Peter and Jeff climb towards Vail Pass

I’m getting caught up on posting photos from this summer.  Here’s a series of photos from a ride a few of us did in Colorado.

Jeff, Peter, and I started in Frisco.  We headed out on the bike path towards Copper Mountain then up Vail Pass to the peak at the I-70 rest stop.  This really is a gentle mountain pass, at least in this direction.  It didn’t look like much fun for those riding from Vail.

At the peak, Jeff turned back while Peter and I coasted into Vail and then Minturn.

There were a couple tough road climbs between Minturn and Leadville, one of which was the Tennesee Pass.  It rain on us briefly, but we soldiered on to Leadville.

We briefly loaded up on water before heading back to Copper.  Going up and over Fremont Pass was a major pain.  The wind and occasional rain didn’t make it anymore pleasant.  But, once at the top it was basically a long coast into Copper and Frisco.

In the end we’d ridden 95 miles and climbed three Colorado mountain passes.  Not bad.

It’s not everyday a major Detroit newspaper covers ultra-running.  With this past weekend’s Dances with Dirt race on tap, the Detroit Free Press ran a nice introductory piece.

A special kudos for covering Bill Moyer.  Bill and Jan are a huge part of the Leadville 100 family.  I met Bill at the medical checkin for my first race at Leadville.  Bill started some small talk asking where I was from.

“I’m from Michigan.”

“Where in Michigan?”

“The Detroit area.”

“Where in the Detroit area?”

“Royal Oak.”

As it turned out, Bill was from Berkley and lived just a couple miles from me.

You’ve probably met or at least seen Bill.  He’s one of the areas more prolific volunteers for running events, and for that we owe him some great appreciation.

Looking thrilled just minutes before the start

You know you’re going to be in a death march when bad weather prevents you from driving the posted speed limit on the way to a race start.

Running 100 miles at high elevation in the Rockies is tough as it is. Driving through freezing rain with the occasional lightning hitting the nearby mountaintops makes it surreal.

Fortunately there was only an occasional drizzle in Downtown Leadville prior to the 4 AM start. And unlike the Leadville bike race, there was no jockeying for a good starting position among the 466 runners. Everyone basically stands around nervously making small talk and waiting for Race Promoter Ken Chlouber to fire the shotgun. (more…)

The 2008 Leadville Trail 100 race begins as the bikers head towards the mountains

This is the first year I’ve crewed at the Leadville bike race rather than bike it. Besides getting another perspective on the race, I also got a lot of race photos. Unfortunately I only got two photos of the now infamous David Wiens and Lance Armstrong battle.

Congratulations to all who raced, including Stani Bohac (first timer and finishing well under 9 hours!), Jim Janowicz, Jeff Tenniswood, Doug Cannell, Randy Guymer, Jenn Dice (IMBA), Garth Prosser, and Patrick Olson.

The race photos are on-line at http://www.allyeargear.com/gallery/2008-leadville100-bike

It’s official. Snow is now in the forecast for tomorrow’s Leadville Trail 100 running race.

Snow showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning…then rain showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Snow accumulation around 1 inch. Highs 45 to 53. Southwest winds up to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Because there will be a mix of snow and rain, it’s going to be very tough keeping my clothing dry, especially critical items like gloves.

Also, racing in cold weather makes me want food with higher fat content. Typically I would do this race with just Hammer Gel and a protein-supplement. Now I plan on having raw cookie dough on hand.

The Race Medical check in is underway now. The race starts with an early morning shotgun blast at 4 AM.