Leadville Race Week

Leadville Race Week

Our original plans were to leave after work on Monday August 10th, however, the anxiety got the best of me and I had us loaded up an on the road early Sunday afternoon!  My parents had just spent the previous week in Big Spring, TX where my dad was flying in the USHPA Hang Gliding National Championship, so we met them Sunday night in Amarillo for dinner.

My parents were exhausted from a long week so they stayed in Amarillo that night, while we pushed on another 3:00 hours to Raton, NM.  With three (3) kids in tow, its easier for us to drive at night while the kids sleep.

We were up early Monday morning and got on the road shortly after breakfast.  We made it to Buena Vista, CO in time for lunch and ate at Eddyline Brewing on South Main.  Buena Vista is located on the Arkansas River and is a hub for whitewater rafting and kayakers alike.  It was a very cool town and definitely one we hope to return to and spend more time.

 

We contacted the owner of our condo and he was kind enough to let us check in a day early so we forged on to Copper Mountain.  Being new to CO and the LT100, I must say that I couldn't imagine a more central location than Copper Mountain.  We were 5 minutes to Frisco, 15 minutes to Breckenridge, 20 minutes to Vail and 25 minutes to Leadville.  This allowed us to see as much of CO as we could during our stay.



We went to Breck on Tuesday to walk the streets, shop and ride the gondola up to Peak 8 where the kids got to play.  Breck was exactly what I imagined it to be.  The Breck Epic MTB race just finished the week prior and is a multi-day stage race which starts and finishes in Breck each day......hmmmmm.....sounds like something I may need to add to my list!

Wednesday we spent the day in Vail and all I can say is WOW!  Walking out of the parking garage at Vail Village it felt as though we walked onto a movie set...everything was perfectly manicured, the trees almost looked fake and it smelled like...money!

We walked the shops, had lunch, let the kids play and took a short mile hike up the mountain.  The irony of the day was that two (2) of my good friends from high school were also in Vail that day with their families, however, they were at Lionshead and despite a couple attempts, we were unable to meet up and see one another.

On Thursday, Kylie and my Mom went back to Breck to do some shopping while my Dad and I took the kids on the chair lift to the top of Copper Mountain and did a short hike and some bouldering.  Watching my girls in this setting was surreal as it literally took be back in time 25 years to when my Dad used to take me on his annual hang gliding trip to the mountains of Wyoming, Idaho and Utah.  On those trips, my Dad would always take one day off of flying and we would go hiking, climbing, bouldering, exploring, etc...which is when my affinity for mountains began. 


Single-track at Copper Mountain

In addition to Copper being centrally located, it also worked out as I was able to do my final taper rides right from the condo.  I took an easy ride to the top of Vail Pass on a paved bike path which parallels I-70 which gained 1,000' in elevation.  I also rode the MTB trails at Copper Mountain which put everything I've ridden in Texas to shame.

Friday was spent in Leadville for packet pickup and the pre-race meeting.  The most moving part of the meeting for me was when 4-time winner of the Leadville 100, Rebecca Rusch (aka Queen of Pain) gave a moving speech about "Purpose."  Sitting in the bleachers surrounded by my wife and parents with kids on my lap put my "purpose" into perspective. 

People often ask me why I do some of these crazy things and the reasons I list are many.  Selfishly, I want to see how hard and far I can push myself mentally and physically (ie. bend but don't break).  More importantly I do these things to try and inspire others to take chances and do things outside of their comfort zone.  I take a lot of pride in being a role model, not just for my kids, but also other members of my family, friends, coworkers, acquaintances and complete strangers I meet in passing.  If the story of my journey inspires just one person to get up off the couch then I accomplished my goal.  Additionally, I like to think that the training for these types of events help me become a better person as it forces me to deal with life challenges including time management, dedication, commitment, sacrifice, will power and temptation.

The pre-race meeting ran quite long as the race continues to grow every sponsor requires their 5 minutes of fame on stage.

After the meeting, we drove out to the Twin Lakes aid station to reserve the location where Kylie and my parents will set up my pit stop for the race.  Twin Lakes was already starting fill up so we picked a spot near the end of the line on the bend of a slight curve where I could easily spot them.

We then stopped back in Leadville to eat an early dinner at High Mountain Pies which I highly recommend.  We sat in the backyard which allowed the kids to run around and burn off some energy after a LONG day.  We beat much of the crowd and then devowered some pizza.

We made it back to Copper around 6:00 PM where we met one of my Mom's best friends, Jennifer, who now lives in Boulder and volunteered to watch the kids on Saturday.  What a Godsend to have people in your life willing to lend a hand as Kylie and my parents could not have handled all three (3) kids on race day in addition to catering to my needs.

As usual, I turned in early Friday night as I had a 4:00 AM wake up.  To this point, everything on our trip had gone as planned....all that was left to do was to ride my bike 104 miles and make my dreams come true!