08/19/2022
to last Saturday at the Leadville 100 MTB Race. Woof! What a day it was!
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Race recap: started the day out well. Felt good and kept the heart rate down the first 2 climbs of the day. Columbine was a bear but it was more the elevation than anything else.
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After columbine was a headwind from mile 60-80, which was more mentally draining than physically. Climbing up Powerline was a heck of a lot steeper than what it was when I remember descending it earlier in the day. I started having some trouble breathing and my heart rate would skyrocket when trying to push any power. Made it up and over Powerline and started feeling better.
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It wouldn’t be a day in the mountains without some rain. Rain from mile 90-94 was brutal and made for a very, very cold descent down St Kevin’s.
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Riding into town seemingly took forever but it was a great feeling crossing the finish line! Didn’t go as fast as I would have liked but I had no mechanicals, no crashes and pretty amazing weather (minus the rain).
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I don’t think I have ever had as many things go wrong as I did for this race. Had COVID delay it for a year then bike stolen and heart problems. Mechanicals on mechanicals leading up to the race. Lost luggage/bike on a trip and flight delays to name a few. I can say that I definitely earned that belt buckle and happy or have competed and finished the highest, hardest, 1-day mountain bike race in the country!
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Leadville Stats:
-105.03 miles
-12,113 feet gained
-4,998 calories burned
-412 TSS
-11:02:15 official time
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# riding