On July 17th, 2010 I raced the Leadville Colorado Silver Rush 50 mile Mountain Bike Race.  This is one of the most difficult bicycle races that I have ever done.  This race (more of a ride for me) starts at 9800 ft, and climbs up to 12,200 ft.  Then it stays between 10,000 ft and 12,000 feet from there.  It is 25 miles out, and 25 miles back.  I trained as much as possible around Reno, NV. where I could leave my house at 5200 ft, and climb up to 10,100 ft. at Mt. Rose Relay Ridge.  Then climb up and down around Relay Ridge and get in 50 miles, and over 8000 feet of climbing.

 

This training ride gave me all of my climbing in the first 32 miles, then was 18 miles of down hill all the way home.  So, I figured that this might be harder since all the climbing for this training ride was at the front of my ride.  The only thing I was not sure of was the high elevation of the Leadville Race.  So I rode my 50 mile training ride multiple times, and was finishing in 6 hrs and 45 minutes.  This included some single track, which Leadville did not have.  So I was hoping to finish the Leadville race around 6 hrs 30 minutes.  The Leadville race is 99% jeep road.  

 

So, how hard can that be?  Let me tell you, it was tough, and the altitude kicked my rear end.  When we showed up to the start line, it was a LeMond start.  Meaning that we all stand there and look up this old ski run.  When the gun goes off, we all (just under 600 starters) sprint strait up the 50 yard hill carrying or pushing our bikes.  Well almost all of us, I walked up.  Once up the hill, everyone is on this narrow jeep road.  I made up some time passing people here and there.  This section of the race is a 10 mile climb on jeep road.  The road is not all that steep, but there are a couple of steep and loose ridable sections.  Most of this 10 mile section is ridable, but when you have a total of 600 starters, it only takes one person to loose it, and everyone behind gets to walk.  So, there were a handful of sections that most of us got to walk just because of the traffic jams.  Once about 5 miles into the race, things started to open up, and I settled into "my" spot with about 15 - 20 other people.  At about the 9 mile mark, we were at about 11,800 ft with only 600 ft to go, and it was strait up, and loose.  I did not see one person riding.  Everyone was walking, and at 12,000 ft, everyone was walking slowly.  Once at the 12,200 ft mark, we dropped out on a nice wide and smooth jeep road descent.  It was fast, but tons of people pinch flatted. I must have seen 6 people fixing flats.  This does not sound like much, but I was in the top 1/3 rd of the group.  So, I am sure some people already fixed flats and were gone by the time I got there, and there were still 400 hundred people behind me.

 

Once down this jeep road, it was back to climbing again.  Here the climb was relatively easy, but still climbed to about 12,000 ft at the top.  Once near the top of this climb, there was a little short steep section of trail.  Completely ridable, so I slowed down to clear my muscles of lactic acid, and came up to the climb, then punched quickly to the top of this 15 yrd bump in the trail.  Once on top of this little bump that would not have been a problem at 10,000 ft. became a big problem at 12,000ft.  I suddenly became dizzy and nauseous.  So, I slowed way down, and got my senses back bout me, then charged the next downhill.  This downhill was relatively easy, and not that steep which was good for the return.  Now for the last climb.  Once at the bottom, this climb was very similar to the first 10 mile climb, but not as long.  As we climbed up, it was mostly climbable, until we got to the last 1/2 mile.  Then it was hike a bike to the top.  

 

What was most amazing was while I was gasping for air, feeling my ears bust out my eardrums again at about 12,000 ft, the first rider was already on his return ride.  This race is an out 25 miles, and back 25 miles.  So, here I am in the top 1/3 rd of riders, and here is the first rider already heading back home from the 25 mile mark.  At this point, I was about 3 miles from the turnaround point, which meant that this rider was 6 miles ahead of me.  This was just completely AMAZING!!!!  So I continued to hike a bike to the top of the ridge.  Once on top, there was the last 3 miles to the turn around point.  This downhill was loose and steep, and everyone coming up the trail for their return ride was walking.  Which meant I would be walking again on my return leg.  This was one of the hardest sections.  

 

The problem is that as we are all heading down to the turnaround point, everyone in front of us is coming up this loose steep climb.  So, as I am trying to pass people going down, I am also dodging people coming up.  With 3 people side by side on this trail, there is only about 2 inches on either side of my bars between the other riders.  So it is fairly dangerous, and you can't go as fast as you could by yourself.  Once down and at the turnaround point, it is all back.  So back up what I just came down, and back up to 12,000 ft from about 10,000ft, and the last 1/2 mile is all hike a bike again.  Once on top, there is again a long downhill, over baby head rocks.  You really have to stay awake for this whole ride.  Once down this downhill, you again head up the next.  Even though I remembered it to be a demanding downhill, the climb was fairly easy, and completely ridable.  Then back down another rocky, loose, and fairly technical downhill.  

 

Then back up the last climb.  This climb is on a nice wide jeep road, and not technical at all, but it is back up to 12,200 ft.  Even though this is a gradual climb, it is relentless, and you are approaching the 40 mile mark with elevation.  As I climbed, it looked like I should have been able to climb much faster.  Not that steep, but after 35 miles, this was a tough climb.  I can't even remember how many people I passed that were walking.  Then you come around the last bend, and there is your last 10 miles, most of which is down hill.  So, you start down what you had to walk up.  This section is again loose, and rocky, and you really have to stay awake after 40 miles at altitude.  That was the toughest part.  So for this section, I kept the pace down just a little bit to be safe.  

 

Once through the most technical section, I was able to let it go, and again, I can't tell you how many people I passed on this down hill section.  There are a couple of small rollers, but they take their toll on you.  Then you continue to wind your ways through the trees, and down towards Leadville, then just for fun, they throw in one last hike a bike section up a short loose steep climb.  When I hit this section, all I could think was how much I hated them for this last climb.  Once on top, it was just it was a very short and quick drop to the finish line.

 

This was one of the hardest races I have ever been in.  Even racing Cat 2, there was only one other race that even came close.  Because of the altitude, this race became much harder than it would have been at a lower altitude.  The altitude just draws from you, and over that many miles, you really have to be make it a constant effort to stay awake and alert.  It is very easy to get hurt in this ride.  I saw one person roll his front wheel on one of the baby head rocks, and crash at a high rate of speed.  He hit the ground, then hit a tree.  It appeared that he suffered a broken arm, and possibly 2 broken ribs.  So again, this race demands constant attention, and constant respect.  You have to stay awake, and I almost broke into tears when I finished.  I have never been happier to see a finish line.  It was one of my most memorable finishes.

 

 I raced on a Yeti ASR Carbon 5 with 5 inches of travel.  This bike was a perfect choice for this ride.  It climbs like a cross country bike, and with 5 inches of travel, it descends like an all mountain bike.  It was a great choice.  

 

I finished in 6 hours 17 minutes, and finished 197th out of 600 starters.  I will be posting a handful of pictures to Flicker soon.