Western States 100 Movie Showing Benefits Manitou Incline

December 6th, 2011

Another endurance movie showing is coming to Colorado Springs and it benefits the Incline Friends. The new documentary “Unbreakable: The Western States 100,” is showing at Stargazers Theatre on December 7th at 7 PM. Doors open at 6 p.m. and top ultra runners Anton Krupicka, Geoff Roes and Anita Ortiz will be there.

The film by Journeyfilm’s JB Benna follows the footsteps of four extraordinary athletes, including Krupicka and Roes of Boulder, as they prepare for the 2010 race and the daunting challenge of running 100 miles across the Sierra Nevada, some of the most rugged country in the western United States. On race day you’ll join the runners shoulder-to-shoulder as they push their limits above timberline, and then risk life and limb on hell-bent descents.

This is a must see for anyone who dreams of striding across the sky to greet the sunrise.

The evening will be topped with a question and answer discussion with Krupicka, Roes and Ortiz, some of the top ultra runners in the world. Roes won the Western States 100 in 2010, while Ortiz claimed the women’s title in 2009. Krupicka, who attended Colorado College, is a two-time winner of the Leadville 100.

Tickets cost $10 and will be available at Mountain Chalet, 226 N. Tejon St.; Colorado Running Company, 833 N. Tejon St., and 9275 N. Union Blvd, Ste. 120; and Carmichael Training Systems, 600 S. 21st St., No. 100. Tickets will also be available for $10 the day of the show, but it’s wise to purchase them early. Tickets are also available online for $11 at imATHLETE.com.

The event is a fundraiser for Incline Friends, the organization created to help implement the Manitou Incline Site Development and Management Plan and open the Incline to the public. Although it still isn’t legal to hike the Manitou Incline, the Incline Friends are working to educate users, build relationships with other groups and residents who use and live near the Incline, and organize volunteer work days.

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Palmer Park 50 2011

October 7th, 2011

Palmer Park 50 2011

Photo courtesy of About the Shot

The Palmer Park 50 was nearly 3 weeks ago. I raced it as training for the Ring the Peak Race.

Heavy rains a few days before washed out some of the trails on the planned course so the course was shortened to 5 miles which meant 10 laps. The course had a nice mix of fast smooth sections and rocky technical sections. The advantage of doing short laps was being able to take better lines through corners and technical sections as the race went on. The downside of that many laps was by about lap 6 I was zoned out.

There was a decent turn out for a late season race. About half the racers where doing the 50 miler and half doing the 25 mile option. Russell Finsterwald won the 50 miler in 03:42:32 on his 20th birthday. Complete results are here.

I made a stupid mistake early on lap 2 on a smooth gravel section that sent me over the bars. Although I bloodied my knee, mildly bruised a couple ribs and had a couple painful fingers and shoulder, it didn’t affect my riding very much. A couple days later though, I was feeling it plenty.

By lap 9 I was getting some pretty bad cramps whenever I tried putting much power into the pedals. It wasn’t surprising since I hadn’t done any long rides after the Leadville 100.

Sand Creek Sports had moved the start back an hour but wasn’t able to change the cut-off time for starting the final lap. I missed the time to start my 10th lap. I should have been able to make it through another lap but with the way I felt on the 9th one I wasn’t terrible disappointed to not head out again.

Since I signed up for the Clydesdale class and no one else did, I won my category just by riding until I was told to stop.

Sand Creek Sports is planning on putting on the Palmer Park 50 again in 2012 on Sunday, September 16th and will again have a post race Pig Roast.

Below are some great shots of me from About the Shot. You can see the rest of their Palmer Park 50 photos here.

Palmer Park 50 Mile Mountain Bike Race

September 1st, 2011

Mountain Bike Racing in Palmer Park

Update 9/16/11: Didn’t sign up for the Palmer Park 50 by deadline but now want to do it? Email Andy Bohlmann (andy@sandcreeksports.com) TODAY and let him know your name, category, age, and the distance you would like to race – 25 or 50 miles. You won’t get the pig roast but can still race. Race course is likely to have some changes because of the rain the last couple days.

Update 9/7/11: A 25 mile option has been added for those that don’t want to race 50 miles or do it was a team.

Sand Creek Sports is putting on one more mountain bike race this year in Palmer Park. It will be 6 laps of an 8.9 mile course for a little over 50 miles. It will be great final preparation for 24 Hour Mountain Bike Nationals two weeks later on many of the same trails. For me it’ll serve as my final long training ride before the Ring the Peak 100(ish)k race.

Some riders didn’t want to race the complete 50 miles so two person teams have been added. One person to race at a time.

The racing starts at 8 AM and the $45 entry fee includes a pig roast post race. Additional meal tickets can be purchased for $13. Entry deadline is Wednesday September 14th since the pig(s) for the pig roast have to be shipped from Iowa. See the Sand Creek Sports site for entry details.

The course is in the same area as the May race. The course map is here. Below is a great video of the course although I believe there have been some minor changes to the course since the video was created.

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2011 Leadville 100 Race Photos

August 17th, 2011

UltraRob Leadville 100 2011

David Kutcipal from 303Cycling got some great photos of the Leadville 100 mountain bike race on Saturday. Unfortunately he caught me during one of my on bike naps. The photo above of me hints at how very dusty it was.

The photos from the official photographers, zazoosh, are also now online. They’re searchable by last name or racer number.

My 8 year old daughter also had fun at the Pipeline aid station outbound taking photos with my camera. I’ve glanced through them and I’ll post some of them but haven’t gotten them edited yet.

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Leadville 100 News

August 4th, 2011

Ricky McDonald at the 2010 Leadville 100

Ricky McDonald at the 2010 Leadville 100

The 2011 Leadville 100 mountain bike is not much over a week away on August 13th.

For those that are doing the Leadville 100 mountain bike race this year, are thinking about doing it sometime or just curious about it, the Fat Cyclist has put together a live chat for today starting at 1 PM mountain time. In addition to the Fat Cyclist there will be Leadville 100 legends Dave Wiens, Ricky McDonald, Dean Cahow and Cole Chlouber. Go here to ask your questions.

Last year’s Leadville 100 winner and record holder will not be at the Leadville 100 this year due to it conflicting with the Tour of Utah. When asked if he’ll do Leadville again he said, “I don’t know. It might be best to do it once, have the record, and just leave it at that. It’s a very epic race, and I’m glad I did it, but at the same time it was pretty damn hard. I’m not sure I ever want to go and suffer like that again.” Read more here.

At this year’s final Leadville 100 qualifying race in Crested Butte last weekend, Lance Armstrong, 2009 Leadville 100 winner, showed up and won by 3 seconds. His answer to whether he’d be returning to Leadville was “No. That’s too much for me. I’m too old. I’m retired.” Leadville 100 women’s champion, Rebecca Rusch, won the women’s qualifier and was 5th overall. More on the Crested Butte qualifier here.

I spent last weekend riding on the Leadville 100 course and did about 75 miles of riding. There were lots of other riders out pre-riding the course. The course is in great shape with normally rough sections on the Columbine Climb and St Kevins graded relatively smooth.

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Falcon Trail 100k This Sunday

July 19th, 2011

Falcon Trail 100k

Update 7/20/11 The Falcon Trail mountain bike races have been canceled because not enough racers registered.

The Falcon Trail 100k is this Sunday. Due to increased security at the Air Force Academy there will be no race day registration. In order to race, you must register by 5 PM tomorrow (Wednesday). In addition to the 5 laps of the Falcon Trail for the 100k, there are also 1 and 2 lap races depending on race category.

I’m planning on doing this race as training for the Leadville 100. Maybe because all the other planned races at the Air Force Academy have been canceled or moved to other courses, I’ve heard that registration numbers are low. Hopefully enough racers will sign up so that the race doesn’t end up being canceled.

You can get the full results from last year’s race including the shorter races here.

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Leadville 100 Qualifying Races Announced

March 30th, 2011
Lance Armstrong at Leadville 100 Start

In January Life Time Fitness announced that in addition to the lottery to get into the Leadville 100 mountain bike race that they were going to have 3 qualifying races this year. By 2013 they plan to have 8 qualifying races. At the time, the race locations weren’t announced.

Now the race locations for this year have been announced. They are

  • June 19: Wilmington/Whiteface 100K, Wilmington, NY
  • July 10: Lake Tahoe Trail 100K, Lake Tahoe, NV
  • July 31: Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey, Mt Crested Butte, CO.

Registration for these qualifying races goes on sale Thursday, March 31. All races will be approximately 100 kilometers and have been vetted by Leadville Qualifying Series Technical Director Dave Wiens, a six-time LT 100 champion and member of the Mountain Biking Hall of Fame. The events are fully supported with aid stations and mechanical support, and are chip-timed.

I don’t find it surprising that the race entry fee at $125 is at the high end for that length of race. With the number of people that want to get in to Leadville, I expect they’ll get plenty of racers doing the qualifiers.

Each of the races will have 100 Leadville 100 race spots up for grabs. 50 spots will be weighted per age group for the top age group finishers. The other 50 spots will be a drawing at the race event for all other finishers under a designated cutoff time. The cutoffs will be determined per qualifying race and will be set so that those that make the time cut will have a good chance at finishing the Leadville 100 under 12 hours.

According to the Leadville Qualifying Series website riders qualifying or getting drawn will need to be present and sign up after the race.

Qualifying spots for the Leadville Trail 100 will be awarded on race day, approximately one hour after the time standard has been passed. Riders must be present to receive their Leadville spot. Racers cannot have spouses, friends, family members, colleagues or other stand-ins accept their spots. Riders must be prepared to pay in full the $275 LT100 entry fee on-site.

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Bailey HUNDO Entry Closes Tuesday

March 28th, 2011

Bailey HUNDO Logo

Last year the Bailey HUNDO was started as a new Colorado 100 mile mountain bike race. 150 racers were accepted into the inaugural race. It is produced by Advance Colorado Fund Inc., a Colorado-based nonprofit committed to youth biking initiatives and trail building.

Applications for this year’s race are only being accepted PreRace.com through tomorrow night (midnight on Tuesday, March 29th). The race will start in Bailey at 6am on Saturday, June 18th. There are 250 spots in the race this year thanks to a partnership with the Forest Service and all capable racers are encouraged to apply for consideration for an invitation!

I talked to Bailey HUNDO Executive Director Noah Aptekar at the Front Range Cyclist Bike Show a week ago. He said that the invitational really means that it’s a lottery except that they’ll pick some top racers or other races that they feel deserve to be there. It sounds like they’re doing basically what’s done for the Leadville 100 mountian bike entry lottery but trying to avoid some of the criticism Leadville has gotten for not being totally a lottery.

“We are deeply proud that the Bailey HUNDO will have 250 racers this year who are so committed to supporting youth biking initiatives in Colorado and trail building in the Platte Canyon area that they are willing to raise much-needed funds and spend months training for this 100-mile endurance race,” said Noah Aptekar. “The Bailey HUNDO provides the opportunity; it is the racers who make the impact on the state of cycling for Colorado’s youth and in the Platte Canyon area through their dedication to raising funds and participating in such an extreme and exciting event.”

Last years race was a big success from what I heard with many riders recommending it as a race to do. The top three finishers in the Men’s Open/Pro category were Olympian Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (6:36), Colorado mountain biking legend Dave Wiens (6:49), and Team Epic Endurance racer Bryan Alders (6:56). The top finishing times in the Women’s categories were turned in by Sonya Looney (8:19), Eszter Horanyi (9:04, singlespeed category) and Brenda Moczygemba (9:21). The Bailey HUNDO is looking forward to attracting an even more competitive field in 2011.

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Leadville 100 Entry for Attending CTS Camp

March 8th, 2011

Leadville 100 Start

Same as the last couple years, Carmichael Training Systems is putting on training camps for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. Also those that didn’t get chosen in the Leadville 100 entry lottery will get into the race because of doing the training camp. If you did get into Leadville through the lottery, call them if you want to attend a training camp instead of entering the training camp lottery.

Since the training camps sold out in minutes last year, this year getting into a CTS training camp is also a lottery. They have already been taking sign ups for a week. The deadline to enter for a CTS Leadville camp is March 10th at 5 PM MST. You find the details on the training camps here.

I know some of the CTS coaches and they know endurance racing. Everything I’ve seen CTS do has been top quality so I’m sure the camps will be a big help especially for 1st timers. I’ve also heard good things about the camps from racers that have attending in the past.

In addition they give all camp participants CTS jerseys. If you wear it on race day, they’ll make sure you are well taken care of at the Pipeline and Twin Lake aid stations. If you don’t have your own crew, that can be really helpful.

It seems like $1224 ($1499 with entry fee) is a lot to pay for a 2 day camp especially since it doesn’t include lodging. If you don’t have that kind of money, you can still try to get in through the new Leadville 100 qualifying races. There are also plenty of other 100 mile mountain bike races so there’s no reason to be too bummed if you wanted to do Leadville but didn’t get in.

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2011 100 Mile Mountain Bike Races

March 2nd, 2011

Leadville 100 Pipeline Aid Stations 2010

Endurance mountain biking racing has become very popular the last several years. 100 mile races are particularly popular. A 100 mile mountain bike race is also known as a dirty hundy. The terrain for the races vary a lot and also the amount of support varies from well stocked aid stations to races that are self-supported.

The Leadville 100 is the oldest and most popular and has had an entry lottery for several years. Monday night most that entered the Leadville 100 lottery found out whether they’re in or out although a few have reported they haven’t heard either way. I was one of the lucky ones to get picked. In addition to the 100 mile Leadville race they also have the Silver Rush 50 and 24 hours of Leadville. You can keep up with all of the Leadville races on their new Facebook page.

There are plenty of other quality 100 mountain bike races besides the Leadville 100 plus there are 100k, 12 hour, 24 hour and longer mountain bike races. The National Ultra Endurance Race Series (NUE) is a national series of 11 endurance mountain bike races and 9 of them are 100 miles.

Here are the 2010 100 mile mountain bike races I know about. Let me know in the comments about ones I’ve missed and I’ll add them to the list.

UltraRob

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