UltraRob's Adventures

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.

Related Links: Leadville 100 MTB FAQ | 2007 Leadville 100 MTB pictures | 2006 Leadville 100 MTB pictures | Views from the Top of the Columbine Climb

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Labels: Colorado, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Greg LeMond spoke at a fundraiser at the Air Force Academy last night. It was only $15 for USA Cycling members. I was considering going but with everything else I have going on I decided not to.

Did anyone else go? The only thing I've found about it was an opinion column in The Gazette.

I used to be a big fan of LeMond. When he was winning the Tour de France, was when I was really getting into cycling. I dreamed of becoming like him.

The last few years, LeMond seems to have become bitter. He's squabbled with Lance Armstrong and accused him of doping. He accused Floyd Landis of doping. LeMond tries making it sound like he won everything clean. Cycling has a long history of doping even much farther back than LeMond. I'd like to think he won clean just like I'd like to think Armstrong and Landis were clean. Unfortunately with all the doping scandals of the last few years, I don't think many if any top pros raced clean. There's also the fight between LeMond and Trek.

LeMond was in town training and checking out the velodrome for a possible hour record. I think it was 1991. My friend figured out he was staying at the Broadmoor hotel. He saw him leave on his bike mid morning one day. The next day we just happened to be casually riding around the hotel about the same time.

LeMond came out and headed out for a ride. He kept messing with his shoes and we caught up to him and never let on we knew who he was. After riding with him for to the edge of town, he explained that the he was going to use the motorcycle in front of us to do some motor pacing. He said he'd be going very fast and would be riding very close to the motorcycle. He asked us to not stay with him.

Later that day, we found him at the velodrome. After he was finished training, I was able to get a picture with him. I haven't seen it in a while. He also autographed my foam helmet. I still have the helmet in a box.

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Tour de France

Floyd Landis has announced he will be racing the 2008 National Ultra-Endurance MTB Series. The NUE consists of 8 100 mile mountain bike races. It starts with Cohutta 100 on April 19th and finishes with the Tahoe-Sierra 100 on September 6th.

This news created a big storm over at MTBR about letting a doper race. Others didn't mind him racing and support him. I still don't understand how he can race since at least some of these races are NORBA races. I believe pretty much all the top pros on the road are doping or at least have been. I'm all for the sport being cleaned up. Landis may very well have doped but the lab work was so sloppy that I have trouble with it being used.

The complete NUE schedule is:
April 19 - Cohutta 100, Tennessee
May 31 - Mohican MTB 100, Ohio
June 14 - Lumberjack 100, Michigan
July 19 - Breckenridge 100, Colorado
July 26 - Wilderness 101, Pennsylvania
August 16 - Fool’s Gold 100, Georgia
August 31 - Shenandoah Mountain 100, Virginia
September 6 - Tahoe-Sierra 100, California

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Labels: Floyd Landis, mountain biking, NUE Series

It seems that Lance Armstrong has turned his back on cycling. He has better things to do now. When asked about the Landis doping decision, he said

"I'd love to answer the question but unfortunately I'm out of that business. I'm here to fight cancer. I haven't looked online. I still love the bike and ride all the time but on the competitive side I'm just not engaged." Found via Biking Bis

I agree fighting cancer is more important than cycling but it gave him the platform to fight cancer. A lot of the LAF fund-raisers involve cycling. He isn't at the top end of competition but that's what partly feeds recreational cycling. He should use his champion status to help the sport but he's not.

He's not out of that business. He just doesn't want to answer the tough questions about the state the sport is in. Several of his teammates have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. He used a doctor that was associated with doping. I believe there are doping issues but as we've seen with the Landis case, the anti-doping bureaucracy is also corrupt. Cycling isn't the only sport with doping problems, other sports have them too.

Update: Lance has now made a comment on the Landis verdict.

"When you are giving someone the death penalty, which they essentially did, you cannot tolerate shoddy work, which they clearly did. I don't understand that type of rationale. I don't understand the verdict.

More about his comments at Biking Bis.

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong

The arbitration panel released their decision in the Floyd Landis doping case today. It ruled 2-1 against Landis. He can appeal the decision to Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

He will lose his Tour de France title and be banned from racing through January 29, 2009. USADA had wanted the 2 year suspension to start today. Landis had wanted it to start from when he was fired by Phonak last year. The arbitration panel ruled he had voluntarily agreed to not compete internationally on January 30, 2007 and used that as the start of the 2 years.

USADA has posted the decision. It's 84 pages and full of legalese and technical details of the testing. Although they agreed that the T/E testing was sloppy and didn't prove Landis doped, they ruled the more complicated IRMS was reliable. Christopher Campbell, the desenting arbitrator disagreed. Even the 2 arbitrators that ruled against Landis issued a warning that they had concerns about the French lab that did the testing. Trust but Verify has a few posts with more details of the ruling.

I'm not surprised by the ruling. Although I think doping is common in cycling and other sports, I think the anti-doping establishment is corrupt. They have rules that make it hard for one lab directory to point out errors made by another lab. The French lab leaked Landis's positive tests and have leaked other results. In the US you have to agree to arbitration to race. USADA chooses the acceptable arbitrators. Not surprisingly this case makes USADA 35-0 in cases brought to arbitration .

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Tour de France

The only thing I've been able to find on results for the Shenandoah Mountain 100 is the top three posted on MTBR. It has that Floyd Landis was 3rd.

1. Jeff Schalk (7:06)
2. Harlan Price (Don't know the exact time but it was about 5-10 min later)
3. Floyd Landis (Another 5-10 min after Harlan)

Update: TBV has posted a link to a SM100 report on CyclingNews. Jeff Schalk set a new course record of 7:06:13. Landis was 18:42 back. Chris Eatough DNF'd early with a mechanical but he still won the National Ultra Endurance MTB Series.

Sue Haywood set a new women's record in 8:12:36. Danielle Musto was 5th and ended up tied for the National Ultra Endurance MTB Series with Carrie Lowrey. Since the SM100 was the tie breaker, Lowrey won the series overall.

Related Links: Wiens Wins Leadville 100 #5 in Record Time, Landis 2nd

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Labels: Floyd Landis, mountain biking, Shenandoah Mountain 100

Floyd Landis is racing the Shenandoah Mountain 100 tomorrow. In a post on MTBR, someone, who has done both Leadville and Shenandoah, says Shenandoah is harder.

The Leadville 100 is jeep road and doesn't really have anything technical so it wouldn't be hard to have a tougher course. The other Colorado 100 milers all have tougher courses than Leadville. The Durango 100 is still looking for its first finisher under 9 hours compared to Dave Wiens breaking 7 this year at Leadville. In 2003, the first year the Durango 100 was held was the year I did 8:18 at Leadville. Durango was the next weekend so my legs weren't fully recovered. I did a 10:55 which was still good enough for 4th place. There were 66 starters and 15 finishers.

Even though the 24 Hours of Adrenlin Solo "Worlds" is also this weekend at Laguna Seca Raceway, a lot of the big name endurance mountain bike racers will be at Shenandoah. Chris Eatough and other big names versus Landis should be interesting. Bloggers Danielle and Harlan will be there.

In other Landis news, the arbitration ruling on his positive test from last year's Tour de France is expected later this month.

Related Links: Shenandoah Mountain 100 Results

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Labels: Chris Eatough, Floyd Landis, mountain biking, Shenandoah Mountain 100

I now have uploaded the Leadville 100 pictures for Powerline inbound and the finish. You can see the pictures from earlier in the race by going to 2007 Leadville 100 mountain bike picture page.

Related Links: Dave Wiens and Floyd Landis | 2007 Leadville 100 MTB Entrant List | 2006 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Lottery

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Labels: Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

I have added pictures from the bottom of the Columbine Climb outbound and inbound. I had already uploaded pictures from the start and from the Powerline outbound.

I still have pictures from the Powerline inbound and the finish to upload. When I get them uploaded there will be a link from the 2007 Leadville 100 mountain bike picture page.

Related Links: Dave Wiens and Floyd Landis | 2007 Leadville 100 MTB Entrant List | 2006 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Lottery

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Labels: Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

I have uploaded pictures of the Leadville 100 Pre-Race and Start and of the Powerline outbound. Since I have so many pictures, I'm breaking them up into the different places I was on the course. I will add more links to the 2007 Leadville 100 mountain bike picture page as I get time.

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Labels: Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

It's been a busy week and I haven't had much energy so I haven't written up more about the Leadville 100 yet. My sinuses have been painful for the last couple weeks. Yesterday I commuted by bike and every time I hit a bump I had pain shoot through my teeth. Today I went to the doctor and they did a CT scan. They said they've seen worse but I have a pretty bad sinus infection.

There are a lot of good blog entries, articles and pictures about last weeks Leadville 100 mountain bike race. I'll start with a few of them and keep adding to this post as I find them and have time. Feel free to add more links in the comments or send an e-mail to me and I'll add them to the list.

• Trust But Verify did a good article on Leadville with lots of links


• The Fat Cyclist wrote about his race in 4 parts. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, His Wife's Crewing Experience


• Great article on Mountain Flyer with great pictures of the action above timberline on the Columbine climb


• Heath had a couple posts about his Leadville Race. Post 1, Post 2


• Ed Rowell wrote about his DNF. I had ridden with him before the race to let him pick my brain about the race. He was very disappointed to not finish.


• Ibrahaim Wafula, the one legged Kenyan had chain problems and missed the cut-off at Twin Lakes


• Cycling News Article about Leadville


• Max Taam finished 4th in his first race over 25 miles. He's only 24 so hopefully we'll see more of him.


• The Drunk Cyclist has several Leadville pictures


• Good Article by the Vail Daily


• Glendora Mountain Road has a couple good posts with great pictures - Finish Line Update and Leadville Reflections

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Labels: Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Updated: Wiens won again in 2008 and Lance Armstrong was 2nd

Unofficial 2007 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Results

Dave Wiens and Floyd Landis Chat Before Their Big Face-Off

The pack rolls out at the 2007 Leadville 100

Dave Wiens Descending Powerline at the Leadville 100

Floyd Landis Descending Powerline at the Leadville 100

Dave Wiens at the Bottom of the Columbine Climb at the Leadville 100

Dave Wiens and Floyd Landis After Columbine Climb at the Leadville 100

Dave Wiens at Water Crossing at Bottom of the Powerline

Landis Thinks He Can Ride the Water Crossing at the Bottom of the Powerline

Landis Finds He Can't Ride the Water Crossing and is a Few Seconds Slower than Wiens

Dave Wiens Wins Leadville 100 in Record Time

Wiens' Time Was 6:58:46. I Was a Few Seconds Slow Taking the Picture

Landis Comes in 2nd at the Leadville 100

Landis' Time Was 7:00:30. I Was a Few Seconds Slow Taking the Picture

Landis Left More Than Just His Energy on the Course

Related Links: 2007 Leadville 100 MTB Pictures

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Labels: Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

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Labels: Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

The plan is for rider standings to be updated during the race. Go to the unofficial results page. You will be able to review results by aid station or a specific racer. The aid stations results will be uploaded in batches and may take a few hours to get updated so don't panic if one of your friends doesn't show up in the results for a while. The finish line results shouldn't take so long to get updated but could still be delayed for a while.

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Labels: Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

I drove to Leadville this afternoon and arrived at the 6th Street gym a little before 7. There were still a few people hanging out after the pasta feed but most people had already left. I did see "Piglet" who crewed for me at the Race Across America last year. He's doing the Leadville 100 for the 8th time. I also saw Ed and Tom who are Leadville newbies. Since they live in the Colorado Springs area and had seen some of my post on the LT100 Yahoo group they had wanted to get together and ask questions about the race. Several weeks ago we did an easy spin on the Santa Fe Trail at lunch time.

I spent the evening helping set up and network the computers for the timing people. They hang out in the cramped Lake County Assessors office at the court house. Once everyone's through an aid station the call the results in.

I haven't seen Floyd Landis but was told he is here. The timing people say if Lance is doing the race, it's a well kept secret because they haven't heard that he's here.

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Labels: Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Update: he didn't race in 2007 but Lance Armstrong has entered for 2008.

A few weeks ago I posted the reasons it seemed that Lance Armstrong was still going to race the Leadville 100 this year. A Bicycling article the next day basically confirmed it. Since then a post on the LT100Bike group said that someone that had ridden with Lance at RAGBRAI had asked him about the Leadville 100. According to the poster, Lance said he wasn't doing this year but he wants to race and win it next year.

Someone also posted a link to a VeloNews article. In it Mark Higgins, Armstrong's spokesperson, was quoted saying that Lance still has a scheduling conflict and won't be doing it this year. Joe Polk also posted today on MTBCast that he had talked to Ken Clouber this morning and Ken hasn't heard anything from Lance. Ken did confirm that he has Floyd Landis's race application

With him being here in town Thursday night, it really seemed like he was planning on racing. We're only a 2 1/2 hour drive away. It's possible he just doesn't want people to know he'll be there. That seems unlikely since there was a lot of publicity about him doing RAGBRAI and the New York Marathon. Ken should also have heard from him.

Related Links: Floyd Landis Sightings | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike 2006 pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Lottery | Leadville 100 MTB Entrant List

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking

I've been hearing rumors that Floyd Landis has been in Vail training for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race this weekend. Biking Bis reported that Landis rode the Copper Triangle on Saturday. It's a 78 mile road ride that goes over 3 passes and goes through both Vail and Leadville. Howard and the group he was with got pictures with him.

Someone posted to the LT100Bike group this morning that they had seen Landis yesterday above timberline on the Columbine climb. It seems like he's taking Leadville seriously. He'll need to have gotten a lot faster since Vail Teva Mountain games if he wants win. Dave Wiens was fast in May for the Kokopelli Trail Race and then endurance mountain bike specialist Nat Ross is also on the Leadville entrant list.

With Landis being at the Leadville 100, my friend says he's going to dress up like the devil at the Tour de France complete with a pitch fork. He'll be on some of the climbs and run along racers. He thinks I should dress like a chicken. I haven't found a chicken outfit though. Maybe it's because I haven't looked.

Chicken outfit or not, my current plan is to go up and spectate. The last 6 years I've either raced or crewed so it would be fun to be able to get around on the course and see more of the race. I haven't been up to Leadville yet this year and we own an old mining claim a few miles out of town that I should check on.

Related Links: Leadville 100 Mountain Bike 2006 pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Lottery | Leadville 100 MTB Entrant List

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Update: he didn't race in 2007 but Lance Armstrong has entered for 2008. In 2007 Landis finished 2nd.

As I posted a couple days ago, everything was pointing to Lance doing the Leadville 100 on August 11th. Yesterday Bicycling published an article that basically confirms it. I doubt Lance or Landis will be at the top form of the careers but it should still make for an interesting race. Hopefully it won't make things too crazy for crews to get between aid stations.

Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Update: Lance didn't race in 2007 but did in 2008. See videos of Lance and Dave Wiens.

There's no official word yet but everything points to Lance Armstrong racing the Leadville 100 mountain bike race on August 11th. In December he said he had a scheduling conflict and bailed on doing the race.

In April my doctor told me that a Leadville local had told him that Lance was doing the race on a new Trek bike. A little over a week ago he rode 45 miles of the Leadville 100 course with Chris Carmichael. From what I can tell, they started in Leadville and rode to the bottom of the Powerline or a little farther and then rode back.

Today someone posted to the Leadville 100 Yahoo group, that Lance was going to be here in Colorado Springs 2 days before the race for a charity event. I tracked down that he'll doing a fundraiser for Kids on Bikes at the Broadmoor Hotel the evening of August 9th after doing 2 kid's bike rides in the afternoon. The timing of the fundraiser here is perfect for him to be in Leadville for the race. We're less than a 3 hour drive away from Leadville.

Floyd Landis still says he's still racing the Leadville 100. Unless he's in a lot better shape than he was at the Vail Teva Mountain games he won't be a threat to Lance for the win. I have my doubts that Lance is in the kind of shape either to win over Dave Wiens but it seems we have a good chance at finding out.

Update: A Bicycling article says Lance is doing Leadville.

Related Links: Leadville 100 FAQ | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike 2006 pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Lottery | Leadville 100 MTB Entrant List

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Labels: Colorado Springs, cycling, Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Update: he didn't race in 2007 but Lance Armstrong has entered for 2008.

On July 1st, Lance Armstrong rode 45 miles of the Leadville 100 mountain bike course with his long time coach, Chris Carmichael. Carmichael says that Lance is looking fit and riding well off-road.

Lance bailed on doing the race and claimed he had a scheduling conflict just after Floyd Landis said he was also doing the race. A couple months ago my doctor said that he had heard Lance was still doing the Leadville 100. Here's what Carmichael had to say about it.

Of course, now that he’s ridden part of the course, everyone wants to know if he’s going to race the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race on August 11. I don’t know, yet. He liked what he saw and was impressed by how hard some of the climbs are, but his schedule is pretty packed. He originally had to cancel his plans to do Leadville because of a schedule conflict, and it remains to be seen whether he’d be able to squeeze it in somehow. I’ll keep you posted.

Related Links: 2007 Leadville 100 Entrant List | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike 2006 pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb

Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking

In an article in the Rocky Mountain News today, Floyd Landis says he still plans on racing the Leadville 100 mountain bike race on August 11th. He hopes to hopes to be better at Leadville than he did Teva Mountain Games earlier this month in Vail.

Ken Chlouber confirmed that he runs that race as a NORBA sanctioned event because of the insurance they provide. He says if Landis is suspended and can't race NORBA he'll drop NORBA and get insurance elsewhere. Now the question is, will Lance show up too?

Related Links: Leadville 100 Mountain Bike 2006 pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb | Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Lottery | Leadville 100 MTB Entrant List

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Update: he didn't race in 2007 but Lance Armstrong has entered for 2008.

In November Lance Armstrong said he was going to race the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race this year. Then in mid December Floyd Landis said he was also doing the Leadville 100. The end of December Lance claimed to have a scheduling conflict and wasn't going to be able to race the Leadville 100.

When the entrant list for this year's Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race was released in February, neither Floyd nor Lance were on the list. Floyd has the Leadville 100 logo on his blog. The April 16th VeloNews has an article about Floyd and it says he is still doing the Leadville 100.

Friday I went in to my doctor because my back was hurting from the SI join in my hip being locked up. He has a place in Leadville and goes up there quite a bit. The last time he was up there he was talking to his friend that lives there and is racing the Leadville 100 this year. His friend said that Lance is planning to race the Leadville 100 this year. Trek has some new bike that they want him to ride. My doctor didn't know what bike it is and whether it's one that's already available.

I still think it would be really cool if both Floyd and Lance would race this year. There's the issue of Floyd's doping case and I haven't been able to find anything anywhere else to confirm that Lance is planning to race. Also having two big names there could certainly impact the great atmosphere of the race.

Update: Lance didn't race but Floyd Landis finished 2nd

Related Links: 2007 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike pictures | 2006 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike pictures | Views from the Top of Columbine Climb

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Image of a Champion Lance Armstrong Photos by Graham Watson Price: $34.99

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Word from the local Bicycle Village is that Floyd Landis will be having a Town Hall Q&A sometime in May. The date is still being worked out. My guess is it'll be similar to the one they did at their Westminster store.

By the way, the Leadville 100 logo is on Floyd's blog even though he isn't on the entrant list.

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Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, Tour de France

The list of people that made it through the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike lottery has been posted on the Leadville 100 website. The only problem is it's an Excel file embeded into the web page. If you don't have Excel or something that can read Excel files, you can't view it. Even if you have Excel you'll probably get a security warning. I've converted the entrant list and put it on my website so it's a regular web page.

There are 927 racers on the list. I think that is about 100 more than they've let in the last couple years. The interesting thing is that Floyd Landis isn't on the list. Are they reserving a spot for him if his doping charges are cleared up or is he not in? It does say the list is preliminary.

Ingrid on the Yahoo LT100 Bike group went through and figured out how many got in from each state, their ages and gender. The youngest is 22 and the oldest is 71. 808 men are entered and 119 are women. 38.66% of women are between 40-45 and 24% of the men are 40-45. See her post if you want the detailed stats.

Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

There's only a week left to get into the lottery for this year's Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. I've decided not to try to get in since I haven't figured out what I'm doing this year. Even before I got injured, I was really out of shape and had gained 25 pounds since RAAM. I hope to be in race shape before the Leadville 100 but there's plenty of other races I want to do that don't require me to put in money on the line until shortly before the race. I plan to do Leadville again in the future but this year doesn't seem the right year.

If you want to get in your entry must be received not just mailed by January 31st. Exactly how the lottery works is a bit of a mystery but over the years I've learned some things about it. Some racers automatically get in. I've known that the few racers that have raced every year get in. Also those that are super-human or crazy enough to also do the run get in. Ken Clouber, the race promoter, always says you get preferential treatment the following year if you volunteer for one of the races. Everybody I've talked to that has volunteered had gotten in the next year.

I've also heard that if you've not been picked for 2 years in a row that you'll get in the next year if you try. I didn't get in the first 2 years I tried. The first time was the year before they started the lottery. I also volunteered the 2nd year I didn't get in so the fact I got in the third year probably doesn't prove that theory.

Now with all the attention the Leadville 100 has gotten because of Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis, I've learned a couple more things. In an article in the Herald Democrat on January 4th, Ken says there's always been a lottery exemption for sponsored racers. He doesn't say what the definition of a sponsored racer is and I'm sure it doesn't include guys sponsored by their local bike shop. I think the sponsored athletes still have to have their entry in on time because I've heard that Dave Wiens didn't get to race the first year he wanted to but he tried getting in after the deadline.

He also says the defending champion is automatically in which only makes sense. Another sure way to get in is to move to Leadville because locals don't have to go through the lottery. Also those that have raced more than 5 years and are going for the 1,000 mile giant buckle. I had noticed that guys I know that have done Leadville several times always get back in so it was pretty obvious there was this exemption but I wasn't sure how many years were needed. I did it 4 years in a row but haven't done it the last couple years. It looks like that I will have to race one more year to automatically get in. Or is that 2 more since he said more than 5 years?

Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

I've been wondering whether Floyd Landis will be able to race the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike race if he doesn't win his fight against the doping charge from last year's Tour de France. Yesterday Ed posted on the Yahoo LT100Bike Group about his conversation with Ken, the Leadville 100 race organizer, when he dropped off his entry form. A portion of it is below and you can read the rest of the post here although I think you have to sign in.

I asked if he was concerned that NORBA wouldn't allow Landis to compete. Wrong question. I mean, really wrong question. I found out that Ken "doesn't give a flyin' f**k what NORBA thinks, it's his d**n race and if Landis wants to ride, he's in." (I guess the lottery thing isn't 100% for everybody huh?)

Then, and I quote, "And one more thing. If NORBA's supposed to be connected with USA cycling, then why the hell wasn't the people in charge of USA cycling standing by a USA cyclist who was being framed by the f****n' French? Bunch of pissant p**sies."

That was just for starters. Before long he really got going.

"What a bunch of crazy bulls**t—are they all out of their minds?
Sayin' that testosterone could make you win a d**n race. Hell, if that s**t worked, I'd have won ever d**n race I ever entered. I take a bath in that crap ever' single mornin'!" (That I don't doubt!)

I should have guessed that would be his attitude. After doing the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike race 4 times, the Silver Rush 3 times, crewing for the MTB race, and volunteering for the 100 mile run and the 10k, I've had a several interactions with him and don't find it hard to believe he'd say that.

Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking

A press release today confirms that Floyd Landis plans to race the Leadville 100 in 2007. It says that race directory Ken Chlouber invited him to do the race. I'm still not sure what will happen if his doping issues aren't cleared up by then since it is a NORBA sanctioned race.

My money is on Floyd Landis winning the race but I'm sure this will make Lance train harder. See my previous post about Lance's attempts at mountain biking in 1999 after his first Tour de France win. Although I don't consider Leadville to be technical, handling skills will still be a small factor. Landis started his career as a mountain biker and made the switch to the road in 1998. Armstrong has done a few races off-road and has better skills than most roadies but he won't be able to hang with Landis going down the Powerline or Columbine. Plus when was the last time Lance did something on his own? Even at the New York Marathon he had other runners to pace him.

Thanks to Biking Bis for tracking down the press release.

Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Leadville 100, mountain biking

Steve Siguaw, who is the moderator for the Leadville 100 list and helps maintain the Leadville 100 website, just posted that not only is Lance Armstrong planning to do the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race but Floyd Landis is too! He said Merilee confirmed it for both Lance and Floyd. I'm not sure what impact Floyd's doping problems will have since it is NORBA sanctioned.

As I posted when the Floyd's positive test was first leaked, I think most of the top pros dope. I still find it strange though that he would get caught for testosterone since it's well understood and has been used for doping for a long time. There also seems to have been a lot of sloppiness by the French lab.

Labels: cycling, Floyd Landis, Leadville 100, mountain biking