(the following article submitted by woman racer “KC Holley”)
“My husband, Chris, and I did our second Leadville 100 Race Across the Sky. We did well last year, but hoped to make some improvements based on our experience. Our friends, Karl and Brad, also got in so we travelled with them. Brad has done it twice including last year when we did it. Karl did it in 2000 when it rained and snowed. We all live in the Salt Lake City area and arrived in Leadville on Thursday night after an uneventful commute.
Friday was filled with the usual pre-race festivities. There was the medical check-in. It is actually just a quick medical question, “Are you taking any medication?” “No.” “Here is your bracelet. Wear it through awards.” Next is schwag pick-up—t-shirt, bag, numbers, poster. We returned to the hotel to start the drop bag strategizing and packing.
Then there is the pre-race meeting. This is more like a pep rally according to Karl’s interpretation. Ken Choubler tells you that you are better than you think you are. Then the race doctor asks us not to succumb to “Testosterone Toxicity”. Interestingly, women are just as susceptible to this as men. Don’t overdo the ibuprofen because it can lead to dehydration. And lastly, welcome to the Leadville family. No pep talk from Lance this year. Dave Wiens was there though and said a few words. We got our picture taken with him before he said his spiel. What a nice guy.
We usually go for a quick hour or so ride just to get the legs spinning. We like to head up Powerline to see how ridable it is. It was not bad, but it is always easier when you don’t have 70 miles under you beforehand. The clouds started to clear a bit and the sun came out. It was a good sign.
Then we finished packing our drop bags. I went back and forth between a Camelbak or bottles. I wanted to keep a rain jacket with me at all times just in case. I got drenched last year and did not want to go through that again. The weather report was calling for chances of rain. I finally decided that the temps would probably be cool enough to keep my vest, which has pockets, on all day. With six pockets between my vest and jersey everything would fit. (My small Gary Fisher Superfly frame only fits one water bottled so I had to have room in a pocket for a bottle, tools, tubes, food, and rain gear.)
We got everything packed and dropped off on the way to the spaghetti dinner. This is always really fun. There is good food and great conversation with friends mixed with the anxiety of the next day. There is always a large contingency of riders from our area. We talked race goals. A friend of ours said that Chris would finish under eight hours and I would be sub-nine. This aligned somewhat with what Chris had been hoping. That would mean cutting 27 minutes from my time last year. Chris would need to shave off eight. I was uncertain, but hopeful.
Finally, it was back to the hotel for hopefully enough sleep to be prepared for the next day.
Race day. I did not sleep well at all. It seemed like forever before I fell asleep and there were periods of wakefulness throughout the night. That was the general consensus from everyone. Maybe it was just the room? Doubtful. That is pretty typical for the night before something big.
We got up at 4 am to start fueling and getting ready. There was a little bit of an early morning rain shower, but it was clear. Karl, Brad, and I had to leave early to try and get a decent start spot. (Chris was given a “Captain America” bracelet at check-in, so he had a reserved spot in the top 100.) The three of us arrived at 5:15 to a big cluster of bikes. We were as far back as last year and my intent was to have a better start position. Oh, well. After several trips to the bathroom, which is pretty standard, the race was about to start. I had no view of Lance even though I looked for him on each of my bathroom jaunts. Lance and Dave were not the only big names in attendance though. Tinker Jaurez and several of his Mona Vie/Cannondale teammates like Brian Alders, and Alex Grant were in attendance. Travis Brown, Max Taam, Manual Prada, and Matt Shriver were also in attendance.
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November 16th, 2009 by 
adam
