Leadville Race Report

Leadville

Race Report by Brenton Hamilton

So here are the highlights of our trip to Leadville Colorado. I drive out and hook up with Kirsten, Dave Bostedt and a friend from Denver, Tom Ueberschaer. We arrive at Leadville Wednesday to allow time to acclimate before Saturday's (8/9) race. The town of Leadville is at 10,200 feet.

Kirsten has the bright idea of doing a small, hardly get the heart rate going kind of race at Steamboat Springs on Thurday evening so we drive the 3 hrs to do that race. It's an after work series with the races starting at 6 pm. Pretty good idea in the summer and it only cost $15 ($10 if you pre reg). Well it turns out to be a real workout - 4 miles steep climb to start, couple of miles tricky single track followed by a wicked downhill to finish. Finished 8 of 16 - could have done better but I backed off on the downhill not wanting to risk injury 2 days before Leadville.

Rich Henthorn arrives in Leadville Friday night to crew for me. Saturday morning arrives and we head down to the start line at around 5:30am. It was a balmy 50 degrees. Kirsten, Tom and I take off to the gun shot start at 6:30 with about 105 miles in front of us, 10,000 feet of elevation gain and 12 hrs to do it in.

I carried sufficient water and food so that I did not have to stop at the first aid station, Pipeline 1 (mile 26). I reach Twin Lakes (mile 40) right on 3 hrs and Rich and Dave go to work on the bike while I switch camelbaks, inhale a banana and down a slimfast. Now its off to Columbine, a 10 mile climb up to 12,600 feet. I felt better on this climb compared to last year even though the cramping in the thighs had come back to haunt me. I just kept thinking of the words of Ken the organizer - "make pain your friend and you will never be alone".

The last 2 miles of this climb are pretty much unrideable so it turns into a hike-a-bike to the top. I reached Columbine (mile 50) in a total time of roughly 4hrs 45 min.

Just 50 more miles to go. I'm back at Twin Lakes quickly and Rich and Dave do their thing. Next stop is Pipeline 2 (mile 76). Like clockwork, Rich is there and gets me on my way. The cramping never stopped but as long as I kept pedalling it was bearable. The climb back up Pipeline, at this point of the race, is probably tougher than Columbine and just seems to take forever. I reach the last aid station where I down a coke and 3 E-caps. On my way again - the rest is pretty much downhill!

About an hour later I see the Finish banner on 6th street. I cross the line in 9:43:08, 29 mins faster than last year. 46 of 207 in the 40 to 50 age group and 158th overall. Yeah I was pretty happy but I have never been so depleted after a race. It took me a good hour before I could get up off the grass and walk back to the hotel. To calibrate you, first place came in at 7:07. I was just that close! KMac finished in 11:03, 15 mins better than her previous best. Tom ended up getting 3 flats and still finished in a time of 10:45.

Special thanks to our crew Rich and Dave and to Tom's crew for their support throughout the race and at the finish line. We'll se ya all back there next year!

BHam

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