Leadville , Colorado
So it’s finally here. The Leadville Trail
100 Mountain bike race. The highest altitude one hundred mile mountain bike
race in North America, held in the small mountain town of Leadville ,
Colorado
It took me twenty-five hours
to drive from Red
Lake
I got to Leadville five days
before the start of the race in order to acclimatize to the altitude. Many told
me that five days would not be enough but that is all the time that I had so it
would have to be enough.
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The day after arriving, Fred
Wallis and I climbed to the highest point on the race course. It took about 1.5
hours of steady climbing but I felt strong and was able to climb at a steady
pace of 10 km/hr. This altitude thing was not so bad after all!
The next day we went for a
short ride around some local trails. A thunder storm, complete with hail,
struck while we were out. It only took us a few minutes to get back but I
gained a new respect for the weather in this area. When it gets nasty, it gets
really nasty.
The remainder of the week
was spent resting, eating, and hanging out at the Leadville Hostel where I met
all kinds of interesting people from all over North
America . Race day came on Saturday morning. I felt strong and
ready. My goal was to complete the race in under 9 hours. I considered this to
be an aggressive target but doable unless something went wrong.
The gun went off and so were
we. Wall to wall people, 628 of us in one mass start. It was by far the largest
group of riders that I have ever ridden with. It wasn’t long before the first
climb began. I expected the crowd to thin but it did not. It was very hard to
pass while climbing the narrow road so I just kept pace with the people in
front of me. After that climb came a very fast, paved downhill section and then
the second climb up Haggerman
Pass.
After the second climb came
a long, rough, downhill which was pretty scary due to the fact that someone was
always a few inches in front of you and a few inches behind you. The terrain
was easy but avoiding all the people was not. This is called the Power Line
hill and is more famous for the demoralising affect that it has on people
during the second half of the race when you must climb back up this hill
instead of going down it.
The first check point was a
short distance after the Power Line hill. I arrived there in two hours, nine
minutes. I knew that I had to be there in under two hours in order to have any
hope of completing the race in under nine hours so I pushed really hard to make
up the lost time between the second and third check point. There were no major
climbs during this section. Even though I was going hard I still arrived at the
third check point over fifteen minutes behind what I considered to be the
minimum for a sub nine hour finish. I knew that it would be almost impossible
to make that time up. Sub nine was virtually impossible now.
The realization that one of
my major race goals was now unachievable was a bit depressing. Long distance
racing is all about adapting to changing conditions. I had to decide right now
how to proceed. Besides finishing in under nine hours, I had two other
objectives. One, don’t get hurt, and two, finish the race. So far, I was not
hurt and finishing under the twelve hour time limit was certainly still possible.
Therefore two out of three of my goals were still achievable.
After the third check point
came the long climb that we had practised on Tuesday. I could only maintain
seven km/hr instead of ten. I was breathing so hard that my jaw got sore from
holding my mouth open for the two hours it took to climb the hill. I felt like
I was working very hard but there just wasn’t any power in my legs. Also, there
were still large amounts of people so passing was difficult and when one person
walked, everyone walked. Not so fun.
I made it to the top at
about the five hour mark and turned around for the return trip. I’m pretty slow
at descending so lots of people were passing me.
At the bottom of the hill I
was surprised to hear someone yell, “Bill, I’ve got your stuff!” Fred was
waiting for me. He had been pulled from the race for not making the four hour
cut off time at the second check point. Not one to dwell on the past, Fred
transformed himself from racer to support crew for me. I had no idea what stuff
he was talking about but I figured that it must be important so I slammed on
the brakes and stopped. He gave me food and some other guy lubricated my chain,
both of which I needed badly.
I had not planned to stop at
the third check point where Fred was so I decided to go right through the
fourth check point in order to make up a bit of time. About two hours after the
check point I realized that my Camelbac was almost completely empty. This is a
potentially dangerous situation. One of the main causes for people dropping out
of races is usually due to dehydration. I was trying to figure a way out of the
situation but could come up with nothing. Then I saw my salvation. A full
bottle of Gatorade that someone had dropped on the trail. This was no hallucination
but the real thing. I drank the entire bottle on the spot and continued on. It
was only a few minutes later that I found a full bottle of water which someone
else had dropped. I drank half and carried the rest. At the last check point I filled my Camelbac
and cruised the last 10 miles to the finish.
My total time was 10:04:23.
Well off my nine hour goal. I was a bit surprised at how slow I was but I guess
that the altitude combined with a crowded race course made it difficult for me
to go any faster. I realize now that, given my current fitness and skill level,
nine hours was an unrealistic goal.
67% of the people who
entered the race were able to finish in under 12 hours. 40 people were admitted
to the local hospital for dehydration, the highest number in the eight years
that the race has been held. I’m sure glad that I found those water bottles.
The morning after the race I
felt like I had not even worked hard the day before. It was explained to me
that the muscles actually did not work that hard because there was not enough
oxygen delivered to them. There was a 10 k running race held that morning as a
warm up for the 100 mile running race held later in the week. I decided to
enter since I felt like I had not been able to truly race the day before.
This race was not crowded at
all. I ran with a guy about twice my age who was doing the 100 mile running
race the next weekend. There was no way I wanted to be beaten by a guy twice my
age, even if he does run 100 mile races several times per year. There was no
way that he wanted to be beaten by a biker who rode 100 miles the day before,
even if I was half his age. We raced hard the entire distance, neither of us
giving in. I finished only a couple of seconds ahead. Although this race lasted
less than 1 hour, I felt like I had actually raced when it was over. That is
something I was unable to do the day before.
Proper acclimatization for
the Leadville Trail 100 requires at least two weeks. Not having two weeks
available was poor planning on my part. I really felt frustrated during most of
the race because I was either being held up by other riders or I had people
following one inch behind me trying to pass in areas where there is only room
for one rider. It simply was not my kind of race and my result confirms it.
On the positive side I felt
great during the entire ride. I rode hard for 10 hours and finished the race
which was one of my main goals coming to Leadville. I saw and climbed some
incredible mountains, visited old friends, made some new friends,
I’m really happy to have
been able to complete the race but I will not likely return to Leadville.
Until next time,
Bill Shand
Finishing Time – 10:04:23,
Overall Placing – 163/628, Age Group Placing – 76/299
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