UltraRob's Adventures

In an interview on VeloNews, Lance Armstrong says he is bringing Levi Leipheimer to the Leadville 100 in August. He says the Tour de France and his other races are just a build up to Leadville. He says "seriously" and then he gives a big smile. This years race is August 15th.

He thinks with a strong group of racers they can bring the record down close to 6 hours. Dave Wiens set the record last year at 6:45 with Lance at 6:47. In 2007 Wiens set the old record of 6:58 with Floyd Landis pushing him. My personal record is 8:18.

Dave Wiens has won the last 6 years. He's a Colorado native and is a huge favorite of the racers and fans. I'm sure he'll come in top form and I hope he makes it win #7.

I'm sure I'll just get glimpse of the top riders on their way down as I start my crawl up the Columbine Climb. I'll be going to my 6th Leadville finish.

Related Links: Leadville 100 FAQ | Preliminary 2009 Leadville 100 Entrants | 2008 Wiens and Lance Leadville 100 Videos | 2007 Leadville 100 Photos

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Labels: Colorado, Dave Wiens, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100

Wyss has won the 2009 solo RAAM. He raced 3021 miles in a time of 8 days 5 hours 45 minutes. His average speed of 15.28 mph wasn't much slower than the record of 15.4 mph. Pete Penseyres set the speed record in 1986 and no one has been able to break it.

In a very disappointing end to the extremely close battle between Wyss and Robic the last couple days, Robic dropped out of RAAM with 54 miles to go. Here's what's posted on Robic's blog

Jure was the fastest cyclist on this years RAAM. On the last time check TS51, he came few minutes before Dani Wyss. Because of the penalties, issued controversially, because of the rules not aplied always in the same manner and because of not issuing penalties to others, Jure and his crew decided not to finish the race as 2nd, but step out of it on TS51.

Today it was written the history of RAAM. Jure and Dani staged the toughest fight ever and on the end the fastest didn't won.

Robic's 2 penalties on the road seemed legitimate. My RAAM update yesterday has more details on the penalty Robic received yesterday. The only thing I've found about the one at the start was that someone saw him urinate at the side of the stage and thought he might have gotten a penalty for it. I don't know for sure.

His crew claimed that Wyss ran a stop sign and didn't get a penalty. Of course when Mike Trevino was close to Robic in 2004, they accused him of cheating. Trevino actually stopped but finally was convinced to continue but never was close to Robic again.

Whether or not the penalties were fair, I think it's poor sportsmanship to just quit. Still no official word from RAAM so there may be more to the story.

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Labels: cycling, Jure Robic, RAAM, Race Across America, ultra cycling

Update: Wyss Wins, Robic Quits!

The last couple years, Jure Robic has dominated the Race Across America. Robic has won 4 out of the last 5 years.

Robic didn't win in 2006. That year Dani Wyss won. Robic was taken off the course by ambulance in Pagosa, CO with respiratory problems.

2006 was the year I raced and I remember RAAM legend, Danny Chew, telling me all I had to do to be one of the few to beat Robic was to finish. I ended up dropping out at the Mississippi due to a leg injury though.

This year Robic and Wyss are locked in battle. It was long been said that the race doesn't really start until the Mississippi. In the race from the Mississippi to the finish, Robic started with about an hour lead over Wyss.

Now 2500 miles into the race, Wyss has closed the gap and Robic and Wyss are trading the lead on the road. In reality Wyss has the lead. Robic has 1 hour of time penalties and Wyss has none.

Robic's latest time penalty was from taking the wrong route to time station 40. There was difference between the GPS file and the route book. RAAM rules state that the route book is the official route and GPS is only provided to assist crews.

If a racer goes off course, they must go back to where they went off course and continue riding the course. They can be shuttled back to that point by vehicle. Apparently it was quite a ways back to where Robic went off course and his crew chose to take a 30 minute penalty instead.

Robic wasn't the only one to have route issues yesterday. Earlier in the day, Wyss rode 9 miles off course before being taken back to the course. His crew estimated he lost 45 minutes from the route mistake.

With 500 miles left to race, both riders and their crews will have to manage their sleep breaks very carefully. Sleep too much and they could lose the race. Not sleep enough and they could crack and lose the race.

It seems that Wyss has been riding faster the last couple days but also taking longer sleep breaks. Maybe he's more rested. Robic though is known for not needint much sleep.

Dani Wyss' blog (Google translation) has interesting graphs comparing the average speeds between time stations 24 and 40.





The solo women's race is also close. Janet Christiansen and Daniela Figueiredo Genovesi are about 30 minutes apart a few miles past the Mississippi. The have a little over 900 miles left to race.

In the women's race, Christiansen has no penalties and Genovesi has 30 minutes so that extends Christiansen's lead. It does seem though that Genovesi has been riding better the last day so it'll be interesting to see how the race plays out.

Update: Wyss Wins, Robic Quits!

Related Links: RAAM FAQ | Robic's blog | Wyss' blog | Janet Christiansen's twitter

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Labels: cycling, Jure Robic, RAAM, Race Across America, ultra cycling

Race #4 of the 2009 CTS Sand Creek Series is tomorrow evening, June 24th. 1st race is at 4:45 PM and 2nd race is at 6 PM. Great training race and also great for watching. Check Sand Creek Sports site for all the details.

Check the race schedule for the dates of the next 3 races.

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Labels: Colorado Springs, mountain biking

What do you get when a bike shop owner also owns a tattoo shop? You get a Livestrong tattoo on the back of his calf.

Eddie of Rabbit Bike in Hill City, South Dakota said he broke too many Livestrong bracelets. Plus he said he intended it to be for life. He certainly is showing his commitment to the Livestrong cause.

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Labels: cycling

Solo Men start the Race Across America (RAAM) at noon PDT today. Solo women and men over 60 started yesterday. Relay teams will start on Saturday.

RAAM has been called the world's toughest sporting event. More people have summitted Mount Everest than have finished RAAM. In the movie Bicycle Dreams, Perry Stone says, "It's not a sporting event in a classic sense. It's more of sending a gladiator into a pit with a lion."

So what's so tough about this event? The competitors ride their bikes from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis. MD which is just over 3,000 miles. The time cut-off is 12 days. Some years the winner finishes in under 9 days. This is equivalent to riding the Tour de France 1.5 times in less than half the time.

For more about RAAM, read my Race Across America FAQ. Also go read my guest posts on Bike Crave and MissingSaddle.

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Labels: cycling, RAAM, Race Across America, ultra cycling