Team RadioShack has unveiled an early version of their jersey. What do you think of it? If you follow me on twitter, you know what I think.
– UltraRob
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Lance Armstrong’s Team RadioShack Jerseys
December 7th, 2009
Leadville 100 Movie – Race Across the Sky Review
October 23rd, 2009
Update 12/13/09: Release of the Race Across the Sky movie on DVD is planned for March 2010.
Last night was the showing of the Race Across the Sky which is about the 2009 Leadville 100 mountain bike race. The movie was sold out in many locations across the country. It was planned as a one night showing but because of it’s popularity, there is going to be an encore on November 12th, 2009.
There were 1400 racers entered in the Leadville 100 mountain bike race with some racers taking over 12 hours to finish. That makes for lots of interesting stories to be condensed down to about an hour and a half. Not surprisingly the focus of the movie was on Lance Armstrong, Dave Wiens and a few of the other top racers.
In typical Dave Wiens style, he thanked the volunteers at the top of the Columbine Climb as he went by. It was entertaining to watch Lance Armstrong trying to fix his flat late in the race. In the short panel discussion shown before and after the race, he admits he can’t fix a flat to save his life. At the finish line, Dave Wiens said, “Last year Lance was just off the couch, this year he was just off the Tour de France.”
Although the movie focused on the leaders, there were shots of average riders throughout the movie. Riders farther back were shown suffering as they pushed their bikes up the Columbine climb. There was an emotional scene as riders that were too slow missed the time cut-off at the Twin Lakes aid station and were forced to stop racing.
The emotional and inspirational story of Roxanne Hall was highlighted. Last year she was hit by a car while training for the Leadville 100. Her back was broken in several places and she had many other life threatening injuries. Not only did she fight back from her injuries but she raced this year.
Grace Ragland chatted briefly as she hike-a-biked up the Columbine Climb. She was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago if I remember correctly.
I saw about a a dozen racers that I know. One was Ricky McDonald. He’s one of a handful of racers that have finished the Leadville 100 MTB all 16 years. We used to race shorter NORBA races together back in the ’90s. He’s still riding the same bike and riding in his Team Huffy Fred shirt.
Overall I thought the movie was great. It gives family and friends a glimpse into our experience that we have when we race it. Sure it doesn’t give the full feeling of being there racing or crewing but it would be impossible to portray it all in a movie.
There were some complaints about the video and audio quality and the soundtrack on the Yahoo Leadville 100 list. I thought the video was plenty good although there were some water drops on the lens a couple times and occasional video shaking on the rough roads. I’m not a good judge of music. It would have to be really terrible for it to bother me. There were also some complaints about focusing too much on the leaders.
Maybe I’m not enough of a movie critic, but I enjoyed the Race Across the Sky for what it was. My biggest complaint would be that it doesn’t show how steep and tough the climbs are. I was with a group of 16 people and I only heard talk about it being great and no complaints.
Don’t Go to the Encore If …
- You’re looking for a compelling story line
- You don’t want the movie to be about Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens
- You don’t like to hear Bob Roll’s wild descriptive phrases
- You want it to be about your Leadville 100 experience
- You expect Hollywood quality filming
If none of the above apply and you missed the movie last night, you should go see it on November 12th. Locations aren’t listed yet but check the Race Across the Sky encore info page soon for details.
– UltraRob
Related Links
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Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Movie Trailer
September 8th, 2009Update 9/25/09: Leadville 100 mountain bike movie tickets are now on sale
Last week Citizen Pictures posted the trailer for the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike movie they’re producing. It shows some of the awesome views you get during the race. Not that I notice much during the race but I know them well from training rides. Since they had a helicopter, they show a great bird’s eye view of the Columbine Climb.
The movie is to be in theaters next month. I haven’t found any info yet on when and where. I certainly hope it’ll be here but I’d drive to Denver to see it. I talked to them briefly the day before the race but didn’t get any more info than to keep checking the website.
I’ll post more info once I get it.
– UltraRob
Related Links
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Lance Armstrong Wins 2009 Leadville 100 Wiens 2nd
August 16th, 2009
The Leadville 100 mountain bike is a special race. Six of the last 8 years I’ve lined up early on a Saturday morning in August with hundreds of other mountain bikers. The 2 years I didn’t race myself, I was there to crew and spectate.
I finished the last 5 times I raced the Leadville 100. Some years I was fast and other years I was slow. This year I was in no shape to be fast but I thought I still had a good chance at finishing. Instead of finishing this year, I was sick from a stomach bug or something I ate the day before and dropped out after only 16 miles.
While I was having my issues near the back of the race, the lead group of riders was flying toward the Columbine Climb. It’s the longest climb of the race and tops out in thin air at 12,600 feet. Lance, taking a page out of his road racing, brought 4 late entries to help pace him to the bottom.
By the start of the climb only one rider was left with Lance. Six time winner Dave Wiens was just behind since he had made a quick stop at the Twin Lakes aid station which is just before the Columbine Climb. Lance was concerned about riding alone the rest of the way but was cold from the freezing rain so he went hard to warm up.
I arrived at the bottom of Columbine in plenty of time to see Lance come flying down. It was nearly 10 minutes before Wiens was down and another 7 minutes for 3rd place.
Next spot for spectating was the bottom of Powerline. Although the Powerline climb isn’t as long as Columbine, the very bottom is very steep and comes about mile 80 so it really hurts.
Between Lance being so fast and all the cars getting to the Powerline, I was still down close to the road and hadn’t gotten up to the steep part when he came through. It was amazing seeing a few hundred people lined up on the Powerline to see Lance. He said in some ways it was like the climbs in the Tour.
I was told, not surprisingly, that Lance rode up the steep part. I was on the steep part when Dave Wiens came through and he walked part of it. Very few people ride all of it and most that do don’t go any faster than those that are walking.
Rather than go from the Powerline to the finish line, I stopped just outside of town where the Boulevard comes out to the pavement. I knew there was a big crowd at the finish line and I’d probably not get any where close.
From the Powerline to the finish, Lance kept extending his lead. He got a leak in his rear tire a few miles out. He put air in it but it went flat again. He said he’s terrible at changing tires so he just kept riding.
Lance won in 6:28:50. This smashed the record of 6:45:45 that Dave Wiens set last year. Wiens came in for 2nd place with a time of 6:57:02
Wiens didn’t win but he said, “He’s Lance Armstrong. And he’s just off of the Tour,” Wiens said after the race. “Last year he was just off of the couch. That made it a pretty fair fight for he and I. This year I rode fantastic today. I’m happy.”
Lance said at the awards ceremony that he loves the race and plans to be back next year. I also plan to be next year and to finish for my 6th time.
I have some Leadville 100 photos uploaded. Superhuman magazine has once again created a great Leadville 100 video.
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Top Ten Reasons Dave Wiens Will Beat Lance Armstrong at the Leadville 100
August 13th, 2009
With Lance Armstrong fresh off his 3rd place at the Tour de France, lots of people think he’ll win easily over Dave Wiens at this year’s Leadville 100. I agree Lance seems in much better shape than last year. It also seems that finishing 2nd last year got under his skin so he’s motivated.
Dave Wiens has won the Leadville 100 six years in a row and holds the course record. He knows better than anyone how to race the Leadville 100. He has also been training hard this summer. I put together a fun list for MTBR of the top 10 reasons Dave Wiens will beat Lance Armstrong this Saturday.
10.) Twin Lakes is going to have its annual Coloradoans vs Texans tomato war a couple weeks early. It won’t go well for Lance.
9.) Dave won’t crash in the creek crossing at the bottom of Powerline like Lance did in a Winter Park race in 1999.
8.) Dave is from Colorado and not a transplant from Texas
7.) Dave has figured out how to use the electricity on Powerline to climb faster.
6.) The Tour de France wasn’t a good way to train for the Leadville 100
Go see the article on MTBR to see the rest of the top 10 reasons Dave Wiens will beat Lance Armstrong in the 2009 Leadville 100.
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Spectating the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race
August 12th, 2009
This Saturday morning well over a 1,000 mountain bikers will line up on 6th street in Leadville. It will still be dark and very chilly when they show up to secure their starting position for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race.
Many of the racers will be attempting to finish in under 9 hours to receive the coveted “big buckle”. Many more will be there just hoping to finish under the 12 hour cut-off. At the front will be a handful attempting to beat 7 time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.
Dave Wiens, 6 time Leadville 100 winner, has the best shot at beating Lance Armstrong. He accomplished it last year by just under 2 minutes. This year though Lance has been back racing in the Pro road peloton so I expect Wiens will have to ride faster to keep his winning streak alive. Tinker Juarez should also do well.
So with all the buzz from Lance racing the Leadville 100 for the 2nd time, you might be wondering how you can watch the Leadville 100. I don’t know of any race day TV coverage although Citizen Pictures is planning a television show. Update: Citizen Pictures created a movie, Race Across the Sky, that was shown in theaters instead of a TV show.
If you live close enough, you can view some great mountain bike racing and Colorado scenery. There are 3 good spots for watching the race. They are the Start/Finish, bottom of Powerline and on County Road 10. Another great place to watch would be at timberline on the Columbine Climb but the road is closed on race day since it’s the course.
I have a Leadville 100 course map that’ll give you an overview of the course. There are camera icons on it. Clicking on the icons will pop up a photo of that part of the course. It’s a live Google Map so you can zoom in and pan around.
Start/Finish
The Leadville 100 starts at the corner of 6th Street and Harrison Avenue. Harrison is also Highway 24 and the main route through Leadville. Harrison is closed the morning of the race. Near race time it’s hard to find parking within a few blocks.
The race starts at 6:30 AM. It’s interesting to hang out and see everyone getting ready. A little before the start, I recommend walking about 5 blocks down 6th Street so you’re up on a little hill and can see the racers stretched out for blocks when the start.
If Lance breaks 6 hours like he thinks is possible, he’ll be back to the finish a little before 12:30. I doubt it’ll be much before 1:00 but you never know. The largest number of finishers will probably be coming in around 4-5 PM. The last riders will be rolling across the line as late as 7:30 PM.
Here are slideshows of Leadville 100 pre-race and start and finish in 2008.
Bottom of Powerline
The bottom of Powerline is a flying descent on the way out and a brutal climb headed back toward the finish. There’s also a small creek crossing at the bottom that can be an entertaining spot to watch.
The Google Map above marks the dirt road that cuts back to the Powerline. The big cut running straight up the mountain is the Powerline. The paved road past the dirt road to the Powerline is closed race day because it’s part of the course. Park along the road before that and walk in. Pay attention and stay out of the way of the racers.
The lead riders should be coming down Powerline just before 8 AM and be heading back up around 11:15. The last riders inbound will be a little after 3:30 PM.
Here are slideshows of racers coming down Powerline and of them heading up Powerline.
County Road 10
County Road 10 is about 8 miles south of Leadville on US 24. It’s then almost 2 miles to the intersection of County Road 24A. This is where the racers will be coming off the new singletrack and onto the road.
I expect the lead riders will be through around 8:30 AM outbound and coming back around 10:45. Likely there will be a few racers still headed outbound when the leaders return. The last riders will be back through around 3:00 PM.
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Tour de France Insider Tweets
July 12th, 2009
Twitter has become popular in the last few months. Lance Armstrong has been using it for quite a while and tweeting regularly. This year there are several riders, crew and commentators tweeting from the Tour de France.
I decided this weekend to put a page together that updates with the latest Tour de France riders, staff and commentators tweets. I’m intentionally not getting twitter search results for #tdf because of the large number of tweets.
Bookmark the page and get the insiders view of the Tour de France. If you have suggestions on improving the page or other feedback, leave a comment below.
Below is a sample of some recent tweets. Go here for the latest tweets.
http://twitter.com/tourfrance Tour-Armstrong has rendezvous with Contador in the Alps (Reuters) http://ow.ly/15Hxip
lancearmstrong Oops, sorry. This is the video link. http://tinyurl.com/nmcn9o
lancearmstrong On the plane to Limoges. It’s about 120 degrees in here. Hotter than donut grease. Haha.
LeviLeipheimer The crowd on the Tourmalet was RIDICULOUS!! It was awesome! Thanks to everyone who journeyed their way up there
CadelOfficial http://twitpic.com/a4no4 – We’re looking after our young Matt Lloyd as best we can….
CadelOfficial I got mooned racing through Lourdes today…. Err….enlighten me…. is that special?
mickrogers Stage went much better today. Back felt 100% better than yesterday 🙂 On the way to the airport to catch the TdF charter plane
LizKreutz http://twitpic.com/a4aol – Holy crap! Descending Tourmalet with French TV (since they have a green sticker and can be in the middle of t …
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Will Lance and Leipheimer Crush Leadville 100 Record?
June 28th, 2009
In an interview on VeloNews, Lance Armstrong says he is bringing Levi Leipheimer to the Leadville 100 in August. He says the Tour de France and his other races are just a build up to Leadville. He says “seriously” and then he gives a big smile. This years race is August 15th.
He thinks with a strong group of racers they can bring the record down close to 6 hours. Dave Wiens set the record last year at 6:45 with Lance at 6:47. In 2007 Wiens set the old record of 6:58 with Floyd Landis pushing him. My personal record is 8:18.
Dave Wiens has won the last 6 years. He’s a Colorado native and is a huge favorite of the racers and fans. I’m sure he’ll come in top form and I hope he makes it win #7.
I’m sure I’ll just get glimpse of the top riders on their way down as I start my crawl up the Columbine Climb. I’ll be going to my 6th Leadville finish.
Related Links: Leadville 100 FAQ | Preliminary 2009 Leadville 100 Entrants | 2008 Wiens and Lance Leadville 100 Videos | 2007 Leadville 100 Photos
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Lance Armstrong Confirms Plan to Win 8th Tour de France
September 9th, 2008Today a video was posted on LiveStrong.com with Lance confirming he plans to come back and win an 8th Tour de France. The Vanity Fair article that VeloNews said was to announce his comeback has also been posted online.
In the Vanity Fair article he says he had an epiphany at the Leadville 100. Even before that he must have been thinking about a comeback because he had already asked to be put back in the out-of-competition testing pool.
The impetus to come back, he says, sprang upon him quite unexpectedly over the summer, in Colorado. Armstrong had an epiphany on August 9 after placing second at the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain-Bike Race—a 100-mile “Race Across the Sky,” which climbs to more than 14,000 feet. That ascent, cycling upward in a crosscurrent, tripped something primal in him. “It wasn’t a lightbulb going off,” he says, but a realization, combined with a gradual frustration “with the rhetoric coming out of the Tour de France. Not just the Tour on TV but the domestic press, the international press, the pace, the speeds at which participants rode. It’s not a secret. I mean, the pace was slow.
“Then Leadville, this kind of obscure bike race, totally kick-started my engine. For me it’s always been about the process.… The process of getting there is the best part. You start the season a little out of shape, a little heavy. You get in better shape. You lose some weight. I mean you’re just crafting this perfect program. For several weeks I [had] trained [for Leadville] and went riding by myself. Obviously beautiful territory and fresh air, just feeling fit, losing weight, getting strong—living a very healthy lifestyle. I thought, This might be fun to try again.”
One correction to that quote from the Vanity Fair article is that the high point of the Leadville 100 is 12,600 feet instead of over 14,000 feet. The 14,000 number was also in articles when it was announced he was racing at the Leadville 100. It could be referring to the cumulative climbing during the race. I think there’s about 13,000 feet of climbing but I’ve also heard numbers higher than 14,000.
The Vanity Fair article addresses the question of why he’s coming back. He says it’s all about increasing cancer awareness and funding. He will announce an international LIVESTRONG strategy on September 24th in New York City at the Clinton Global Initiative.
Those close to him at the Lance Armstrong Foundation also realize it’s a huge risk. Even if he wins the Tour, it may not be a big deal to a lot of people. If he doesn’t win, people may use that to say he doped in the past to win.
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Will Lance Armstrong Race in Tour de France Again?
September 8th, 2008
Update: Lance has confirmed he plans to win the Tour de France again.
Lance Armstrong may have raced in the Leadville 100 to test himself for something bigger. Today VeloNews published the rumor that Lance Armstrong may come out of retirement and race in the 2009 Tour de France.
My initial reaction when I saw the headline was that it had to be a joke. The article seems serious though. Although I can understand him missing competition, he went out at the top of his sport and I’m not sure what he has to gain by coming back. Doing something like the Leadville 100 allows him to compete but not be compared to when he was at the height of his career.
According to the article, he would race for Astana for no salary or bonuses. Interestingly Astana is sponsored by Trek and Johan Bruyneel is the team manager. He would have the same bike sponsor and team manager as in his 7 Tour wins.
In addition to the Tour de France, he may do
- Tour of California
- Paris-Nice
- Tour de Georgia
- Dauphine-Libere
Related Links: Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens Leadville Videos | Lance Armstrong’s Leadville 100 Bike | Leadville 100 MTB FAQ | 2007 Leadville 100 MTB pictures
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