Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race
Leadville, Colorado
August 14th 2010
It was a perfect start to the day. 35 degrees, clear. It’s pure mayhem at the start. I think there were about 1300 racers give or take. I self-seeded myself about 80% of the way to the back. It took a couple of minutes after the shotgun start for us to start moving. The race starts out fast for the first 15 minutes or so. Mostly pavement and downhill. Elbow to elbow (We’ve got a video of the start which I’ll post later either here or on YouTube). I rode as hard as I realistically could for the first hour – it was congested and the pace was pretty fast until the first climb. Many people started walking. I rode up though walkers as far as I could until I was forced to walk. It was a cool and very fast decent on a paved road. Then it’s up again to Sugarloaf peak – another 1000 ft. climb or so. Logging road, switch backs. The whole time I’m climbing my heart rate is 160ish. I’m in granny gear and pedaling at a smooth, high cadence. After Sugarload you descend the fast Powerline section. It’s fun and fast. One rider was down waiting for medical help. I later heard he ended up being helivac’d to Denver. Over the course of the day, I passed a total of 3 down riders. Riders that weren’t moving and were surrounded by gawkers waiting for help. There was no section that was “technical” – riders were just pushing themselves and going fast and, well, I know too well that’s quite possible to wreck on “non-technical” trail.
Once you pass the 2nd climb, it’s a fast section of the course for the next 15 miles or so over paved road and dirt roads – through what’s called the Pipeline. It’s mostly flat or downhill with a few short steep climbs. I’m still at 160ish heartrate with the occasion 150 or 170. I’m pedaling hard and drafting as much as possible. I can tell from my watch that it’s gonna be very close for me to hit the first cutoff at Twin Lakes at 4 hrs. Brigitte and the kids are waiting for me as I approach the aid station. We had a plan for me to re-fuel here with them but I had to blast past them with a wave. I made the cutoff by less than 5 minutes. Whew!
Some kind souls re-fueled me with H20 and a granola bar (I was too far past the aid station by the time I get to the cutoff point to go back – you’d think they’d set this up a bit more logically). I then began the 10 mile, 3000 ft. climb up Columbine. The first 2 miles or so is fast dirt road through sagebrush flats with a steep hill or two. By this point the leaders are on their way down and pass me. I recognize Dave Weins from last year’s movie, but the rest of the guys I don’t recognize. They are going fast. The majority of the climb up to Columbine is on a smooth logging road with lots of switchbacks. I knew that I needed to hit the top at about 6 to 6.5 hours total to have a chance to get home in 12 hours. At about 2 miles to the top, the road gets very steep in sections and very rocky. Everybody around me at this point is walking. The crowd has spread out and it’s mostly a single file line to the top. You can see the top 2 miles ahead and everyone is walking their bikes. My breathing is laboredas we approach 12,500 ft – even when walking my bike – 165-170 bpm. I put my head down and take one labored step at a time. I hit the top at 6 hr. 45 min. I know the odds of breaking 12 hours are against me. But, I’ve gone as fast I could possible go. There was no extra in the tank. No reserves. I hauled ass downhill after chugging some coke and pretzels. I think I made it down in about 50 minutes – only 25 minutes slower than Levi et al.
I made the 8 hour cutoff with 25 minutes to spare. But, the next cutoff point at Pipeline was 1 hr. 25 minutes to go and it was mostly uphill this time around. I had made it in 1 hour downhill on the first half of the course. I put my head down and started climbing the hills. First pavement, then dirt road, then single track. By this point its pretty warm. I’m sweating a lot for me. It’s maybe 70-75 I’m guessing with a pretty good headwind. I had about 10 minutes to go to the 9 hr. cutoff when I hit the fast flat Pipeline section. I think was about 5 miles to go. There were 3 of us riding together and we didn’t speak to one another at all. We knew what the deal was. It was an all out race to the cutoff point. My heartrate is maxed out at 174+ the whole way. I looked down at my watch and saw the 9 hr. point come and go and the aid station/cutoff point was no where in sight. Finally, I begin to see people on the trail. Then the aid station. One dude said, “Valiant effort bro”. I knew they were gonna pull me. The race officials were standing in the dirt road at the aid station. The one lady hugged me and said “Sorry”. She cut my medical bracelet off and took my timing chip. I said, “it was an awesome day and I gave it my all and have no regrets.”
If I had made the cutoff at 9 hours/72 miles, my plan was to stop, fuel up well on food/bev, and then hopefully hit the road again having recovered a bit. Having been pulled, I skipped the aid station and starting pedaling the 10 miles back to camp. I had a cell phone at our camp and I could call Brigitte and let her know I was done. Surprisingly, they were waiting about 2 miles down the road and were cheering me on. I told them the news and I thought they were going to cry. I was disappointed but never felt like crying. I felt like a guy who fought like hell with a boxer twice his strength and size and came up defeated. There is no reason to cry. You just simply got your ass whipped.
The kids hugged me and there was a cold Coors in the cooler. I sat my ass down and chugged a beer. Damn it was good. After that, I got my ass back on the bike and road the final miles into camp. It was a great day. A humbling experience. I’ve never DNF’d before in a big race like this. I was a bit too confident in myself back in Montana. The Ironman two years ago made me think I was could do anything. I trained hard – but not hard enough. I was in good cycling shape – but not good enough. If there is a “next time”, you better believe I’ll train harder and come with plenty of grit to throw at Leadville.
Thanks to all of you for your support over the past 100 days. It’s been a hell of a ride! As I told Justin last week as he prepared for the Leadville 100 ultra-marathon, “There is no failure in not finishing. There is only failure in not trying”. Give it hell, Justin. We’ll be pulling for you. The Leadville 100 bike race is hard. Had I made it I would have been proud of my accomplishment. But, but, the bike race is nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the Leadville 100 ultra-marathon. This race truly separates the men from the boys.
By Doug Fletcher
