pace and got there at about 4:55. By then I was ready for a little hiking and the inevitable leg cramps that would hit when I next tried to pedal. Of course that happened exactly as anticipated. I chomped on some S-Caps, massaged the legs, and just kept hiking. I was surprised/not surprised by the difference in hiking speeds at an 11-hour pace versus even a 10-hour pace. Everyone was climbing the conga line in hypoxic slow motion. 

A dude descending on the left crashed hard in the rocks right next to me as I ascended the steep S turns. He pretended to be ok, but embarrassment, pride and adrenalin will often mask the injury and pain in the moments right after a crash. That one was going to leave a mark.

I finally reached the top at 5 hours and 40 minutes. By comparison, this was a good hour and ten minutes slower than my sub-9 years and even a few minutes slower than my first LT100 in 2007. Since I was in no hurry, I spent a few minutes at the aid station chugging some Coke and eating some salt-laced watermelon. After thanking the volunteers, I began the ride down.

A few minutes into the descent, I passed my buddy Mike "Fitz" Fitzgerald as he was finishing his ascent. Fitz is a fraternity brother of mine from Colgate who I had goaded into doing Leadville this year. He had never done anything like this before and he took the challenge seriously by religiously following all of my training advice since December . . . advice that I obviously didn't follow myself this year. I gave him a shout of encouragement and continued the descent.

After witnessing the crash on my hike up, I decided to play the descent safe and picked my way down the top section at a moderate speed. However, clouds were amassing above and I started to feel a few raindrops, so I put on the afterburners once I hit the smoother gravel as I wanted to get off this mountain before the heavens opened.

I arrived back at Twin Lakes at 6:25 and rolled into the First Descents aid station without much urgency. Ray Shedd was blasting some great tunes, Lisa and Kevin attended to my nutrition and hydration needs, and I enjoyed just hanging still for a few minutes before starting the arduous trek home. My legs were dead weights, but I had enough experience to know that I could just muddle through the last 45 miles at granny pace in about 4 and half hours (as long as I didn't stop). 

Nothing much to say about the return through Pipeline. Was glad to not have to do the singletrack and the hike up "Little Stinker" thanks to a 2021 course change. Was also glad that we had some cloud-cover instead of the usual baking heat that hits this section in the afternoon. 

I arrived at Pipeline Aid at about 7:40 and indulged in more Coke and watermelon. I don't usually stop at this aid station, but what the hell. 

By now the winds had picked up and we had the usual howling gale from Pipeline Aid to the base of Powerline. As an experiment, I actually put aero-bars on my bike for this year's race, primarily for this section of wind. I was pretty happy with this decision as it was nice to be able to put the forearms down to plow a bit more comfortably through the breeze. At this point I was spinning in my easiest gear at a laughably low speed without any thought or care as to finish time. Then . . .

About a mile before Fish Hatchery, a line of riders passed me and among the riders was Fitz. Wow. As slow as I was going, I was still a bit surprised that he had caught me. For the first time the entire day, my competitive juices and foolish pride were activated and I picked up the pace and caught him. Also for the first time all day, I made a finish calculation and determined that a sub-11 hour finish was doable. 

Fitz and I started up Powerline together and hiked up the Powerline Wall side by side. I was pretty excited to see my buddy Matt Delaney about halfway up the hike as he was acting as race cheerleader for all of the hurting racers. I give him a quick fist-bump and he escorted us up about 100 feet.

The rest of Powerline consisted of a combination of riding and hiking. Unfortunately, each steep incline triggered leg cramps . . . and I had to jump off the bike and push. Regardless, we never stopped moving and we crested the summit at 9 hours and 10 minutes. At this point, I turned to Fitz and said "I'm going to get you in with a 10 next to your name, so just stay with me." Fitz said "don't worry about me, go on ahead." I said "fuck that, STAY WITH ME!"

We bombed down Sugarloaf, Hagerman's and the pavement and started up the St Kevin's pavement climb at 9:25. We passed a handful of racers on the way up and were also met with a minor rain shower that felt great. I pushed ahead a few times, but Fitz stuck with me and we hit Carter Aid Station at 9:50.

More Cokes, more watermelon, a little bit of stalling, and then we were off for the homestretch. More cramps forced me off the bike on a couple of the last steep punchy climbs and then we enjoyed a last fast descent down St Kevins and a pleasant jaunt through the valley, arriving at Leadville Junction at 10:25.  From here, I knew it was 22-25 minutes to the finish and that we would comfortably come in under 11 hours.

The Boulevard seemed to go on forever, but we finally made the last right turn onto 6th street at 10:45, where Fitz moved ahead a bit up "Fuck You Hill," the final pitch. I caught him at the top and we rode the final mile side by side, crossing the finish line together at 10:49 (Fitz actually started 5 minutes behind me, so his chip time was 10:44). Got the big hug from Merilee, a finishing medal was dropped over my head, and my 15th buckle was handed to me in a little white box.

All in all, the race went exactly as I expected. I realistically pegged a 10:45 finish during the week leading up to the race as I knew I really wasn't in shape to go any faster. The one thing that occurred to me over the last 40 miles was that I ultimately made a pretty cagey trade. My normal training for the year would have required an additional 100+ hours in the saddle and the result would have been a Leadville time that was 45-60 minutes faster. So my only penalty for not riding those extra 100+ hours was an extra hour of cramp-filled suffering on race-day. Totally worth it. I now know that if 2023 comes along and I have the same lack of motivation to train as I had this year, I can pretty much mail it in and still get a buckle. Then again, maybe I'll rediscover the fire and get faster at 55. 

What is really hard to believe is that I have now done 15 of these things. I really thought I was one and done back in 2007.  What an addiction. I had many moments during the race when I thought about all those people that made an impact on this 15-year run. It obviously starts with Allan Goldberg. If he didn't challenge me to do this in 2006, I never would have contemplated it. Then there is my wife Lisa and my daughters, who have all been so supportive and encouraging through the years. I thought several times during the race about my friend and unofficial mentor, Art Fleming. During training rides for my first LT100 in 2007, it was Art who not only gave me endless advice, but also instilled me with confidence that I could succeed at this race. Finally, I thought of all my buddies who had taken the bait and joined me in this race over the years - Dean Gregory, John Wontrobski, Kevin Kane, Gary Morris, David Flyer, Neil Markus, Dave Gonzales, Ben Teller, Mike Fitzgerald, Brad Ludden, Ryan O'Donoghue, Matt Hayne and Kelly Hoffman. The march to 2000 miles continues.

2021 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race

 Got my 14th buckle.  Finished around 10:20 . . . which was my slowest finish since 2012.  Pretty uninspired effort. Not worth typing up a whole narrative. Had a lot of fun for most of the day though. Didn’t push very hard. Talked to a lot of fellow riders. Pretty hot day.  

2019 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race

This was my Leadville Bar Mitzvah. Number 13. At the finish line, maybe I would party like it was 1980 and I would be rewarded with a pencil-sharpener, a cheap bracelet, a set of acrylic bookends with my engraved initials, and a $25 gift-certificate to a Peaches record store. Or not. This past year on the bike was very different from my previous 12 years, mostly because I was not on the bike very much. Coming off the 2018 combo of the Tour Divide and Leadville, I had minimal motivation to train. I gained 20 pounds. I battled lingering injuries. I enjoyed more frequent adult beverages than usual. I lounged. I had fun. Fall turned to winter, winter turned to spring, spring approached summer and I barely rode a bike. A road crash in early May sidelined me for most of a month. On June 20, I reviewed Strava and was alarmed to see that I had ridden less than 500 miles since January 1st and 250 of those miles came on a slow bike-tour with Lisa in Israel in April. For the first time in my Leadville career, I was going to test the "there are no shortcuts" theory and cram for 6 weeks to get my ass in shape. It would be an interesting experiment. At 51 years old, how much could I rely on the endurance base I had built over 12 years to get me through 103.5 miles in Leadville without total suffering . . . or total breakdown?

So the cramming officially began with our arrival in Colorado at the end of June. I didn't have time to start slowly, so I began pounding out big road miles to start. I muddled through an 80-mile Copper Triangle loop the last week of June, I grinded out a big hilly loop near Boulder the first week of July, and slogged through the Triple Bypass on July 13. I continued with a bunch of 30-50 mile gravel rides on my mountain-bike and tossed in a few hour-long sessions of short hill-repeats.  I didn’t get to Leadville for a single training ride this summer. First time ever. The fitness came back quickly, but unfortunately all of my metrics were way off as I found myself doing local climbs 10%-15% slower than prior years. Extrapolating this 10%-15% decline to Leadville, I figured I’d be lucky to break 10 and a half hours.

On the bright side, as of race day, I had raised nearly $85,000 for First Descents. So no matter what happened in the race, it was another successful and impactful year and there would be zero shame from a slower than usual effort.

I started the race in the Purple corral consisting of those who finished 2018 in the 9-10 hour range. Joining me was my buddy Mike “Leadman” McHargue. Mike threw down a really fast time in the Silver Rush 50 in early July and I figured he would probably shoot out ahead and I wouldn’t see him again. My plan was to just stick with him as long as I could and if we happened to be riding at a similar pace, we could stay together for much of the day.

We had a really balmy start compared to prior years. The temperature at 6:30am when the gun went off was 46 degrees. This was actually the warmest start in 13 years. We also had heavy cloud cover that was predicted to stick around for most of the day, keeping things mild, but not hot. My kind of race weather.

I did not head out too fast from the gun. Mike passed me on the descent out of town, but I kept him in my vision all the way to the base of St. Kevins. The St. Kevins climb was a bit slow, but there were no big clogs and I kept a very moderate pace through the three miles of rollers to Carter Aid Station, hitting the timer at around 59 minutes. This was a good 7-9 minutes off my faster years.

I hit the pavement about 20 seconds in front of Mike and used the downhill to chug some fluids and stretch the shoulders. In past years, I would go pretty hard on the first part of the Sugarloaf climb, but I chose to lay back this year as I saw no point in burning matches this early when I still had doubts about my endurance later on. Mike passed me on the final rocky section of the Sugarloaf climb, but I stayed on his wheel as we summited and followed closely behind him the entire Powerline descent. We stayed together through Pipeline Aid Station, arriving at about 2 hours and 19 minutes.

The Pipeline section was fairly relaxed. Mike and I yo-yo'd the entire time, never separating by more than a few seconds, and we both arrived at the First Descents aid station area at Twin Lakes at a recreationally respectable 3 hours and 10 minutes. This was some 15-20 minutes slower than each of my last 5 years, but I didn’t care. I was really enjoying the ride and it was fun to have a buddy riding essentially the same speed. It was also fun to have Lisa back at the aid station this year after she missed 2018. There is nothing like cruising into Twin Lakes at Mile 40 and getting a big hug from your wife.

After 5 minutes at the aid station, we were off and pedaling again. We crossed the dam and entered the vortex of crowd madness and then began the climb up the ridge. I stopped to satisfy the call of nature and Mike continued on. I took it really easy up to the first switchback on the Columbine climb as that section actually contains some of the steepest pitches of the first 8 miles of the climb. In my 13 years, the number of racers who pass me on this stretch only to be passed by me a few miles later is in the hundreds. It is an easy and needless spot to kill the legs.

Rounding the first switchback, I could see the back of Mike's jersey several hundred yards in front of me, but I wasn’t sure that I would ever catch him again. However, I chose this time to test the legs a little and pick up the pace. I turned up the volume of the tunes on my JBL speaker and started passing other racers. By the 3rd switchback, Mike was only about 100 yards ahead. By the 5th switchback, his gap was down to 50 yards. I finally caught him between the 9th switchback and the start of the goat trail and actually put my own gap on him in the first quarter mile of the loose and rocky goat-trail as I was able to find a line to ride while he joined the other hike-a-bikers. My continued riding didn’t last long as it simply became too dangerous to try to pass people with inbound riders barreling down the left side of the trail. As I dismounted, I was suddenly felled by sharp leg-cramps and had to pull off to the side. I bit into two S-Caps (salt tabs) and massaged my thighs and calves. After about 30 seconds, the cramps dissipated and I continued on my way. Mike was now ahead of me again, but I slowly reeled him in before reaching the top.

We hit the Columbine turnaround at 5 hours and 15 minutes. Mike stopped for a quick drink. I continued. He passed me just after the bottom of the goat trail, but we rejoined on the final descent into Twin Lakes and rolled back into the First Descents aid station together at 5 hours and 58 minutes. Once again, we were happily greeted by each of our lovely wives. It was actually kind of nice to be in no hurry as compared to my sub-9 years where I crazily blew through the aid station in under 45 seconds. Lisa said she enjoyed the "relaxed me."

The funny thing about the race so far was that neither Mike, nor I ever discussed riding the race together and we had no implicit understanding that we would stay together. We were just truly riding our races at a nearly identical pace.

Brent and Mike Leaving Pipeline Aid Station

We covered the Pipeline in about an hour and were still together at the Pipeline Aid Station where I stopped quickly to chug a few cups of Coke. I was definitely feeling pretty sore and tired, but was way less miserable at this point than I expected. It helped that up until now, the weather had been perfect with temps in the 60s and enough clouds to keep the sun from heating up the course.

Usually the section from Pipeline Aid to the base of Powerline runs directly into a stiff breeze that makes the section a depressing suckfest . . . especially with Powerline looming on the horizon. For the first time in years, we actually had a slight tailwind on this section. As we approached Powerline, I looked at my watch, did some quick calculations and determined that a sub-10 hour finish was still in play. I explained the timing to Mike, but he seemed a bit ambivalent about the time. He also said that he was running low on fluids and would be meeting Laurel briefly at May Queen. I figured I would make a final evaluation at the top of Powerline and either hang back or go for it.

The Powerline climb was its usual hellish self, especially with the sun coming out early in the climb and slightly baking the air. I was definitely spent, but managed to keep pedaling nearly the entire climb after the initial wall of hike-a-bike. I reached the top at 8 hours and 22 minutes. I had not seen Mike since the hike-a-bike section, but figured that he couldn't be too far behind. I slow-pedaled along the top ridge for about 60 seconds and when he still didn't appear behind me, I made the decision to take off as I knew he would probably stop to see Laurel and was concerned that any stop would likely kill the prospects for a sub-10 finish.

From the top of Powerline, I needed to get to Carter Aid Station in about 40 minutes if I wanted a sub-10 finish. That gave me 15 minutes to descend to the base of the St. Kevins climb and 25 minutes to get up the climb. In my sub-9 years of 2013 and 2016, I did the St Kevins climb in about 20 minutes. I didn't have those legs today, but thought I could split the difference somewhere in the middle. Sure enough, I hit the nail right on the head with a 22.5 minute ascent, arriving at Carter Aid at 9 hours. This gave me a few minutes cushion to down a few more cokes and indulge in a chocolate-chip cookie and a few slices of salted watermelon.

I took off at 9:03 and knew from experience that I could easily cover the last 11 miles in about 52-53 minutes. At this point, the skies were darkening and this gave me added incentive to push it before the impending rain. With no issues on the St. Kevins rollers and descent, followed by a smooth ride up the Boulevard and “Fuck You Hill,” I crossed the finish line in 9 hours and 55 minutes, collecting my 13th hug and medal from Merilee.

In retrospect, I did not give myself enough credit and rode more conservatively than necessary. So maybe I could have been 10-15 minutes faster. But that 15 minutes would have likely been the difference to feeling pretty good at the end versus feeling like turd at the end. Frankly, I just wasn’t in the mood to feel like turd. Not when my finish time was going to start with a 9 or 10 regardless. That being said, I was satisfied that I was able to summon enough foolish pride to pick it up over the last 25 miles to get in under 10 hours.

Already looking forward to coming back for number 14 in 2020. Also ready to end my non-training sabbatical and get back on a regimen this coming year. Still harboring a hope that my best Leadville time is in front of me and not behind me.

TOUR DIVIDE 2018

For an extensive recap and tale about my 2018 Tour Divide adventure, please click the link below and purchase my book. 100% of book sales proceeds are for the benefit of First Descents. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0960051716/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_LYOnDbSRGD66T

2018 Leadville Trail 100 MTB Race

August 11, 2018

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.

TOUR DIVIDE - MAY 18, 2018 - THREE WEEKS UNTIL RACE START

10 years ago next month, cancer stole my best friend, Allan Goldberg.  Since then, I have been consumed with making the world a better place for cancer survivors and fighters through my service as a Board Member and fundraiser for the First Descents organization (www.firstdescents.org). First Descents' mission is to provide life-changing/healing outdoor adventures for young adults impacted by cancer (and this summer, for the first time, those impacted by Multiple Sclerosis).  Think Make-a-Wish crossed with Outward Bound crossed with group therapy. 

Most of my fundraising efforts for First Descents have been in conjunction with my competing in the Leadville 100 mountain-bike race every August.  I have done the race 11 straight years and it has been a major fixture in my life.  Last summer Lisa and I were driving across the country and Lisa asked me if I was getting bored yet with Leadville. Here is how the rest of the conversation went:

Me: "I actually am getting a little bored with Leadville, but can't imagine not doing it."

Lisa:  "I know you.  You obviously have something else on your bucket-list that would top Leadville.  Care to share it?"

Me:  "Are you sure you want to know?

Lisa:  "Shit, I knew there was something.  What is it?

Me:  "Well, about 8 years ago I saw a documentary about a mountain-bike race called the Tour Divide which was the story of 15 nut-cases who raced down the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta, Canada to the US-Mexico border in New Mexico.  Over the years, the race has grown in stature and myth and I think I'd like to give it a shot someday . . . maybe in 5 or 6 years when the kids are all out of the house."

Lisa:  Silence.  More Silence.  Then "why wait 6 years?  You are turning 50 in a few months and aren't getting any younger.  Who knows what the future will bring?  Why don't you do it next summer?"

Me:  "Wait . . . WHAAAAATTTTT?  You know that I would be gone for 4-6 weeks?

Lisa:  "It wouldn't be ideal, but I'll survive!"

Me:  "Who's the boyfriend?"

Both:  Laughing out loud

Sooooo, here we are on Friday, May 18, 2018 and exactly three weeks from today a gun will blast from a park in Banff, Alberta, Canada and, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Allan's passing, I will embark on the Tour Divide (www.tourdivide.org). Here's the real skinny about the Tour Divide:  for one, it travels 2,760 off-road UNsupported miles from Banff down the Continental Divide ending some 26-33 days later at the U.S./Mexico border in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Second, my chances of finishing are probably 50/50 as I'll have to overcome snow, wind, sleet, rain, heat, cold, dehydration, hunger, physical ailments, river-crossings, downed-trees, bird-sized Montana mosquitos, sleep-deprivation, bears and mountain-lions, bike-hating rednecks in pick-up trucks, boredom, loneliness, saddle sores, raw taint, flat tires and other mechanical failures, scary wilderness noises at night, never-ending climbs up Rocky-mountains, steep technical descents, an unwieldy 50+ pounds of bike and bags and tent and food and water, and massive cumulative mental, emotional and physical fatigue. Third, the total elevation gain on the route is some 235,000 feet (think riding a heavy bike from sea-level to the top of Mt Everest . . . 8 frickin' times).  Fourth, I'm an idiot.  What I'll have spurring me on is my usual mission to raise money for First Descents and, more importantly, the inspiring stories of all those cancer survivors who have attended First Descents programs after (and sometime while) battling their own personal medical Tour Divides to defeat such a pernicious disease.  For this epically insane adventure, I am setting an epically ambitious goal of raising $200,000 for FD.  As of today, we are about halfway there.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

I have spent the past 12 months planning, training, accessorizing, purchasing gear and generally fretting (and stressing) over this adventure.  I can't believe it is now just a few weeks away.  About a week before the race, I will publish a web-link to a webpage where everyone can track my progress online throughout the race via a gps tracker.  I also plan to update this blog with narrative, pictures and video during the race whenever I have some downtime in a location with a wireless signal.

My Summer Home

The Cockpit

2017 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race

Leadville #11 is now in the books. While I really don't have anything new, exciting, inspirational, emotional or amusing to add to my previous 10 recaps, I'm still going to throw down some words . . . because you are presumably here to read something.

After a very focused and taxing sub-9-hour performance in 2016 to commemorate my 10th LT100, I did not return to Leadville in 2017 with my usual desire (or madness).  In fact, I think I was a bit complacent coming into this year's race.  I did my usual perfunctory training all winter long and even managed to change my diet such that I was nearly 10 pounds lighter on race-morning this year than I was last year.  No matter.  As summer wore on, I simply lacked the motivation to punish myself with structured training rides.  I was Sheryl Crow.  All I wanted to do was get out on my bike and have some fun . . . 'til the sun came up over Santa Monica Boulevard. Sorry, pop-culture digression.  I felt great throughout the summer, but the training drop-off was noticeably impacting leg-strength on steep climbs as well as late-ride vigor.  Most importantly, I did not really give a shit.  Every time I was asked in July about my goals for Leadville, my response was a canned "sub-9 would be great, but I wouldn't mind just enjoying the day."

So race morning arrived on August 12 and my attitude was one of Que Sera, Sera (translation for those of you who didn't study in school - "whatever will be will be.")  I would ride the first 40 miles at a comfortable pace, see where I was time-wise and then decide whether to go for another big beautiful buxom sub-9 hour buckle or lay back and settle for the cute little silver one.  A sub-9 pace would be 2:53 or faster to the 40-mile aid station at Twin Lakes.

For the 11th year in a row, I was riding for Team First Descents (www.firstdescents.org) and was joined by 23 fellow Team FD racers. I don't know whether it is because the economy is stronger or because all of my friends have truly adopted the First Descents' mission, but this was my biggest fundraising year since 2007 with nearly $80,000 donated through my Team FD page as of this writing. To quote that idiot Donald Trump, "I know the best people!"

We had a fairly mild start at about 42 degrees and the usual fast descent to Leadville Junction on the pavement. No major logjams on the dirt road to St. Kevins and no major strain climbing St. Kevins to the u-turn.  I hit Carter Aid at 52 minutes, bombed the road descent around Turquoise Lake and kept a moderately strong cadence up the pavement climb on the opposite side of the lake.  I started noticing my first signs of weakness on the Hagerman Pass dirt-road as I simply couldn't carry the 12-13 mph pace that I wanted. Made it to the top of Sugarloaf at 1:34 and had a grin-inducing (grinly?) descent down the roller-coaster known as Powerline.  Found some pacelines on the road past the Universe-famous Fish Hatchery, but once again couldn't keep the faster pace that I thought I felt I needed.  I hit the Pipeline Aid timer at 2:10.  This was about 5 minutes slower than my fastest time to Pipeline in 2013. The pipeline section was smooth and fast, but the final climb before the descent to Twin Lakes was a bit of a grind. I reached our FD aid station at Twin Lakes at 2:53 on the dot. Although I was exactly on pace for sub-9, I could already tell that the legs were AWOL. I smiled and thanked my wife and crew for getting me re-loaded quickly with fluids and gels and also told them that I would give Columbine my usual stubborn fight, but that I suspected that this probably wasn't going to be my day.

I cruised up and over the ridge above Twin Lakes still feeling ok, but then struggled as soon as I hit the first steep pitch on the Columbine climb. It was abundantly clear that I had not been imagining things with my legs over the first 40 miles. I was getting passed by gaggles of riders and I just couldn't get my legs to respond. Decision-time came way early as I still had 7 more miles to the summit. Do I throw myself into the pain-cave and crush myself climbing Columbine or do I throttle it back a bit and just enjoy the ride? The sun was shining. The temperature was perfect. I dropped to my easiest gear, lifted my head up, smiled and told myself to just enjoy the big bike ride.

Once the decision was made, I started enjoying the rhythm of the climb. I was still getting passed by faster riders, but really didn't care. I reached the goat-trail at 4:15, which was a good 10 minutes off sub-9 pace. By taking it easy the last 5 miles, I actually felt good enough to ride the whole lower section of the goat-trail while navigating around walkers. And for the first time ever in this silly race, I felt no cramps or even twinges in my legs. When it was time to walk the bike, no problemo. It was simply a beautiful day for a relaxing walk. Toward the top, my chain got stuck between the lowest cog and the rear-derailleur.  It took me several minutes to pull it apart, but there was no stress.

I reached the Columbine turnaround at 4:55 and immediately raced back down, pulling into the aid station at 5:30. There was no rush. I hung out for a good 5 minutes talking to Lisa and the rest of the FD tent-crew and gave Lisa an estimated finish time of between 9:30 and 9:40.  Unlike past years, I was not dreading the last 40 miles because I had not brutalized myself on Columbine.

SMILING!

Arriving at Twin Lakes Aid Inbound

Twin Lakes Inbound - No Rush

Heading Home

With a kiss goodbye for Lisa, I pulled out of the aid station and slowly pedaled up the ridge above Twin Lakes. I was keeping pace with another rider on the dirt-road section back into the Pipeline and he kept trying to give cliched pep-talks about "working together" and "digging deep" to go faster. It was his first Leadville. I told him to go nuts and, in keeping with the cliche motif, to "ride like the wind!" He rode off in disbelief that I was so nonchalant. I passed him later on the Powerline climb and never saw him again.

I continued to lose time on the Pipeline section and reached the Pipeline aid station at 6:40. For the first time in 6 or 7 years, I actually stopped at this aid station, drank some Coke and ate a chocolate-chip cookie. I was now 25 minutes off sub-9 pace and quite content with the day. Even the headwinds on the road between Pipeline and Powerline didn't bother me. I just kept pedaling along with a smile (or maybe it was a knowing smirk) and relished the fact that I was healthy, not cramping, not dehydrated, not particularly hungry and generally doing pretty damn well for a guy about to turn 50 years old.

I started up Powerline with my usual resignation and was able to pedal up to the big left bend. Then it was the usual hike-a-bike for the next 15 minutes. Just another nice walk on a section that many compare to one of the Dante's rings of hell. In years past, even sub-9 years, I would choose certain sections of the remaining Powerline climb to hike instead of pedal. This year, I didn't put my foot down the rest of the climb. In fact, my time climbing Powerline this year was only 20 seconds off my fastest time from 2013.

Since I wasn't smashing any personal time goals, I descended the rock-strewn Sugarloaf section a bit more cautiously than usual and hit the bottom of the St. Kevin's road climb at 8:15. My fastest time up this next climb was just under 20 minutes in 2013. While I knew that wasn't in the cards this year, I still hit the climb with some aggression, but could only manage about 22 1/2 minutes to the summit at Carter Aid.

I drank my usual two cups of Coke at Carter Aid and then set off for the final 12 miles. I chose to walk up the 3rd of 3 punchy climbs before the St. Kevin's descent for no other reason than I didn't feel like riding it. Crested the top, tore down the front, breezed through the valley and hit Leadville Junction at 9:10. Picked my way through the loose rocks at the bottom of the Boulevard and then settled into an easy spin for the rest of the 3-mile climb back into town.

50 yards from the finish line, I found Lisa and pulled over. Our friend Matt "Mateo" Hayne, a former First Descents' participant, program leader and Team FD Leadville racer (see my blog from 2011) had recently suffered a recurrence of cancer and had to have major reconstructive surgery on his jaw. His girlfriend created t-shirts in his honor that were sold to raise money and awareness for Mateo's plight. Lisa and I bought a couple of the t-shirts and she was waiting for me before the finish with one of the shirts in outstretched hand. I whipped off my Camelbak, pulled the t-shirt over my bike-jersey and rode across the finish-line proudly showing off the "Crush Cancerasaurus Rex" logo on the front of the shirt. Finish time was 9:36. Sticking with the theme for the day, I was still smiling. I didn't break any personal records, but I had a fantastic day riding my bike in my mountains. Damn I'm lucky.

CRUSH CANCERSAURUS REX!

Final Note: part of my malaise this summer was due to something much bigger that I have in the works for 2018. With my 50th birthday upon me and nothing really left to prove in Leadville, I feel like I need to do something massively epic this coming year. My sights are set squarely on a little race called the "Tour Divide."  It is a self-supported mountain-bike race that starts the second Friday in June from Banff, Alberta, Canada and follows the Continental Divide down through the Rockies ending 2750 miles later at the Mexico border in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. The attrition rate for the race is over 50% and it is generally regarded as the toughest mountain-bike race in the world. My goal would be to finish it in about 30 days. Time to learn how to pitch a tent and practice my aim with bear spray. What is the over-under on how many times I call myself a complete fucking idiot between now and the finish of the Tour Divide?

2016 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race

Rest and Reward

10 years.  I have been at this Leadville nonsense for 10 years.  The picture above contains 8 silver buckles (awarded to those who finish in between 9 hours and 12 hours), 2 gold buckles (awarded to sub 9-hour finishers) and one big-assed 1,000-mile buckle.  Those buckles may just be pieces of metal, but they represent so much more.  They represent blood, sweat, tears, pride, accomplishment, endurance, discipline, happiness, sadness, frustration, strength, ego, stubborn will, focus, relentless self-belief, recaptured (or clinging) youth and, in the immortal words of Ken Chlouber, "grit, guts and determination."  Each buckle tells a tale and each tale is inextricably tied to the story of a man with cancer (Allan Goldberg) challenging his best friend (me) in 2006 to enter a stupidly unthinkable race. Allan is now over 8 years deceased, but he lives on through these buckles and that big one up there truly idealizes the perseverance and toughness that were the cornerstones of his life.

    The 2016 Leadville 100 mountain-bike race was held on Saturday, August 13, 2016. I had my sights set on this particular version of the race for the past 5 years as I badly wanted that obnoxious WWF-sized buckle awarded to those select few who have completed Leadville 10 times.  I viewed my impending 10th finish as both a milestone and a stepping-stone as well as a culmination, a transition and an affirmation.  Without being too melodramatic, the Leadville 100 now inhabits a large chunk of that valuable internal real estate that makes up the "core of my being."  Yes, I supoose it is just a meaningless one-day race in the mountains of Colorado, but it has changed my life in ways I could have never anticipated 11 years ago.  Specifically, it has fueled three major passions that now define me and that impact everyone close to me, namely (1) a year-round quest/thirst for exercise and training that I hope to continue for the rest of my life, (2) a heightened love for the Rocky Mountains that has resulted in Lisa's and my escaping life and running off to Colorado for 8 weeks every summer, and (3) a huge philanthropic commitment to the First Descents cancer organization for which I currently am serving my 8th year as Chairman of the Board of Directors.  Maybe my life is like that scene in the movie City Slickers where Billy Crystal's character, Mitch, is alone with Curly, played by Jack Palance, and Curly is giving Mitch some life advice.

Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? [holds up one finger] This.

Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit.

Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?" 

Curly: That's what you have to find out.

Maybe Leadville is my "one thing."  Deeeeeeeep.  

But enough waxing philosophic . . . or rhapsodic?  This is supposed to be a race blog.  My 10th race blog.  And as this 2016 race was eerily similar to 2013 (almost to the second), I am going to try to breeze through this sucker and just hit the highlights.

First, a quick recap of my prior 9 years:

2007 - Newbie. Finished in 11:11 with major cramps inbound

2008 - 5 flat-tires, but improved to 10:35

2009 -  Breakthrough year with first sub-10 finish of 9:56

2010 - PR with a 9:43

2011 - Early tire problems put me at the back of the pack and I could never mentally recover. Dawdled at aid stations and rode in with friends. 10:43

2012 - Felt like I was finally in sub-9 shape, but suffered three flats between mile 15 and mile 20. Race shot.  Grrrrr.  9:52

2013 - VICTORY!!!  Big Buckle.  8:54

2014 - Lost the mental edge from 2013. 9:15

2015 - Heat bath.  I hate heat.  9:23

For year 10, I had two main goals.  The first was to simply finish upright to collect the giant 1,000-mile buckle.  The second was to collect that giant buckle in a blaze of glory with a return to sub-9-land. For the first time since 2008, I decided to dig out my heartrate monitor from a dusty closet box and follow a formal training plan.  A guy named Cody Waite had just thrown down a 7-hour finish in the 2015 LT100 and offered a detailed 6-month plan for a very reasonable price. I reached out to Cody, listened to his training philosophy and purchased the plan in December. I then convinced Cody to provide the plan and some monthly coaching to the First Descents Leadville team (which consisted of some 25 racers). I also dangled the plan as bait to convince my Rockville buddies, Kevin Kane and Dave Flyer, to join me in Leadville again this year.  Dave did Leadville with me in 2008 and vowed never to return.  Kevin has had a love/hate relationship with the race, but most of the hate has been self-inflicted due to lack of training. Because of Kevin's spotty history with the race, I kind of made him promise to follow the plan with me. Also joining us in the race (but not the training plan) was Gary Morris ("GMO"), an original Team FD member who was doing Leadville for his 9th time, and Jamie Malin, owner of the Kind Bikes & Skis in Edwards CO and long-time unofficial supplier of equipment, parts and service for select Team FD Leadville members.

Cody's plan called for several months of slow base/foundation development at low HR zones and then an increase in intensity starting in May and continuing through mid-July.  It also included a weight-room regimen, which was definitely a change for me.  It was a pretty easy plan to follow, especially on indoor bikes through the winter, and it got me in pretty good shape by spring. The only thing that troubled me was that I didn't have my normal power in late April and early May and was concerned that the plan went a little too overboard on the foundational stuff.  This concern was crystallized when I struggled with some hard climbs at a "climbing-camp" in West Virginia the first weekend of May and then fully manifested in early July with a miserable crampy outing at the Silver Rush 50 in Leadville where I finished some 30+ minutes off my desired pace.  Needless to say, after Silver Rush, I more or less blew off the rest of the plan and just rode hard with both volume and intensity for the last month.

As usual, taper week (the week leading into the race) really sucked.  It is tough to do big rides week after week after week and then suddenly force yourself to sit on your ass to rest for the big race.  I did institute one small change in the week as starting Wednesday, I topped off every meal with a healthy sprinkling of salt to try to overload my internal sodium storehouse. This was in direct response to my early cramping at Silver Rush. 

2016 Team First Descents Leadville -
With Leadville 100 Founders Ken and Merilee

Fortunately, taper week ended with one of the coolest moments in my Leadville race career and, frankly, one of the sweeter moments of my life.  If you are reading this blog, you probably know well my Leadville story from Allan to First Descents to Team First Descents to Team FD's hitting the $1Million mark for funds raised  for FD through Leadville in 2015.  Anyway, at the pre-race meeting on Friday, I got a special call-out from Josh Colley (Leadville race-director) for both my 10-years and for Team FD's accomplishments in Leadville over these 10 years.  That was great, but what followed was really special. I stood up to wave and slowly others in the crowd stood up to applaud. This cascaded into a standing ovation and I couldn't hold back the tears.  Below is a video of the moment captured by GMo. Unforgettable.

THE RACE

Race day began with the 3:30am alarm, a quick inhaling of scrambled eggs and pancakes, a swigging of a bottle of electrolyte-laced water, a drive up to Mike ("Leadman Emeritus") and Laurel McHargue's house in Leadville, three trips to the porcelain throne, meticulous donning of gear and sunscreen, some deep stretching, a group photo, a freezing ride to the start in 33 degree temperatures and the usual anxiety-ridden countdown of the final minutes until the 6:30am shotgun blast.  It was a stunningly gorgeous morning without a cloud in the sky.  While 33 degrees at the start is a bit bone-chattering when you are just wearing a thin bike jersey and spandex shorts, I was pretty excited that we weren't going to have a repeat of last year's hot weather (when it 45 degrees at the start). So no complaints from me about the weather this year!

Settling in at the McHargues - 5:15am

Donning the Gear - 5:35am

Stretching - 6am

Group Shot before Heading to the Start - 6:05am
Fly, Jamie, Brent, Kevin, GMo, Leadman Emeritus

My race and pacing strategy for this year was pretty similar to the previous 3 years.  The only real difference was that I would be using a heartrate monitor and I vowed to keep my heart-rate below 155 at all times. If I was truly in sub-9 shape, then I should be able to stay on a 9-hour pace below 155 without blowing up over the last 43 miles..  Time targets were as follows:

Carter Summit - 50 minutes

Sugarloaf summit - 1:32

Pipeline Aid - 2:05

Twin Lakes - 2:55

Goat Trail - 4:05

Columbine Aid - 4:40

Twin Lakes - 5:15

Pipeline - 6:15

Powerline Summit - 7:30

Carter Summit - 8:05

Finish - 8:55

The start to Carter was pretty uneventful. Within about 200 yards from the start, I was passed by a big dude who seemed late for a meeting and I cozied in behind him and drafted all the all the way down to Leadville junction.  I kept things pretty steady and conservative on the flats before St Kevins and also didn't push too hard during the climb up St. Kevin's and over the rollers between St, Kevins and Carter Aid.  I was pleased to reach the pavement at Carter at 49 minutes.  After a frosty Turquoise Lake road descent, I picked up the pace a bit on the pavement climb and the Hagerman Pass Road dirt and continued steadily on the Sugarloaf climb, reaching the summit at 1:31.   

Bottom of Powerline 

Top of Singletrack

Bottom of Singletrack.

Pulling into FD Aid Outbound

The Powerline descent was a blast this year. Riders were spaced enough apart to go our own paces and I never felt pressured or held up. I reached the pavement at the bottom of Powerline at 1:46, connected with a group of about 6 riders and rode a strong paceline to Pipeline, arriving at the aid-station at 2:03.  So far so good.  No cramping, no muscle weariness, perfect temperatures and no bike issues.  The Pipeline, like the 28 miles preceding the Pipeline, was uneventful.  We had a slight tailwind, the crowds were thin, the single-track section was smooth and fast, I felt strong on the short climb up and over the ridge and even better on the bomb down to the First Descents aid station at Twin Lakes, arriving at 2:49. Lisa, my lovely wife and crew-chief, got me in and out in about 30 seconds flat and, after a quick high-five and smooch, I was off again.

After crossing the Twin Lakes Dam, I hit the 40-mile timer at 2:51, which was 4 minutes ahead of pace. These 4 minutes immediately turned out to be precious as I made the mistake of chugging about 18 ounces of fluids during my 30 seconds at the FD aid station . . . which was on top of chugging about 12 ounces of fluids about 5 minutes before hitting the FD aid station. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit bloated leaving Twin Lakes and was forced to slow-pedal up over the ridge into Lost Canyon and then up the first steep stretch of Columbine climb.  This probably cost me 3-4 minutes, but I started feeling a lot better once I hit the campground at the first switchback and was able to to then settle into a great pace for the next 5 miles.

The three leaders (Todd Wells, Joe Dombrowski and Jeremiah Bishop) all passed me on their return at about the 5th switchback.  This was the highest I had ever made up the climb before being passed by the leaders.  I wasn't markedly faster than last year, so obviously those guys were on a bit slower pace than when they shattered the record in 2015.  This observation proved to be correct as the winning time this year was 6:19 . . . 21 minutes slower than the winning time in 2015. Regardless, they were still freakish freaks.

I hit the bottom of the Goat-Trail at 4:03 and was feeling great.  I was still 2 minutes ahead of pace and I successfully avoided those dark places where my mind usually wanders on the climb up Columbine.  However, I recalled that I was in this same spot at this same time in 2014 and couldn't hold it together.  I vowed to keep pushing this year.  The bottom of the goat-trail moved well and I didn't have to take my feet off the pedals until the steep right x-roads veer about 1/3 of the way up. After dismounting and walking about 30 steps, I felt the first twinges of some impending leg cramps.  Here we go again.  I immediately popped 3 S-caps into my mouth.  Each S-Cap contains 320mg of sodium. I even chewed them for maximum affect. That oral infusion of 1,000 mg of sodium did the trick as the cramps quickly dissipated and never returned.  As soon as the trail grade flattened, I rode for a few minutes, walked again at the steep S-turn section and then rode the rest of the way, arriving at the Columbine turnaround at 4:38.  As I still had plenty of fluids and wasn't feeling any hunger pangs, I bypassed the aid-station and headed straight back down without a stop.

The Columbine descent was a bit dicey this year.  As well as we moved on the ascent, the pace heading down was a bit conservative and the line of riders coming up extended solidly about 2/3 of the way down the mountain.  This made it difficult to really open up the throttle (or fully release the brakes) until near the bottom.  I passed Jamie about halfway down the goat-trail about 20 minutes behind me.  Then I reached GMO and Kevin as they were walking up the Goat-trail about 45-50 minutes behind me.  Kevin was kicking ass to be up that far and GMO was about the pace he expected to be.  A little further down was Flyer.  He was looking down at the ground, but I think he was doing ok.  The road was a bit sandy and soft and I actually overshot one of the switchbacks and nearly slid into a strand of trees, but was able to rescue myself.  I hit the valley floor at 40+ mph and had to regain control before turning onto the path back toward the ridge.  As that path turned upward, my hamstrings and calves screamed a bit from the lengthy descent, but they loosened quickly and I was up and over the ridge and through the timer at Twin Lakes right smack on my sub-9 pace at 5:15.

As I pulled back into the FD Aid station, I was conflicted by positive and negative thoughts. On the positive side,  I wasn't overly exhausted and was still on a 9-hour pace.  On the negative side, I definitely felt that I had worked pretty hard to stay on pace and had not given myself any cushion or margin for error.  Once again I was faced with a choice about what I was willing to endure over the final 43 miles.  In 2013, the choice was dictated by a rabid eye-of-the-tiger hunger to get that sub-9 Gold buckle if it killed me.  In 2014, I was at this same spot at the exact same time . . . literally to the minute, and the fire simply extinguished on the first climb out of Twin Lakes.  In 2015, I was already 10 minutes behind at this point and there was no decision to be made. This year, the fire had returned.  I really wanted another Gold buckle to commemorate my 10th.  So I wasted no time at the aid station and willed myself to hit the first hill as hard as possible . . . if only to put me in the right frame of mind.  This lasted all of about 10 minutes.  By the time I reached the single-track, my pace had slowed and groups of riders were starting to pass me.  I tried to summon the extra energy, but I didn't have it.  I muddled through the single-track and kept the strongest pace possible through the rest of Pipeline just hoping that I would hit the timer still on pace.  Sure enough, despite the struggle, I hit the Pipeline timer at 6:16, just 1-minute off pace.  In 2013, I hit Pipeline at 6:15 and finished in 8:54. If I could simply repeat my 2013 performance over the last 30 miles, I would be fine. I just needed to take it one segment at a time.

The next checkpoint was the base of Powerline. I needed to get there by 6:40.  As usual, there was a stiff headwind, but I just kept plugging along and, lo and behold, I hit the base of Powerline at exactly 6:40. So I next set my sights on reaching the Powerline summit by 7:30.  To help my cause, I pedaled a few chunks of the lower-section where I usually walk and was able to reach the first false-summit without keeling over. I was also pleasantly surprised to be offered a few cups of Dr. Pepper from some volunteers on the trail. The rest of the climb was the usual painful monotonous drudgery.  I walked a couple spots where I just didn't want to overextend and I forced myself to keep pedaling through those spots where a nice nap would have been preferable. Powerline is always the low point of the race. However, I had been through this 9 time before and it was nothing new.  I knew it would suck, it did suck and I know it will suck next time. Despite the begrudging acceptance of the suck, I still couldn't help asking myself the annual question of why the hell I keep doing this to myself each year.

After climbing for days . . . well, actually 51 minutes . . . I reached the Powerline summit at 7:31. There was no time to relax. I tore down Sugarloaf and was particularly thankful that I had switched this year from a hard-tail to a full-suspension bike as I was able to ride a line that would have crushed my lower-back on a hard-tail. At the 180 turn at the bottom of Hagerman Pass Road, an angel handed me a bottle of Coke. I downed it in 3 swigs. I furiously pedaled down around the south end of Turquoise Lake and began the St. Kevin's climb at 7:45 . . . which is exactly where I was in 2013 at this spot. In 2013, I did this climb in 19 minutes. I was feeling calmly confident that I could match that. I stood on the pedals for most of the first half of the climb and kept the chain in the front big-ring. I was now passing those very same riders who had passed me back on the Pipeline. I felt myself slowing a little on the top-half and I started day-dreaming about more Coke and salted watermelon at the Carter Aid station. Finally, I hit the last curve, saw the spectators crowding around the turn-off for Carter and charged into the Carter Aid station at 8:05. Barring a mishap, I was now feeling pretty good about another sub-9. I knew it was about 50-minutes to the finish and I knew I had enough reserves in the tank to do it.

I quickly chugged three cups of Coke, scarfed down two pieces of watermelon and locked my cleats back into the pedals for the final 12 miles. I still had an outside shot of besting my 2013 time, but I really was only focused on the 9-hours. I struggled getting up and over the 3 short punchy climbs before the St. Kevins' descent and had to walk the 3rd one because it came upon me too quickly to switch gears. I blasted down St. Kevins in full glory knowing the end was near and, once again, fully enjoying the dual suspension. There was a slight headwind that slowed me down in the flat section in the valley, but I kept a hard pace as I was suddenly questioning whether I had miscalculated the time. I reached Leadville junction at 8:32 and the bottom of the Boulevard at 8:37. Just 3.5 miles to go.

I was able to keep a pretty strong pace the first half of the Boulevard, but then really started petering out with about a mile to go.  By then, I knew I was comfortably going to make it under 9 and I also knew that a PR was out of the question.  I made the turn onto 6th Street at 8:52 and even though there was still one more short climb before the cruise to the finish, I started feeling total joy and elation. I rode up that short climb with a huge smile on my face and really made it a point to savor all of the sounds and visuals over those last few blocks toward the finish.  I had been riding the last 5 miles with a small group, but with about 500 yards to the the finish, I decided to let them go ahead of me so that I could hit the red carpet alone.  The last few hundred yards were filled with fist-pumps and fist-bumps and howls of delight.  About 50 yards from the finish I spotted Lisa and gave her a massive grin. Then my niece and nephew, Noa and Eli, jumped from the crowd and flanked me on each side for the final few pedal strokes to the finish. My last act of the race was to pull a wheelie at the finish line and then cruise right up to Merilee for the post-race medal and hug.

My final time was 8:56:37 (even though the finish clock showed 8:57:31; the reason for the discrepancy is that it took a good 50 seconds to actually cross the starting line in the morning and the official time is based on each person's actual start, not when the gun goes off). I felt nothing but joy and satisfaction and not a whiff of that tearful emotion that hit me in waves when I finished the race in 2013.  It was the perfect ending to a 10-year story.  Now I guess it is time to start a new story.

Noa and Eli by my side.

Hamming it up.

Here comes the wheelie!

Brent, Fly, GMo and Kevin at the Finish

1,000-Mile Buckle - Class of 2016

POST-SCRIPT - Jamie finished in 9:46.  That was a personal best by about an hour.  GMo finished in 10:24.  Ho hum day for him, but pretty much what he expected.  Kevin was on a sub-10:30 pace for much of the day, but bonked a bit on the Powerline climb. He finished at 11:03 which crushed his previous best of 11:56. His line a few minutes after crossing the finish: "Apparently, training makes a difference!"  I think I may have been more excited for Kevin's finish than my own! Fly came in at 11:56, which was nearly identical to his finish time in 2008.  He was thrilled to get another buckle and promptly retired from bike racing.  We had three other DC area friends who were supposed to race with us.  Larry Weinberg punctured a lung and broke 10 ribs in a crash at the Silver Rush.  John Murray broke his scapula in a crash in the Pipeline during a training ride.  John Ourisman suffered a concussion and a broken rib in a crash descending Meadow Mountain in Vail in mid-July.  His family forced him to sell his mountain-bike after that.  Finally, a special mention for FD Alum Nate "Scooter" Post. Scooter missed the 8:45 time-cut-off at Pipeline inbound by about 10 minutes, but pulled the cancer-card and convinced the authorities to let him keep riding. He finally crossed the finish line in the dark at 13:55. An amazing display of grit, guts and determination!

As of this writing, the 2016 Team FD Leadville team had raised over $208,000 for First Descents. This was by far our most successful year ever.