The 2010 Leadville 100 mountain bike entrant list has been posted. Once again they allowed more racers this year. There are 1557 entrants but I heard they received over 10,000 entries.

Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens are to be back. Other cycling stars such as Levi Leipheimer, Tinker Juarez, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Ned Overend and Rebecca Rusch are on the list.

A big change for this year is that only the top 100 from last year have their bib number the same as their finishing place the year before. In the past it was easy to look at others numbers and get a feel for how well you were doing.

It’s only 3 weeks until the Leadville 100 and only in the last couple weeks has my fitness gotten to the point that I have been able to get in good, long rides. I’ve been struggling with my weight the last few years and I’m even more overweight this year. It’s going to be tough for me to get a finish this year but I’ll line up and see what happens.

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Update 12/13/09: Release of the Race Across the Sky movie on DVD is planned for March 2010.

Last night was the showing of the Race Across the Sky which is about the 2009 Leadville 100 mountain bike race. The movie was sold out in many locations across the country. It was planned as a one night showing but because of it’s popularity, there is going to be an encore on November 12th, 2009.

There were 1400 racers entered in the Leadville 100 mountain bike race with some racers taking over 12 hours to finish. That makes for lots of interesting stories to be condensed down to about an hour and a half. Not surprisingly the focus of the movie was on Lance Armstrong, Dave Wiens and a few of the other top racers.

In typical Dave Wiens style, he thanked the volunteers at the top of the Columbine Climb as he went by. It was entertaining to watch Lance Armstrong trying to fix his flat late in the race. In the short panel discussion shown before and after the race, he admits he can’t fix a flat to save his life. At the finish line, Dave Wiens said, “Last year Lance was just off the couch, this year he was just off the Tour de France.”

Although the movie focused on the leaders, there were shots of average riders throughout the movie. Riders farther back were shown suffering as they pushed their bikes up the Columbine climb. There was an emotional scene as riders that were too slow missed the time cut-off at the Twin Lakes aid station and were forced to stop racing.

The emotional and inspirational story of Roxanne Hall was highlighted. Last year she was hit by a car while training for the Leadville 100. Her back was broken in several places and she had many other life threatening injuries. Not only did she fight back from her injuries but she raced this year.

Grace Ragland chatted briefly as she hike-a-biked up the Columbine Climb. She was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago if I remember correctly.

I saw about a a dozen racers that I know. One was Ricky McDonald. He’s one of a handful of racers that have finished the Leadville 100 MTB all 16 years. We used to race shorter NORBA races together back in the ’90s. He’s still riding the same bike and riding in his Team Huffy Fred shirt.

Overall I thought the movie was great. It gives family and friends a glimpse into our experience that we have when we race it. Sure it doesn’t give the full feeling of being there racing or crewing but it would be impossible to portray it all in a movie.

There were some complaints about the video and audio quality and the soundtrack on the Yahoo Leadville 100 list. I thought the video was plenty good although there were some water drops on the lens a couple times and occasional video shaking on the rough roads. I’m not a good judge of music. It would have to be really terrible for it to bother me. There were also some complaints about focusing too much on the leaders.

Maybe I’m not enough of a movie critic, but I enjoyed the Race Across the Sky for what it was. My biggest complaint would be that it doesn’t show how steep and tough the climbs are. I was with a group of 16 people and I only heard talk about it being great and no complaints.

Don’t Go to the Encore If …

• You’re looking for a compelling story line
• You don’t want the movie to be about Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens
• You don’t like to hear Bob Roll’s wild descriptive phrases
• You want it to be about your Leadville 100 experience
• You expect Hollywood quality filming

If none of the above apply and you missed the movie last night, you should go see it on November 12th. Locations aren’t listed yet but check the Race Across the Sky encore info page soon for details.

- UltraRob

Related Links

• Leadville 100 Mountain Bike FAQ
• 2009 Leadville 100 Photos
• Full 2009 Leadville 100 Results

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Update 9/25/09: Leadville 100 mountain bike movie tickets are now on sale

Last week Citizen Pictures posted the trailer for the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike movie they’re producing. It shows some of the awesome views you get during the race. Not that I notice much during the race but I know them well from training rides. Since they had a helicopter, they show a great bird’s eye view of the Columbine Climb.

The movie is to be in theaters next month. I haven’t found any info yet on when and where. I certainly hope it’ll be here but I’d drive to Denver to see it. I talked to them briefly the day before the race but didn’t get any more info than to keep checking the website.

I’ll post more info once I get it.

- UltraRob

Related Links

• Leadville 100 Mountain Bike FAQ
• 2009 Leadville 100 Photos
• Full 2009 Leadville 100 Results

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This Saturday morning well over a 1,000 mountain bikers will line up on 6th street in Leadville. It will still be dark and very chilly when they show up to secure their starting position for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race.

Many of the racers will be attempting to finish in under 9 hours to receive the coveted “big buckle”. Many more will be there just hoping to finish under the 12 hour cut-off. At the front will be a handful attempting to beat 7 time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Dave Wiens, 6 time Leadville 100 winner, has the best shot at beating Lance Armstrong. He accomplished it last year by just under 2 minutes. This year though Lance has been back racing in the Pro road peloton so I expect Wiens will have to ride faster to keep his winning streak alive. Tinker Juarez should also do well.

So with all the buzz from Lance racing the Leadville 100 for the 2nd time, you might be wondering how you can watch the Leadville 100. I don’t know of any race day TV coverage although Citizen Pictures is planning a television show. Update: Citizen Pictures created a movie, Race Across the Sky, that was shown in theaters instead of a TV show.

If you live close enough, you can view some great mountain bike racing and Colorado scenery. There are 3 good spots for watching the race. They are the Start/Finish, bottom of Powerline and on County Road 10. Another great place to watch would be at timberline on the Columbine Climb but the road is closed on race day since it’s the course.

I have a Leadville 100 course map that’ll give you an overview of the course. There are camera icons on it. Clicking on the icons will pop up a photo of that part of the course. It’s a live Google Map so you can zoom in and pan around.

Start/Finish

The Leadville 100 starts at the corner of 6th Street and Harrison Avenue. Harrison is also Highway 24 and the main route through Leadville. Harrison is closed the morning of the race. Near race time it’s hard to find parking within a few blocks.

The race starts at 6:30 AM. It’s interesting to hang out and see everyone getting ready. A little before the start, I recommend walking about 5 blocks down 6th Street so you’re up on a little hill and can see the racers stretched out for blocks when the start.

If Lance breaks 6 hours like he thinks is possible, he’ll be back to the finish a little before 12:30. I doubt it’ll be much before 1:00 but you never know. The largest number of finishers will probably be coming in around 4-5 PM. The last riders will be rolling across the line as late as 7:30 PM.

Here are slideshows of Leadville 100 pre-race and start and finish in 2008.

Bottom of Powerline

Directions and Larger Maps

The bottom of Powerline is a flying descent on the way out and a brutal climb headed back toward the finish. There’s also a small creek crossing at the bottom that can be an entertaining spot to watch.

The Google Map above marks the dirt road that cuts back to the Powerline. The big cut running straight up the mountain is the Powerline. The paved road past the dirt road to the Powerline is closed race day because it’s part of the course. Park along the road before that and walk in. Pay attention and stay out of the way of the racers.

The lead riders should be coming down Powerline just before 8 AM and be heading back up around 11:15. The last riders inbound will be a little after 3:30 PM.

Here are slideshows of racers coming down Powerline and of them heading up Powerline.

County Road 10

Directions and Larger Map

County Road 10 is about 8 miles south of Leadville on US 24. It’s then almost 2 miles to the intersection of County Road 24A. This is where the racers will be coming off the new singletrack and onto the road.

I expect the lead riders will be through around 8:30 AM outbound and coming back around 10:45. Likely there will be a few racers still headed outbound when the leaders return. The last riders will be back through around 3:00 PM.

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