Friday night we camped with Pat at Turquoise Lake so that we could get the stuff we needed to crew for him for the Leadville 100. We had left the girls with my parents since Monday was our anniversary. Instead of hanging around to wait for Pat to finish, we bailed and went to the Ores and Mine B&B;.

The Leadville 100 mountain bike race actually goes right by the Ores and Mine B&B; as you drop down the paved road to cross Hwy 82 to get to the Twin Lakes Dam. I really like the upper end of the lakes much better. The lower end is rather open with lots of sage brush but the location was convenient for us. We also wanted to hike over to Interlaken on Sunday and the trailhead is just past where the tents are for the Twin Lakes aid station. The B&B; is run by John and Donna and they are a very nice couple. They took very good care of us while we were there and the rooms are very nice.

After we took a short nap, we decided to drive up to the Columbine Mine since Julie has never been up there. She’s always sat at the aid station without having any idea of what the Columbine climb is like. At the spot right at timberline where you go right to go up the steep road instead of going straight to get to the Gold Basin Mine, there is a small cabin to the right and if you go behind it you can see Twin Lakes. On the way up it was too cloudy to see and on our way down it was getting too dark to get pictures.

This picture is taken from close to where I think the new turn around must be and looking to the southeast. The cabin near the old turn around would be just to the right of the picture.

Picture from the same spot. The old cabin by the old turn around would be at the left edge of the picture.

Picture from the same spot and looking in the general direction of Leadville.

Picture from the same spot and looking back down to where the course comes by the creek near timberline.

The old cabin near the old turn around.

Looking to the southeast from the cabin at the old turn around.

Another shot looking back down the course toward timberline.

View from off the ridge to the right as you get to the top of the climb before curving off to the left. Hwy 82 runs up the valley just past Twin Lakes as it starts the climb to Independence Pass.

Another view from the ridge to the right. You can see the inlet to the upper Twin Lake and the Mt. Elbert Forebay. Off in the distance you can see Turquoise Lake.

Another view from the ridge to the right. Once again you can see the Mt. Elbert Forebay and Turquoise Lake.

Another view from the ridge to the right. Mt. Elbert, the highest point in the state, and you can also see the inlet to the upper Twin Lake.

Related Link:

• 2006 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Pictures

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Tomorrow is the Leadville Trail 100 MTB Race. It’s the 13th year the race has been held. As far as I know it’s the oldest 100 mile mountain bike race but maybe there’s some older ones out there I don’t know about. I’ve finished it 4 times and last year I crewed for it. This year I’m crewing for it again.

For me there are actually only 2 good reasons to do the race and several not to do the race. First the 2 reasons to do the race.

1. The people. Ken and Merilee go all out to make the race special for everybody there. The number of volunteers they get to come out and take care of before, during, and after the race is quite amazing. The volunteers do a huge part to make the race special and encourage all the racers. They spend all day handing out water and helping in every way they can. Then there are the racers themselves. For the most part everybody is friendly and will help other riders out.
2. Doing the Leadville 100 has a certain level of prestige to it. Lots of people that are non-cyclists know about it and have a lot of respect for someone who has finished it. In contrast when I say something about the Durango 100 that has another 5,000 feet of climbing and technical single track, people have no idea what I’m talking about. To give you some idea how much harder the Durango 100 is, the last couple years they’ve offered a $500 bonus to the first person to break under 9 hours in addition to the $500 first place prize. The Leadville 100 will likely have over the top 50 finish under 9 hours.

Now for the reasons not to do it in no particular order.

• You have to commit to it by the end of January because it’s a lottery to get in. If that’s the only race you’re doing for the year that may not be a big deal but if you’re doing a dozen other races you could be injured or burned out before August.
• It is one of the most expensive 100 mile mountain bike races.
• It’s an out and back course. That does give you the opportunity to count what place you’re in but coming down Columbine can be a bit of a pain. I actually find the riders going down to be more in the way than the ones going up because I generally am going much faster than the other guys also heading down.
• There’s no single track and very little of the jeep road is even technical

In spite of there being more reasons to not to it than I have for doing it, I think the good reasons to do it out weigh the ones to not do it as long as there isn’t something tougher the conflicts with it. I’m sure I’ll be back racing at Leadville sometime. In fact another reason to do it would be to get the giant 1000 mile buckle.

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