Leadville Trail 100: I'm In

About two weeks ago I got the email telling me I had a place through the Lottery. I paid $15 last year thinking if I get a place, cool if I don't, I don't. This year I was already planning to Colorado to visit family. So I am over the bloody Moon as you might be expected. It's not the best race in the World but if I'm in town I sure as hell would love to do it. Riders I know who have done it say it's good but the Alpine Odyssey 100 out of Crested Butte is a better one so I thought I'd do that as well.

With my entry done online the chances of getting in via the lotto were slim. I thought it would be great to try and qualify through the Alpine Odyssey 100 which was on last day of July in 2011. Unfortunately in 2012 they had moved it to mid September the very same day as the Montane Kielder 100 and I would be back in the UK for almost two weeks for sure.
Anyway I got a Leadville entry and I am super happy.

Map of the course (click to see full size)

 I've been training hard for the 24hrs of Exposure. I will have great endurance but if you have a look the Profile below the highest point of the race is at 12,612ft. Now I live at sea level. I've never stood on ground that high let alone ridden or race a bike that high.

Lucky for me I have some family (distant through marriage) that live at about 8,000ft. Ethan Passant who has finished the leadville in the top 4 in the past in 7:27:50 and was 3rd to the Mexican Border in the 2011 Tour Divide just happens to be married to my brother in law Thomas's sister. Well the nice chap via Facebook has kinda agree'd to give me a bit of a hand with my training. 12,600 ft for God's sake. This is going to be fun yeah?

Profile of the course (click to see full size)

So how do you train for a race that is at Altitude? One thing I have is a bit of time out there before the race. About 2 weeks. I will be staying near Boulder for most of it which is high enough itself I guess. One bike my Scott Scale 29er. I guess I will slap some road tyres on it and get out on the road a bit in the mountains.

Not only do I have to ride 100miles at Altitude I can't hang about. I don't know if it's a good thing but I will probably have a bus to wisk me off to Vegas straight after the race. I'm trying to get my Brother in Law Thomas to do the Leadville 10k run the following day so I don't have to rush away.

The Leadville is steeped in American MTB history I guess. It's been running since 1994 which was about when I got my 1st MTB and there have been some pretty famous chaps racing it. Floyd Landis came 2nd in 2007, Lance came 2nd in 2008  then won it in 2009, Levi Leipheimer won it in 2010 and Todd Wells last year. In fact last year it seems lots of the quicker American XC racers turned up. Under 8hrs used to get you in the top 20. Last year that was the top 80. Rebecca Rusch seems to be winning it a lot in the ladies race. One thing I've noticed or not noticed is many Brits doing it. Well there is one this year and he's a Welshman. I guess I better take a massive Welsh Flag with me.

But before this I have hundreds of miles of racing to do. But can I beat 8hrs at the Leadville 100?

Leadville 100 Website