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Tags: Colorado, Dave Wiens, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking
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Lance Armstrong Pre-Leadville 100 Videos

August 6th, 2008

Here are a couple videos of Lance Armstrong when he was at Leadville last week pre-riding part of the Leadville 100 course. When I got some parts at Colorado Cyclist on Saturday, I talked to a guy whose roommate had gone up with the Carmichael Training Sytems group to ride with Lance. He said Lance was looking fit.

The 2nd video is of Lance and a couple other guys starting up the Columbine Climb. I recognize the spot at the end where the dog is barking and it isn’t very far up. At that point you’re close to the lowest point on the course around 9,000 feet and from there you climb to the high point at 12,600 feet.

Update: Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens race videos

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New Tires for Leadville 100 MTB

August 4th, 2008

Since I haven’t been racing, I’ve just been riding with worn out tires on my mountain bike. Actually they’re more than worn out. They’re really worn out. I’ve had a couple times when the front tire started sliding out when I wasn’t cornering very hard.

With the Leadville 100 this weekend, it was time for some new rubber. I put a brand new Hutchinson Python tire on the rear. I had a new Gold Elite one lying around but I don’t think they’re available anymore. I also replaced the very worn front IRC Mythos tire with a new one.

This is the tire combination I’ve used on my previous 4 Leadville 100 finishes including the year I finished 17th in 8:18. I’ve been very happy with the setup. I figure it’s best not to change it now.

The Python has low rolling resistance and works well on the hard packed jeep roads. Some guys also run the Python on the front. I like the little more traction that the Mythos gives me and it seems to also roll well.

I’ve always liked to wear down the Mythos a little since the knobs were a little taller than needed for Leadville. When I put the slightly worn one on Sunday, I discovered it had dry rot. The new one has slightly different tread pattern and the knobs aren’t quite as tall. I think it’ll be at least as good as the old one.

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Tags: Colorado, Leadville 100, mountain biking
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Keeping Bike Washers Busy

August 3rd, 2008

As part of my preparations for the Leadville 100 this coming weekend, I kept my bike washers busy today. They got my bike all shiny and clean, at least as well as you can get a well used 9 year old bike.

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Will Lance Armstrong Show at the Leadville 100?

July 30th, 2008

Update: Lance finished 2nd in the 2008 Leadville 100. See videos of Lance and Dave Wiens at the Leadville 100.

In January Lance Armstrong did the Miles of Discomfort mountain bike race. He dropped out from cramps 43 miles into the 52 mile race. The word was that he was training for the the Leadville 100.

In March Biking Bis reported that Chris Carmichael, Lance’s long time coach, said Lance was planning to do the Leadville 100. Since then I haven’t been able to find anything about Lance doing the Leadville 100 until today.

Today Ken Chlouber announced that Lance has entered the Leadville 100. Early last year, it appeared there would be a battle between Lance and Floyd Landis. Soon after Landis announced he’d be racing, Lance said he had a scheduling conflict. In July Lance rode part of the course and it seemed he would be racing. In the end Lance didn’t show but Landis did race and finished 2nd to Dave Wiens.

Ricky, one of the very few that have finished every Leadville 100 MTB race, has posted on the Leadville 100 Yahoo group that Ken had also told him about Lance racing. Lance told Ken he wasn’t in that good of shape but thought he could still finish in the top 10. Of course he’ll have to actually show up.

I doubt we’ll see a race between Lance and Landis this year. Although Landis was going to be racing the National Ultra-Endurance Series this year, he hasn’t done any of them since CAS ruled against him in his 2006 Tour de France doping case.

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Tags: Colorado, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking
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How Mountain Biking is Like Going to the Eye Doctor

July 9th, 2008

I’ve worn glasses or contacts since I was in 4th grade. Without them I can’t even make out objects half-way across the room. I’ve had my eyes test many times by the eye doctor. Sometimes mountain biking is like going to the eye doctor.

When you go to the eye doctor, they ask you if you can see better with #1 or #2 as they flip lenses back and forth. There are times when mountain biking also offers choices. Below are 2 choices I had on one of my rides in the San Juan mountains which was on the Lost Trail Creek Trail. Which of the 2 ways looks like a better way to cross the creek, #1 or #2?

#1 has plenty of logs bobbing in the snow run-off. #2 has logs well above the water with a rope to hang on to but one of the logs has already cracked.

Below are 2 choices that I’ll have in another month at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. Go through the bushes and over a slippery plank or blast through the water.

Other times you have the choice of going for it or turning back. Some of my friends say I have poor judgment and don’t know when to turn back. Below is another picture from the Lost Trail Creek Trail. I tried finding a better place to cross but couldn’t find one. The water was mid-thigh and swift but I made it Ok.

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There’s Still Snow in the Mountains

July 2nd, 2008

With record snowfall in many parts of the Colorado mountains last winter, there’s still plenty of white stuff. In the San Juan mountains where I was camping and training for 4 days, they plow the main jeep roads in time for July 4th. The local towns depend on the tourism money from people four wheeling.

Normally they only have spots with 2-3 feet of snow to plow. This year they’re plowing out over 10 feet in places and the counties are running out of money. On one of my rides, I crossed the continental divide on a short part of the Colorado Trail. Even though it was over 12,000 feet there were only a few short sections where I had to walk through snow.

In a different part of the state, there were concerns that the Firecracker 50 course in Breckenridge would still have too much snow on it for the July 4th. The 2 times I’ve raced it there were no signs of snow. Just last week there were several feet of snow in Little French Gulch. I heard they hired a snow plow for some of the road and may also have done some hand shoveling. That work combined with hot weather for the last week has put the course in good shape for the race on Friday.

I won’t be racing the Firecracker this year. My fitness is still so poor that I think racing will do more harm than good. I’m still debating whether it would be helpful to do the Silver Rush 50 on July 19th. I really do want to do one race before the Leadville 100.

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Update on White Acres with Pictures

June 4th, 2008

Update 12/1/08: The city has decided not to buy White Acres for open space and it looks like development is moving forward. Development still isn’t approved so make your voice heard.

Update 12/8/08: Maybe development of White Acres is a bluff by the land development company to get the city to pay more. Even if it is, I think the city needs know people don’t want it developed.

The Friends of Red Rock Canyon have created a page with more information about the White Acres land. This is the land near Section 16 and Red Rocks Open Space that is for sale. A couple weeks ago, I went to the TOPS meeting to discuss buying it for open space.

The map they have shows how Red Rocks Open Space, Section 16 and White Acres fit together. The curved White Acres boundary on the east is the location of Gold Camp Road. The social trail that connects Red Rocks Open Space and Section 16 is about 2/3 of the way from Gold Camp Road to the Section 16 boundary on the north. It goes into Section 16 before the south boundary of White Acres.

Below are some more pictures of the area.

These pictures are from farther north in Red Rocks Open Space.

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Mountain Bike Racing Returns to Colorado Springs

May 26th, 2008

Sand Creek Sports is once again bringing mountain bike racing to Colorado Springs. They put on the popular Sand Creek Series from 1993 to 2002. There will be 3 races on Wednesday nights on the new Bear Creek Singletrack. The dates are June 4th, 11th and 18th. I’m very happy to see some local week night races again.

Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be at any of the races. The first one is the night before I leave to crew for
David Holt in the Race Across America. I think I’ll still be trying to get last minute things done before I leave. The other 2 will be while I’m gone.

There will be two different start times. The first group will be at 5 PM and the 2nd group at 6:15 PM. The first wave will be beginners, juniors except Expert/Sport men, and Clydesdales. The 2nd group will be Sport and Expert categories. See the entry form for additional information and exactly which categories are in each group.

There have been some concerns about the course being short and not having many places to pass. The course is 2.5 miles long which is a lot longer than the 0.8 mile Hell on the Hillside in Manitou which was my least favorite Sand Creek course. You could pass pretty much anywhere on the Hell on the Hillside but some of the Bear Creek trail is pretty narrow.

It’s a little hard to tell from the course map the exact course since in some places there are connecting trails that are pretty close. It does appear though that the course will climb up the section of trail I worked on last summer. If you try passing through the grass on that section, there’s plenty of cacti waiting for the chance to give you a flat. The good news is that at the start the wide multi-use trail will be used for part of the climb. The sections of trail on the north close to the dog park have more places on them for passing.

I raced most of the old Sand Creek Series races and they were always a good time. Most of those races were also on Wednesday nights with a few on the weekends. I finished 2nd in the series 3 years in a row in the Pro/Expert category. I just could never come up with the series win.

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TOPS Meeting on White Acres

May 22nd, 2008

I did make it to the TOPS Meeting yesterday for the presentation on the White Acres/Bethany Baptist Church parcel near Section 16 and Red Rock Canyon Open Space. The church is interested in selling the property. It seems there is a developer that is interested in developing about 25 lots plus town homes along Gold Camp road.

There was a short presentation that included pictures of the area. The TOPS committee has had some discussions about only purchasing the area along the hogback or ridge and allowing development along Gold Camp. Although I think the ridge is the most important piece, I really don’t want to see any development on that land.

If you don’t know where that land is, it is near the 5 way stop where 26th street drops into Bear Creek Canyon. It is the land along Gold Camp Road to the right if you’re headed into Bear Creek Canyon. It extends up and over the ridge. You can see a
map of the parcel on the county assessor’s parcel info.

The key thing about the property is there’s a trail that runs along the ridge that connects from the old landfill road to near the Section 16 parking lot. This allows for some bigger loops with trails in Red Rocks Open Space and the Section 16/Intemann Trails. There are some great views from there. The pictures I’ve added are from late in the day in November so the lighting isn’t very good.

There were only 5 people there including me to comment on the White Acres/Bethany Baptist Church parcel. All were in favor of it being purchased for open space. A couple said they thought some development was alright. I made it clear I didn’t want any development.

Jim Yount from Medicine Wheel asked if people could comment by e-mail since he hadn’t been able to notify people until yesterday. The committee said they would welcome email comments. They should be sent to Chris Lieber. Send me an email if you would like his email address.

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