Catching Up After Almost 2 Years! Pt. 1- Leadville

I thought I'd resume my blog but was truly surprised that almost 2 years had gone by since I'd written. The biggest surprise was that I didn't even do a ride report from Leadville. Quite a bit else has happened since then, including my search for a trail bike, Toyota announcing plans to move to a new North American HQ in Plano, Texas, my constant efforts to keep my back healthy, and lots of fun riding in between!

Leadville:
A bit anti-climatic to do a full blown ride report now, so I'll keep it fairly short. It was a great experience, especially since I was able to share it with good riding friends Charlie, Susan and Israel.

In this previous post I made it up to just before the race, so right to race day!

Here we are lining up way in the back because we're rookies.

Between the time it took to get to the start line, plus the backup on the St. Kevin's climb, we thought this probably cost us 15-20 minutes. No biggie for me, as I was just trying to finish, but that first cutoff can be tight. I think Susan made it by ~5 minutes, and I was just ahead of her! Here's a look at the mass of bodies at the start:

All I recall about the St. Kevin's climb was it was backed up pretty bad in spots, and I was practicing my track stands trying to avoid clipping out of my pedals. I just told myself to stay relaxed and conserve energy. Long day ahead!

Other memories:
I felt decent up the first few climbs then discovered how much of a road ride Leadville is. I recall not quite latching on with a group and regretting it when they disappeared out of sight. This happened a few other times throughout the day. I got into a group a couple times, other times I was road riding solo into a headwind, losing time and expending extra energy.

I remember the Powerline descent was pretty fun but a little sketchy, only because of the mass of people who were struggling with their descending skills. I latched onto a guy who was moving pretty fast, and the two of us picked our way past quite a few riders.

The Columbine climb was long and started out quite manageable, but when things got steep or loose, I was pretty much forced to walk because of how crowded the trail was around me. This was perfectly fine though. I would have walked much of it anyway. Some because it was just too steep or loose, some just to avoid spiking the intensity too much. I do recall feeling pretty happy reaching the top.

On the way back I remember getting tired climbing back up the lone singletrack trail. It didn't seem to be that bad of a climb, but I just felt like I hit a wall.

I remember more road riding and wind, then the Powerline climb. I was pretty darn tired by then, so it was just a nice hike. It was energizing to see all the volunteers at this point, and I did grab some Coke from them. Yum!

I don't remember much after this, except the descent around St. Kevin's had some fun parts, and this also meant I was getting close to the finish line. There was a climb back into town that I was dreading but wasn't so bad, then the finish, after 10 hours and 40 minutes!

Here are the stats on Strava:
Here's the group after the finish. Left to right: Israel, me, Charlie, and Susan:

And the famous buckle for finishing in under 12 hours:

Leadville was a really great experience. Definitely something I will look back at fondly for the rest of my life. Over 2 years have passed though, and I still don't feel any desire to do it again. One and done! I think if I had more confidence in my back and the ability to train more and harder, I might try to PR or even shoot for the 9 hour mark, but that doesn't seem possible right now.

I may do other endurance events though, and even other 100 milers. I'm hopeful I can keep my back healthy enough where I can train to the point of finishing more of these. I'd just be doing them for the fun and for new experiences though, so I think I'd pick some new ones with less road and more singletrack!