UltraRob's Adventures

Tomorrow I'll be doing the Silver Rush 50 mountain bike race in a desperate attempt to get some fitness for the Leadville 100. The Leadville 100 is only 3 weeks away and I've barely trained for it.

50 miles with 8,000 feet of climbing will hurt with my lack of fitness. No, it'll REALLY hurt but it should give my fitness a big jump. I'm guessing it'll take me a little over 6 hours.

Check twitter late in the afternoon to see how it went.

Yeti 575 Carbon Pro XTR Bike 2009 Price: $5880.00

Yeti ASR Carbon XTR Pro Bike 2009 Price: $6660.00

Yeti 575 Carbon Enduro Bike 2009 Price: $3430.00

Labels: Colorado, Leadville, mountain biking

Update: Check out race reports for the EastSide Epic from Chris and Marni.

Once again there will be a Winter Mountain Bike Race Series in Leadville this winter. There are 5 races in the series. The first race is on January 17th.

New this year will be a series champion. You must compete in at least 3 of the 5 races to be qualified. Top three finishes wins a Karate Monkey Frame!

Although some racers have nice snow bikes like the Surly Pugsley, a special snow bike isn't necessary. You can use your regular mountain bike with as wide of tires as will fit in the frame. Run low pressure in the tires. If the tires are wide enough, you may be able to run as low as 5 psi.

2009 Leadville Winter Mountain Bike Series Schedule

• The EastSide Epic - January 17th
• Tennessee Pass Night Jam - February 7th
• Golf Course Chaos - February 21st
• Mineral Belt Mayhem - March 7th
• Tennessee Pass Spring Fling- March 28th

Find more information on the series at Cloud City Wheelers.

Other Snow Bike Races Including Ones Much Tougher

• Arrowhead Ultra - MN - February 2
• The Frozen Hog - UT - February 7
• VaMoose 25 XC Winter Race - AK - February 8
• Susitna 100 (100 miles or 50k) - AK - February 14
• Iditarod Trail Invitational (350 or 1100 miles) - AK - March 1
• Moose Drewl XC Winter Race - AK - March 8

Surly Pugsley Fork Price: $116.00

Surly Pugsley Frameset Price: $575.00

Surly Pugsley Decal Set Price: $14.00

Labels: Leadville, mountain biking, snow biking

Courtesy Chris Plesko

Reminder: Today and tomorrow (Feb. 11th & 12th) you can help Jill for the Iditarod Trail Invitational race by using the cycling and outdoor gear search to buy gear. Click here for more info.

Although the Alaskans and the Minnesotans may have the long snow bike races, we also have snow bike racing. Saturday night was the 2nd race in the Leadville Snow Bike Series.

Congratulations to Chris Plesko for winning! Dave Nice also had a good race. Chris has a good race report and so does Dave.

Last Friday our local paper, The Gazette, had a good write up of the first race. It mentions Chris, who got 2nd in that race. It also had a picture of Dave in the print version but it's missing from the online version.

I keep thinking a should give snow bike racing a try. I used to ride all the time in the snow down here. It's a lot different here than what they're racing on up in the mountains.

I haven't been fit enough the last 2 winters to not be worried about injury myself. The winter before that I was focused on training for the Race Across America and I didn't want to spend the time to figure a bike set up out. I should make it a goal to do do the series next year. I think it would be a lot of fun and give me motivation to train.

Lake Cycling CXZ302 Winter Road Cycling Shoes Price: $269.99

Lake Cycling CX240C Winter Road Cycling Shoes Price: $279.99

Northwave Celsius J Winter Cycling Shoes Price: $199.99

Labels: Leadville, mountain biking, snow bike racing

The Leadville winter mountain bike series starts tomorrow. I keep thinking a should give some snow racing a try.

Jan. 26 The East Side Epic - a great race on fast snowpacked roads and snowmobile trails through the Historic Mining District.

Feb. 9 The Tennessee Pass Night Jam - Bring the lights for this exciting night race on Tennessee Pass Nordic Center's groomed ski trails.

March 1 Mineral Belt Mayhem - Come to Leadville for the first ever bike race on Lake County's Mineral Belt Trail. A 12 mile groomed bike/ski loop around town. Afterwards watch the ski-joring on Harrison Ave. Horses pulling skiers over 8ft jumps to a flat landing!

Register online at Active.com or email sterlingmudge@gmail.com for more info.

Lake Cycling MX140 Winter Mountain Bike Shoes Price: $188.99

Lake Cycling MXZ302 Winter Mountain Bike Shoes Price: $279.99

Columbia Winter Trek XTM Omni Tech Winter Boot Mens Price: $114.95

Labels: cycling, Leadville, mountain biking

Update: 2008 Leadville Winter Bike Series information is here.

Once again this year, Melanzana and Bicycle Haven are putting on a winter mountain bike race series in Leadville. There will be 3 races. The dates are January 27, February 10, and February 24. There's more info on a thread at MTBR.com.

Nearly every year I think of going and giving it a try but never have. It would be good practice if I ever decide to attempt the Iditarod Trail Invitational. I know a couple people that have done it. Several years ago I thought pretty seriously about doing it but I've gotten wimpy with cold in my old age. Actually it's because my winter gear is old and worn out and I've spent all my money on other things like RAAM. Of course Jill has said you can make do with whatever you have lying around so I guess I don't really have an excuse.

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NRS Uni Motion Pogies Price: $40.00

NRS Motion Mambas Pogies Price: $39.95

Labels: Leadville, mountain biking, snow racing