After six months of preparation, the Leadville 100 was finally here.  I'd been training in Raleigh and the Mtns of North Carolina, riding about 150 miles a week offroad, but I was nervous...Real nervous. Here's a recap of how the day went:

On race day, we awoke at 4:30 am to rain and mid 30 degree weather.  Not the type of weather I was hoping for.  On the drive from Copper Mtn. to Leadville the weather began to clear, so I was getting optimistic.  After a smooth checkin process, I placed myself towards the back of the pack for the start, deciding to play the start cautiously.  With a 6:30 AM shotgun start, the race was on.  The ride out of town was a smooth gradual downhill on pavement with a police escort.  Looking off to the South, there was a rainbow, which everyone commented on being a good omen.  It wasn't. :)
 
St. Kevins is the first climb of the day.  Crossing the railroad tracks, you turn onto a dirt road to begin the climb.  Almost immediately people started dropping with Flats and other mechanical issues.  Since this is really the start of the race, the group wasn't spread out at all, so we were all riding probably about 4 abreast up the climb.  The climb itself is about 4 miles, and goes from approx. 9800 Ft. to 10,700 Ft.  I rode most of it, but walked 1 short steep section.  It was pretty difficult to ride with so many people around, but a few miles into the climb, the field started to spread out.  Cresting the summit after about 1 hr and 10 minutes of riding, we were rewarded with a really fun 4 mile downhill run.  The only problem is that it had started to rain heavily, and I believe there was sleet too.  I could barely see anything on the way down, and it was so cold, I couldn't feel my feet or hands.  I was actually looking forward to the next climb so I could warm up!  The downhill took no prisoners.  A few people wiped out, including FatCyclist, who recounts what happened here.

Next up was a 5 mile climb to the top of the famed Powerline.  The field had really spread out by this stage, so the going was much "easier".  The climb started on a dirt Forest Road for a few miles, then moved into a rocky double track trail leading to the top.  I felt really really good on this climb and didn't walk any of this section.  In fact I was passing a lot of people on the climb, which has given me some perspective on my climbing ability.  Lose some more weight, and I'll be a force! :)  The run down Powerline was an absolute Blast!  I had ridden this  a few days earlier, so I knew the lines, so I just pointed my bike downhill and let it ride.  4 Miles later, I had reached CR 5A, and was on my way to the Pipeline Aid Station.  I arrived at Pipeline at 2:52 into the race, with a pace of 9.1.  I filled up with a little bit of water, a couple of Gels, and headed off.  The first cutoff was 4 hours, and I still had 14 miles to cover to get to the Twin Lakes Aid Station, in a head wind.

I expected the next 14 miles to be mostly downhill, so I wasn't too worried about making the cutoff, but I wanted to make the best time that I could, because I knew that coming back to PipeLine was a very agressive cutoff time.  The ride down was fun!  Some good singletrack, and nice fast doubletrack roads.  What surprised me were a couple of climbs that I wasn't expecting.  I passed through the Twin Lakes checkpoint at 3:51, 9 minutes to spare before missing the cutoff and being removed from the race.  Twin Lakes is an absolute ZOO race day.  I was looking everywhere for my crew, but couldn't find them.  Before the race, we had agreed to meet at the base of the climb.  In all of the confusion, I thought that I was at that location, but it turns out I wasn't.  I spent about 10-15 minutes looking around, in fact heading up the trail, and then coming back through the Aid Station in the opposite direction, with people thinking I was the second person in the race...Too Funny!  Probably a lot of pictures out there of me, that have been deleted. :)  In this confusion, Lance passed me, and I have to say that he is incredibly fast, and I'm glad that I was able to look up in time and not hit him...That would have sucked!

I fueled up at the Aid Station and continued on my way.  3 miles later, I actually met my crew.  I didn't need anything from them at this point, but I was a bit demoralized at this point.  I thought that the wasted time looking for them had cost me a finish.  I was also bummed because I had lost all of the people that I had been riding with.  I began the 7 mile climb up Columbine alone and beat up.  The climb begins at about 9300 Ft., and tops out around 12,600 Ft. .  It's a punishing route.  I was able to ride the first 5 miles, which I was really happy about, because a lot of people were walking.  I was passing a lot of people, and felt good.  5 miles in the course changes.  It's no longer a dirt road, but instead a rock coverd doubletrack route. It was too steep for me to ride.  In fact at this stage, no one was riding.  We just kept pushing our bikes up and up and up.  There are a couple of evil things about this climb.  The altitude.  At 12K, it's hard to breath, and pushing a bike makes it worse.  The view.  It's a beautiful view, however, you can see just how far you have to go, as you see the line of riders going up and up and up!  The weather.  It's damn cold at 12K Ft...Plus as an added bonus, it hailed while we were walking.  At 6 Hours and 46 minutes, I reached the summit of Columbine.  I had a quick fill up of food and water, and proceeded down the mtn.  What a blast!  The downhill was incredible.  I hooked up with another rider, and we bombed it!  I arrived back to Twin Lakes at 7 hours 30 minutes.  My awesome crew was there to fill me up with food and water, switch out GPS's and give me much needed emotional support!

At this point in the race, I didn't think I'd make it back to Pipeline Aid Station in time.  I had 1 hr 30 minutes to get back, before the 9 hour cutoff.  The route was mostly uphill, so I wasn't feeling confident.  I told me crew to meet me there and expect to bring me home from there.  At one point, I was completely demoralized and wanted to quit.  Another rider came up beside me, and gave me some words of encouragement that really put things in perspective.  This race had consumed me for the past 6 months.  I lived and breathed it for so long.  I wasn't going to give up.  So, I tore myself inside out, and made it back to the Pipeline Aid Station in 8 hrs and 52 minutes, 8 minutes to spare.  Phew..at this point, I really thought I had a chance at finishing this beast!

Riding on, I was dreading the climb up Powerline.  I had read many stories about how brutal it is, especially 80 miles into the race.  As soon as I got there, we almost immediately started walking.  The walk up was surreal.  It was like walking on the moon surrounded by zombies.  People were strewn on the trail, lying down, looking down, looking like death warmed over.  Others calling for their crew to come and pick them up because they just didn't want to go on.  The climb never seemed to end.  Total distance was 3.5 miles, and it took 1 Hr. and 20 minutes. This speaks to how brutal it is.  It's steep, rutted and demoralizing..but getting to the crest is so exhilarating!  I hopped on the bike and began a fast decent down Sugarloaf.  5 miles of awesome downhill later, I began the climb back up St. Kevin's.