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2010 Leadville 100 Photos

August 16th, 2010

David from 303Cycling was at the bottom of Powerline outbound Saturday during the Leadville 100. He got the great shot above of me. He took over 1100 pictures and has them organized them by bib number. You can check out the rest of his great Leadville 100 photos here. You can purchase them for very reasonable prices.

Rob O’Dea is a pro photographer that was on a moto shooting photos. He has an album of the leaders posted. He expects to have photos of many of the other racers online by Wednesday at the latest. He takes incredible photos but in the past he’s been fairly pricey. I guess compared to the cost of doing the race, his photos aren’t that much.

I also posted a few Leadville 100 photos on Saturday.

– UltraRob

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2010 Leadville 100

August 14th, 2010

Levi Leipheimer set a new course record for the Leadville 100 today. He finished in 6:16:37 to break Lance Armstrong’s record from last year of 6:28.

Official Results for Top 5 Overall :

1. Levi Leipheimer – 6:16:37.2
2. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski – 6:25:21.4
3. Todd Wells – 6:30:31.1
4. Dave Wiens – 6:33:54.1
5. Jeremiah Bishop – 6:33:54.4

Complete Results

I had doubts that I was in good enough shape this year to make the 12 hour time cut-off but at the 30 mile mark I was on pace to be a little under 12 hours. A few miles later my asthma started flaring up. I kept going for a little ways but by mile 46 on the Columbine Mine climb it was painful for me to breathe even though I had stopped several times to use my inhaler. I ended turning back down the hill instead of going to the top.

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Falcon Trail 100k Results

August 2nd, 2010

OutThereColorado Photo

The Falcon Trail 100k mountain bike race was yesterday at the Air Force Academy as part of the Rocky Mountain State Games. I had decided to not race it but planned on going and shooting some photos. Instead I was sick and didn’t move from the house. Pikes Peak Sports has a photo gallery and OutThereColorado has one too.

Below are the Falcon Trail 100k results. You can get the full results including the shorter races here.

Men 19-29

Place	Name	Time
1	Brady Kappius	04:55.5
2	Kalan Beisel	04:56.3
3	Walter Zitz	05:47.5
4	Adam Benston
5	Nate Clark
6	Benjamin Hess

Men 30-39

Place	Name	Time
1	Yuki Saito	05:10.0
2	Rob Sousa	05:22.4
3	Jon Bearden	05:40.1
4	Scott Sheehan	05:45.2
5	Jason Middlemiss	05:58.3
6	Ryan Kohler	06:08.2

Men 40-59

Place	Name
1	Scott Patterson
2	Brain Vitulli
3	David Johnson
4	Bob Catalano
5	Larry DeWitt
6	Devin Allen
7	Andrew Wacker
8	Steve Elder
9	David Meyer
10	Kevin Calin
11	Steven Malmberger

Men Single Speed

Place	Name	Time
1	Cameron Chambers	05:10.3

Women 30-39

Place	Name	Time
1	Tracy Thelen	06:32.4

Women 50-59

Place	Name	Time
1	Sharon McDowell	06:24.5

– UltraRob

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Leadville 100 Course Conditions

July 30th, 2010

Tuesday afternoon I drove up to Leadville and rode the first part of the Leadville 100 course. I rode from the start, up the St. Kevins climb and out to the pavement at Carter summit. I then rode back and took the Boulevard back into town like finishing on race day.

It had rained just before I got there so there were puddles of water and some mud. Other than being wet the course looked in normal condition. St. Kevins had some small gullies like it normally does.

Tuesday night I drove up to the Leadville mining district to sleep at altitude. I found a nice level spot to park the van at 11,700 feet with a view of the Leadville lights below and crawled into the back for some sleep. I think it was raining every time I woke up during the night. There was just a little drizzle when I got up in the morning but it was still very cloudy.

By the time I drove down to Twin Lakes and got ready to ride the Columbine Climb, the sun was starting to break through the clouds. With my lack of fitness and the extra weight I’m carrying, it was a slow, painful climb to the top. The sun came out nicely and I hung out at the top at the turn around for a little while enjoying the views.

The upper section has recently been smoothed out and is in the best condition I’ve ever seen it. Downpours in the next couple weeks could wash it out some but I still expect it’ll be in better than normal condition. Carmichael Training Systems posted a helmet cam video of the top of the Columbine descent from their camp last weekend.

I didn’t ride Powerline while I was there but Arlyn Asch posted a video of his recent ride of it. From the video, it looks like it’s in typical conditions with a few ruts to look out for. You can also read Arlyn’s write up of the rest of his Leadville 100 course preview.

I saw a few other mountain bikers training for the Leadville 100. I had some nice chats with them. I saw Brian from Pikes Peak Sports riding with his friend Wade who is racing. I blew by them descending Columbine and didn’t recognize Brian. I ended up seeing them again along US 24 and giving them a ride back to their cars.

– UltraRob

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Falcon Trail 100k Mountain Bike Race

July 19th, 2010

Falcon Trail at the Air Force Academy

The Rocky Mountain State Games is introducing a true endurance mountain bike race this year with the Falcon Trail 100k on August 1st. That’s 5 laps of the Falcon Trail at the Air Force Academy. According to their info that works out to be 63 miles. In addition there will be shorter races with 1 or 2 laps of the 12.6 mile course depending on category.

They will be running the course in the clockwise direction. The trail is mostly fast, fun singletrack with a few technical sections. This Google map with embedded photos shows the trail. Click on the photo images to get a bigger photo to pop up. This would be a great race for anyone considering doing the inaugural 24 Hours of Colorado Springs on the Falcon Trail in September.

I’m still undecided about whether to race it. It would be great training for the Leadville 100 which I’m in no shape to do. I plan on pre-riding the Leadville 100 course during that week so I might be too tired to race. It’s a fine line between pushing hard in training and over doing it.

Sand Creek Sports that puts on many of the great mountain bike races in the Pikes Peak Region is contracted to manage the race. The Sports Corp though handles registration and volunteers. I did hear from Andy at Sand Creek Sports and he says The Sports Corp is short on volunteers for the 100k. The info for volunteering is here.

– UltraRob

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24 Hours of eROCK Photos

June 6th, 2010

Here are a few of the photos I took yesterday at the 24 Hours of eROCK. If you want more to see more, check out my complete 24 hours or eROCK photo album. If you’re looking for results, they’re on this post.

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– UltraRob

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24 Hours of eROCK 2010

June 6th, 2010

Yesterday I rode up to the 24 Hours of eROCK and caught the last hour and a half of racing. It was a hot day for racing. Some of the past 24 Hours of eROCK, it got chilly during the night but riders told me it stayed fairly warm during the night.

For the first time, the course was run clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. A couple racers I talked to that have done it in the past thought that it made the course faster. Looking at the results, over half the class winners had more laps than last year so running in reverse is possibly faster.

I have several photos from late in the 24 Hours of eROCK in my photos section.

Here are the top results

2010 24 Hours of eRock Results

Solo Men

PowerQuip (Sean Raborn) – 32 laps – 264 miles
Andy Wenberg – 31 laps – 255 miles
Sports Garage – 27 laps – 222 miles
Feed the Machine – 25 laps – 206 miles
Huge – 24 laps – 198 miles
Feedchunkers – 20 laps – 16 miles
Team Mox – 20 laps – 165 miles
Natural Grocers PB XP Companies – 20 laps – 165 miles
Adam Shaw – 15 laps – 123 miles
Team Grinder – 13 laps – 107 miles
Pale Rider – 6 laps – 49 miles

Solo Women

Cathy Caramer – 29 laps – 239 miles
Kim Godfrey – 20 laps – 165 miles
Team Cuteness.com (Elizabeth Boese) – 18 laps – 148 miles
New World Sports – 18 laps – 148 miles
Teewinot Fitness – 16 laps – 132 miles
Crazy Enuff – 12 laps – 99 miles

2-3 Person Coed Results

Pactimo Racing – 38 laps – 313 miles
Crazy Kat – 36 laps – 297 miles
What the Heck Was I Thinking! – 32 laps – 264 miles
24 Hours in the Sage.com – 31 laps – 255 miles
Double Team Supreme – 29 laps – 239 miles
Big Cat – 25 laps – 206 miles
James Munago and Assoc – 24 laps – 198 miles

2-3 Person Male Results

Pactimo Racing – 44 laps – 363 miles
Cogsnob – 44 laps – 363 miles
Team Koobi 1 – 43 laps – 354 miles
Gluey Porch Treatments – 41 laps – 338 miles
Psycling Psychos – 39 laps – 321 miles

2-3 Person Female Results

Team Marin Flyers – 25 laps – 206 miles

4-5 Person Coed Results

Eric Short’s Team – 45 laps – 371 miles
The Big Revolutions – 41 laps – 338 miles
The Lone Strangers – 40 laps – 330 miles
DST #2 – 39 laps – 321 miles
Compensating For Benefits – 39 laps – 321 miles

4-5 Person Male Results

No Dope – 43 laps – 354 miles
The Dude Squad – 42 laps – 346 miles
DST – 42 laps – 346 miles
Last Lap – 42 laps – 346 miles
Moose Knuckle – 40 laps – 330 miles

6-8 Person Coed Results

Monumentally Afflicted – 44 laps – 363 miles
We’re Not Welsh – 41 laps – 338 miles
Blazzin’ Saddles – 41 laps – 338 miles
Bisonics – 40 laps – 330 miles
Nervana Dons and Donnas – 40 laps – 330 miles

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Felony Charge for Racing Leadville 100 Without Entry

May 10th, 2010

The Leadville 100 mountain bike race has long made it clear that entries are non-refundable and non-transferable. It’s one of a very few races where I’ve had to show my ID to pick up my race packet. Now race organizer, Ken Clouber, has made it clear just how seriously he takes racing with another person’s entry.

Last year Katie Brazelton was injured and unable to race. Rather than just lose her entry, she gave her entry to her friend Wendy Lyall. I’m not sure how that worked because of the required photo ID check. My guess is that Katie picked up the race packet herself.

During race check-in though they put on a bright green band that must be worn during the race and still be on to pick up awards. Although you have to give your race number to check in the morning of the race, they haven’t checked for my band. During the race I can’t tell that they look for the band so it may have not been noticed if Wendy wasn’t wearing one. In the photo with the Denver Post article there’s something green on her left wrist but it’s not clear enough to tell if it’s the required band.

The switch off may have gone unnoticed but Wendy finished in 9:53:27. That was fast enough to put her in 2nd place in the 40-49 age group even though she was 36. Ken Chlouber received an anonymous tip that it might not have been Katie Brazelton racing.

According to the Denver Post article Rachel Farrett, who finished 3rd didn’t recognize the woman who picked up the prize from the race the day before. Farrett remembers the woman who passed her on the race course had blond hair. The woman who accepted the trophy did not.

After being contacted by Ken and Lake County Sheriff Ed Holte, the women returned the belt buckle, pendant and necklace. Ken didn’t think that was enough since the true 2nd and 3rd place finishers didn’t get to enjoy their accomplishment. He also banned both women from ever competing in the Leadville 100 and now Katie and Wendy have been charged with criminal impersonation, a Class 6 felony.

I think using someone else’s entry is a serious thing and it was much worse in this case because Wendy finished 2nd in an older age group. I’m not sure that USA Cycling has anything in the rules to deal with something like this other than suspending them from other races.

Filling felony charges does seem to be going a bit far. I’ve heard the race received well over 10,000 entries for this year’s race. Last year there were 1,400 entries accepted but I haven’t seen the number for this year yet but I hope it’s not higher. Maybe this case is more about deterring the thousands that didn’t make it in the race lottery from lining up on race day with Lance Armstrong than it is about 2 women from last year’s race.

– UltraRob

Update 5/13/10: More On Leadville 100 Felony Charges

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