2003 Leadville Trail 100, 8/9/2003

This year I signed up for the 2003 Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. They have a lottery system since so many sign up for it and this year I made it in (last year I did not and instead raced the Beaver Creek 100). This 100 mile race starts in Leadville, goes around Turquoise Lake, down to Twin Lakes and to the turnaround at Columbine Mine, at 12,700 ft. If you make it in under 9 hours you get a gold belt buckle, silver for under 12. I was prepared to shoot for sub-9 but was ready to back off if I had to. My final time was 9:36:26, 140th place out of 725 racers (need to verify this number), 78th in my age group (the dreaded 30-40 mens, that had the most entrants of any group).

The weekend started with an early drive up to Leadville from Colorado Springs with Kathy and little Grace for check-in and goody bag. Later we hooked up with my parents, from Austin, TX, who joined Kathy for crew duty. We had the pre-race meeting and then checkin at the Super 8, which was packed with riders from all over the county. Talked to a couple guys. One was nervous, the other was psyched up. We went back to town to leave drop-bags and the carbo-load dinner, a very tasty spaghetti dinner. They were offering Coors, not my favorite but a beer sounded so good! So instead my Dad drank mine. Back at the Super 8 bikers were messing with their bikes all evening. At some point you have to say it's done and get some sleep! Actually I didn't sleep too well. Case of nerves and a lumpy pillow.

Woke around 5AM to get packed. Everything was mostly laid out including bags for the crew. I dressed and put on some warmup clothes for the ride up the hill. Met two veterans from Fort Morgan, CO on the way. Got a place in line about 10 rows back, lots of bikes lying in the road. My family eventually found me so I shedded my warm-ups. Wasn't too cold, about 45, so I started the race without a coat or leg-warmers. Glad I did because we heated up quickly on the first climb. I started the race with a 50oz camelback with plain water and 2 hours worth of sports drink in a bottle, the estimated time it would take to the first station.

At 6:30 the starter shotgun went off and we all headed down 6th street towards Turquoise Lake. We had a police escort so it was not a full-out start. But it was still sketchy because on the turns we all bunched up. Then later a guy had a flat (so early in the race of all places) and that caused everyone to skitter around him. Lots of brakes squealing. With all those riders you could actually smell burning discs and rim brakes!

Finally the escort peeled off and we headed around to the base of the first climb. This is located on the north side of the lake in the St Kevin's mining district. We climbed up the north side of the hill so that we eventually dumped out onto Turquoise Lake road, also on the north side of the lake. The initial climb was extremely steep so some spinouts and walking going on. Some nice singletrack once we reached the top before we hit the road. The road heads downhill to the west end of the lake. Got into a tuck and picked up some speed. Then we coasted around to the south end of the lake to head up to the Hagerman pass road. Took this road a bit to a turnoff that heads to top of the range on the south side of the lake, the Powerline climb, named as such due to the powerlines overhead.

So far I was feeling good and on track for 9 hours. Climbing fairly steady and hitting the downhills hard. After we crested the top of Powerline we began a rough windy descent down to paved road again. Saw lots of racers stopping for flats. This area leads to lots of injuries as well but the pack I was in was playing it safe even though we were heading down quickly.

Once on the road we headed past the Fish Hatchery and made our way to the Pipeline road. Worked with two other guys with drafting to cut down the wind. Throughout the day we drafted when available. Unfortunately not everyone takes a turn but in some cases they were just hanging on. I know I had that feeling a couple times. After the road turned to dirt we hit the first aid station. We decided that my crew was going to skip this one as it is difficult to support both this one and the Twin Lakes station due to time. I pulled over to the water stop and refilled my bottle, adding in an hours worth of sports drink I brought in a baggy. Did not refill the camelback because this next portion was estimated to only take 45 minutes to an hour.

After this brief stop I took off again down the Pipeline double-track. This was a mostly flat but winding road and very bumpy so it was hard to get a good rhythm going. We hit two major downhills that were very rutty and dusty and then hit the pavement down into Twin Lakes.

I was confused when we first started passing crew vehicles because I didn't know if my family was at the beginning or the end. Finally found them on the dam across the lake, my Dad was signaling me in. Quickly cleaned and lubed the chain due to the major dust. Kathy refilled the camelback and prepared another 2 hour bottle. Grace came running up with Grandma. She was a little confused by everything but was having a good day. By this point Kathy estimated I was still on pace for sub-9. I was excited but knew the climb to Columbine was coming.

After this headed to the other side of the lake and up and over a hill that dumped you into the scrub-brush fields. There was a jeep gathering that was breaking up so we had to deal with some traffic, but none going up to the mine. I had pre-ridden this portion so I knew what was coming. Not sure if that helped or hindered me. I was starting to slow down. The heat was rising and I was sweating a lot more than I normally do. Sweat was dribbling down into my glasses (and the optical inserts) so that caused me to stop a few times. Little things like that can waste minutes over the whole day. In addition my lower back was aching on and off.

The climb up to Columbine mine starts around 9,700 feet and quickly rises to the aspens. Several switchbacks and you begin to see timberline. I was starting to slow at this point. The altitude was really affecting me. During training I felt good up to treeline but this day I was feeling nauseous so I decided to back off. About this time the leader came swooping down. Others started coming down as well in groups. About this point the dirt road gets really rocky and we all began walking. Eventually we started riding again but it was like that to the top: hike a bit, ride a bit.

We actually reached the highest point of the trail where the mountain plateaus and then we had to drop down a bit to the turnaround and aid station. This was all rideable but it was hard to stay focused at this altitude. The weather was threatening but so far no rain so I didn't ask for my coat that I had sent ahead in a dropbag. Instead I grabbed a powerbar because I felt I needed something solid, my stomach had been upset for awhile. I ate half the bar and put the rest on my bike's stem (the bars was so sticky it held on the whole way down).

Then I began the descent back down to Twin Lakes. It's amazing to feel the temperature change as you drop 3K feet not to mention the increase in oxygen. I caught up with a couple riders going down and passed as best as I could. On the way down we noticed the infamous "death march" heading up. Now I know what I looked like lugging my bike up the mountain! The already rocky and rutty double-track was that much more dangerous with a line of climbers on one side. I'm a fairly strong downhiller so I let it rip going down to make up time. Only overshot one switchback and by that time the climbers were mostly above us so we had the whole road to ourselves going down.

Back at Twin Lakes I lubed the chain again and Kathy gave me a 1 hour bottle for the trip back to Pipeline. Dad told me they had been hit by a rain shower earlier while I was gone. So far I had missed any rain myself. By this time Kathy estimated sub-9 was not very probable so we backed off for a 9:30-10 hour finish. That is a tough mental blow because your mind wants to tell you to back way off since you now have a couple hour cushion to finish in 12 hours.

So with that in mind I trudged back up the Pipeline road. Since we were backtracking we hit those two nasty hills leading to slow hike-a-bikes. Another mental blow. Once on the relative flat double-track I cranked it up a bit. For some reason this day I had that strong "diesel" feeling on the flats so I took advantage when available. Finally reached the Pipeline aid station. Members of the local Harley-Davidson crew were there to watch over the bikes while we refueled. They were teasing about how much better we'd feel with some liquor in our bellies instead of all this racing around. This time I refilled the camelback because the remaining portion of the race usually takes 3 hours, and hour longer than outbound. Also mixed up a 3 hour bottle from my drop-bag and grabbed the raincoat just in case. Turned out this was just a little too concentrated as it became mushy and clogged up the bottle. I had to siphon water from the camelback into the bottle a few times. I should have known better as I never trained with a 3 hour mix before.

Before we hit the Powerline hill we had to head back down the paved road. I met a guy on the way out and we paced each other almost to the turnoff. The wind was really picking up so I'm glad we drafted. After we hit the trail again the first climb was another hike-a-bike up the first steep hill of Powerline. This hill always puts the big hurt on riders because we're about 75 miles in and beat. Once you crest this hill we had to climb about 3 mini-hills with false summits before finally topping out. Then a quick rocky downhill back to the Turquoise Lake road. And of course then the climb up the pavement back to the St Kevin's mining district singletrack. There is a mini aid station at the turnoff so I just refilled my bottle since I was almost back now.

After some more minor climbs I took the final descent down St Kevin's. Passed one poor guy with a pinch flat. Caught up to a couple more guys. Back on the flats I started hammering as best as I could since I was almost done. Once back where the police escort stopped we headed up an alternative route instead of the road: the "boulevard". The volunteers were shouting "only 6 more miles". Then a volunteer just a few hundred feet later said "only 5 more". Oh well, I'm close anyways.

The boulevard is a rocky climb, not normally an issue when fresh. So I had to hike a bit. Once you crest this you begin a steady climb back to the pavement. Being this close I wanted to finish strong so I upped the pace a bit. I didn't know exactly how much farther but it was now under 3 miles. The nausea was kicking in a bit but I tried to hold it as I was passing a couple riders here and there.

I waved to the volunteers stopping traffic and a quick turn and I was back on 6th street, the start/finish street. One final grunt and you can see the glorious finish. There is a small downhill in which to get up some speed for the finish. The finish is actually up a slight hill. I saw guy making his way up slowly, visible sapped. I was already going at a good clip thanks to the downhill so I went ahead and hammered in past him. The crowd got a little rowdy since I was pumping pretty hard. I saw my Dad so I gave him the thumbs up and then crossed the finish Lance-style with arms raised (although I didn't zip up my jersey the way Lance does)

Then a volunteer gave me the once over. I was ok but a little nauseous. I was given my finishers medal and then my Dad took some pictures. I hobbled over to the grass and saw my Mom, Kathy and little Grace who came running over yelling "Daddy-Daddy-Daddy". We hung out in the grass for a while then headed back to the Super 8. I went ahead and coasted back since the vehicle was full. While I was showering it started raining and hailing hard. I was glad I finished when I did.

The next morning we headed over to the Columbine Café for a very tasty breakfast. Everyone we met was very friendly with Grace. Saw lots of other racers. Then to the awards. Saw some friends from Colorado Springs. Picked up my silver belt buckle (I need to go buy a belt without a buckle now so I can wear it!) Also received a cool hooded sweatshirt with my name and time on the sleeve. Lots of goodies at this race. Not to mention the excellent town and volunteer support.

	Ben at the starting line
	Shot of the crowd
	Kathy and Grace in her polar outfit
	Grace checking out Ginger the dog
	And they're off!
	Ben lubing his chain due to the dusty conditions. This is at the Twin Lakes station.
	Kathy preparing to send Ben up to the Columbine mine
	Grace playing while Dad is gone
	More lube after Ben has come back down from the turnaround.
	Kathy prepares the bottle
	At the finish
	Finish again, looking towards the start. Notice the final hill.
	Hanging out after the finish
	Ben holding his buckle and sweatshirt with Kathy and Grace
	Another family shot
	Dad and Mom with Grace