After Lance Armstrong ran the New York Marathon, he made mentioned being interested in doing the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. There was some speculation on the LT100Bike Yahoo group but I don’t think very many thought he was serious. Bicycling has posted an article based on a question and answer session last week at the opening of his new Lance Armstrong 24 Hours Of Fitness in Austin, TX. It says that he has a bet with Chris Carmichael about doing it. There’s also an article on the Carmichael Training Systems website.

Before he can do the the Leadville 100, he’ll have to make the lottery. I doubt Ken and Merilee will just let him in for being a celebrity although they certainly give preferential treatment to volunteers and some others in the lottery. If he keeps talking about doing it, I’ll guess a lot more people will enter the lottery which will mean a reduced chance of getting in. If he really wants a challenge he should try the Durango 100 or Montezuma’s Revenge.

My first job out of college, I worked with a girl that thought Lance was the greatest. That was before he had cancer and I always told her how arrogant he was and I didn’t care that he could ride fast. She was dating Carmichael and probably could have figured out a way for me to meet him. She was to one of his birthday parties. Now she and Carmichael are married.

The only time I was close enough to talk to him I nearly made a complete fool of myself. It was in 1999 and I was finishing warming up for the Tipperary Creek MTB race near Winter Park. There was this guy in full Postal kit riding slow near the start finish area and messing with his shoes. He was in my way and wasn’t exactly riding a straight line. I just about said, “Why don’t you poser stay out of the way while you adjust your shoes.” Instead I just rode around him. Just after that I realized he was the real Lance.

There’s a pretty good creek crossing that is barely rideable when the water isn’t too high. That year the water was high. I think even if the creek bed had been smooth the current would have pushed anybody over that tried riding. My wife was standing there when Lance came through and he tried riding it. His bike got swept out from under him and he and the bike started going downstream. My wife had a camera but she wasn’t fast enough to get a picture. I was very disappointed that she didn’t. If I recall correctly, he finished 2nd in that race. I know he didn’t win.

He was training for the Mercury Tour the following weekend near Steamboat Springs. I’ve ridden the trails where the race was held. They are single track and a bit rocky but not what I’d call really technical. He crashed a couple times and dropped out. I think Dave Weins could beat him unless he’s mountain bike skills have improved and is really focused on training for it. A long mountain bike is really different than staying at a moderate intensity for most of a Tour stage and then going all out for the last 20 minutes for a mountain top finish. To do well in a mountain bike race you don’t have to have quite as much top end but you need to be able to sustain a really hard pace to the entire time.

Update: Lance wimped out of racing the Leadville 100.
See all my posts on the Leadville 100.