Race Day - Part 1

I woke at 4:15 am, not to my alarm clock, but to the large knot in my stomach. To my surprise, I had actually gotten a good night's sleep. I exited my room and headed to the kitchen to prepare my breakfast. The house was dark and silent as I stepped over bodies camped out on the den floor. I flipped the light switch in the kitchen and a orange yellow haze filled the room. I grabbed a pot from the cabinet to boil some water and emptied two packets of oatmeal into a bowl. As I sat in the kitchen eating my oatmeal, more bodies began to appear. Each new arrival seemed to only be greeted with a simple "good morning" or a head nod. The fraternity banter was gone, everyone seemed focused or nervous, or in my case, scared shitless. By 4:30 am the kitchen looked line a line at Piccadilly cafeteria on a Sunday after church. Everyone was making their different plates, everything from the stove top to the oven to the microwave was in use. The room remained fairly quiet, the mental checklists in full force.

At 5:15 am we were all standing with our bikes on 6th Street. The cool air felt amazing and the stars lit up the sky. Once we placed our bikes in the starting corral, we went back to the house to get our kits on and grab anything and everything we would be needing for the ride. This was a tense moment for me. So much to remember. I must have run through my list ten times. I finally decided I had enough and went into the den to wait for my fellow Leadville brothers. We arrived back onto 6th street at 6:00 am, thirty minutes to the start. The size of the crowd had grown to almost 1500 riders. Walking through the corral and down to our bikes was like walking across a frozen lake full of cracks. There were bikes laying on their sides everywhere. The last thing I wanted was to end someones race before it started by stepping on their wheel and braking some spokes. After 10 minutes of squeezing through and stepping over I arrived at my bike. I snapped on my bike computer and through my leg over the top tube. The sun was just beginning to rise. The line of riders was further than the eye could see, family and friends lined the street 3 deep. Words of encouragement being shouted,camera shutters snapping. My race would start all the way in the back in what they called the "First Timers" corral. The race director came over the loud speaker and gave us the five minute announcement. I turned around to Douche and we gave each other a "let's do this" look. At precisely 6:30 am the shotgun went off. Six months of anticipation and four months of training were over, I crossed the start/finish line at 6:32 am and clicked the start button on my computer. I was on my way.

The first 3-4 miles of the ride take place on pavement. This is probably the most dangerous and nerve racking portion of the entire ride. You have all 2000 riders going as hard as they can to try and improve their positions before the narrow gravel road begins. I kept my pace high and consistent with the riders around me. I've ridden in plenty of group rides where bars are inches apart, but this was different. It was almost mayhem. I looked off into the distance and saw a massive dust cloud rising into the air, I knew the dirt/gravel road was close. A quick left turn over the tracks and then an even quicker right turn threw us onto the gravel/dirt road. The pace immediately went from fast to a dead crawl. 2000 riders maneuvering themselves onto a road no wider than a single lane of traffic. The trail was anything but smooth, the outer edges lined with stones. I picked a line and held my pace, I was also trying to use this slow time to get my heart rate under control. The mad dash from the start had my ticker kicking higher than I wanted. About 1/4 mile into the road, the pace found a nice median and the riders all began to settle in. The ground was thick with dust, almost like riding through a layer of sand. It was cold, at one point we dropped down into a valley and my computer read 38 degrees. The fog was hovering across the valley, it was beautiful. I was extremely happy to have made it through this first nerve racking section, but I knew the first big obstacle of the day lay just ahead.

St. Kevins

I was more nervous about this section of the course than any other. It hits you very early in the race while your legs are barely awake. The pace was still very slow as the climb began, I felt like a sardine slammed bar to bar against other riders. The road on St. Kevins in not the best, it is rocky and washed out in spots. As the grade steepened, I picked a line on the right side and focused on my cadence. About halfway up, the rider in front of me fell, not what I needed. I had to stop. I began to push up the hill trying to find a good spot to remount. Once I did, it was like trying to enter the autobahn from a dead stop. I finally got remounted and on my way. My legs were definitely awake when I reached the top of the climb. I was a little gassed, but felt okay.

After a little bit of trail riding, I reached the asphalt. This was a really cool section of the course, It would take me to my next obstacle, Sugar loaf Pass. The road was in great shape and the first part was downhill and super fast. I wanted to keep my pace up, but I also wanted to use this time recover from Kevins. I was able to hook up with a few other riders and we shared the workload. This section of the course was beautiful, the sun was up and the temperature was perfect. I was surrounded by mountains. I couldn't help but take a moment to take it all in.

Sugarloaf

A 180 degree left turn threw me onto the Sugarloaf climb. Once again, the nice road gave way to a narrow and rocky trail. The climb never got severe, but the road condition was tough. I probably went to cautious on this section, but I did not want a flat or some other mechanical issue and this section was taking riders out left and right. By the time I reached Sugarloaf, the pack had really spread out and that helped my nerves. I stomped out a more consistent cadence on this climb. Once over the top, the course became really fun, a lot of downhill with some fun speed bumps, is what I would call them. My focus shifted from the pain in my legs to the tricky trail. If I remember correctly, at this point in the race I was around 18-20 miles in and headed for the famous Powerline descent.

Powerline

If the road to Sugarloaf was the most beautiful section of the course, the Powerline descent was certainly the coolest. This is not an easy descent. They even told us in the riders meeting to keep it cool, no sense in trying to be Evil Knievel. One misstep here and your bike could be trashed and your ass in a hospital bed. Powerline is the first part of the course where a lot of spectators gather. It was really cool to have random strangers waving cowbells and yelling out encouragement. Obviously the spectators didn't know my name, so they would yell out my number. The main objective of this section is keep your speed under control and watch your lines. The ruts here will take you out quickly. Halfway down and I was doing great.

I survived Powerline unscathed. My spirits were high, but they were about to get a big boost. Once down, the trail winds around for a bit, pretty flat, then you hit a small uphill that leads to another paved road. I remembered this section after seeing it in the Race Across the Sky video. As I made the turn I heard someone yell my name, it was Kimberly. This was the first time I had seen her since she arrived in Colorado. She was standing with Kate, Russ & Peter.

I think she actually took this picture before she yelled my name.

I was pretty excited as you can tell. A few words were exchanged in passing and I was on my way. About a mile up the road Russ and Peter drove by me and asked if I needed anything, I simply asked how much further to the first aid stop. They told me a few more miles and they took off. Right behind them was Kimberly and Kate, Kim snapped this photo. I love the mountains in the background.

In all the excitement of seeing everyone, I made a critical mistake. I was alone on the paved road. I should have sat up and waited for a large group so we could take turns in a pace line. Instead, I went at it alone. There was a pretty descent headwind, then crosswind. I used up a lot of energy on this section. Lesson learned.

I pulled into the pipeline aid station at just under three hours. It was packed. The families and spectators were cheering for every rider. My coach Ben (LadyKiller) had told me the day before exactly where he would be. As I crossed the timing mat he was right there, I pulled over and quickly hoped off the bike. Ben told me I was doing good. I removed my jacket and arm warmers, got two fresh bottles and was on my way. As I pulled off I began to calculate the time in my head. The first cut-off was at mile 40, Twin Lakes. You have to make it there by 10:30 or your race is over. I had about an hour and fifteen minutes... I was cutting it close, really close.

The course between Pipeline aid station and Twin Lakes is pretty straightforward. A few climbs and a lot of jeep road. I told myself not to look at the time, but to keep my head down and go hard. Once again, I was all alone. At mile 35 I caught a group of riders on a climb. While riding together I overheard one of them say the time, 10:00. I had 30 minutes to make it the five miles. I wasn't loosing time, but I wasn't making any either. I started to get freaked. At mile 38 I saw an amazing but frustrating site, the leaders. That's right, they had already made the 50 mile turnaround and were on the way home. Another confirmation that I better get my ass moving.

Off the jeep road and back onto the pavement. I was close. I began to see volunteers directing us where to go. I pulled up next to another rider and he yelled out "We've got 5 minutes, were gonna make it", my heart skipped a beat. The paved road headed straight downhill. I went as hard as I could go, I even got into one of those cool positions you see the guys in the Tour D' France get into when they are descending. I don't know if it helped, but it felt cool. I reached the bottom of the hill and made the hard left turn onto the Twin Lakes Levee. I was moving, my heart rate was red lined. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar face, it was Kimberly. "Move Your Ass" was all I heard. In the blink of an eye she was gone. The levee road was packed with thousands of spectators. Every few seconds I would hear, "You've got two minutes, only a half mile left". My legs were on fire and my chest was pounding. I couldn't miss this checkpoint, no way. I peddled like I had never peddled before, I could see the black arch of the checkpoint in the distance. "You can do it 2086", "Dig Deep", The closer I got the louder the screams, it was surreal. "Dig Deep 2086", "Go hard, Go Hard".......

Registration & Riders Meeting

On Thursday afternoon, Mark, Bubba and I left the comfort of the house in Edwards, Co and headed into Leadville. It is a beautiful 50 minute drive into the old mining town. This was the third time I had made the drive this week and each time was fantastic. I would notice things on each drive that I hadn't seen before. We arrived at the house on Elm St. around 1:30. It was definitely a far cry from what we had left.

The house consisted of three bedrooms, actually two bedrooms and what I refereed to as a prison cell. There was a front room, a small den and a even smaller kitchen. Oh, there was only one bathroom. Being the food snob that I am and knowing that I had been designated the cook for the next two nights, I was very concerned with the kitchen. One bathroom....ha...Electric stove....uh oh.

The three of us proceeded to unload our stuff and put away all the food. We also laid claim to the bedrooms. It was immediately decided that Mark would be given the prison cell, something about his snoring. It must be infamous, because it wasn't the first time this week it had been mentioned.

This is the prison cell. The picture really doesn't do justice to how small this room was. I think the ceiling was 6'

Bubba and I decided to share a room, which would leave Douche and Jason to share a room. Since Douche and Jason were still driving from Denver, they had no say over which room they would get, we decided they would really enjoy the Animal Kingdom room. This room was probably 12x10 and included at least 25 mounted deer heads. I thought it was really nice of us to give up the room for them.

Once settled, we headed into town to get registered for the race. For me, this is when the jitters really began. The process was very organized. Once they found your name, you were handed your race numbers and they also wrote your number on the top of your right hand. Then you moved down the line to the medical check where they gave you a bracelet to wear on your left wrist. This bracelet listed your name and any medical information. Down the line again and you received your "schwag bag". I must say that I was really disappointed in the contents of this bag. It was mainly coupons and promotional material. A Sierra Nevada beer opener is cool, but come on....

We then headed inside to finalize our registration. At this point, you are reminded how difficult and dangerous this race is. I must have filled out and been asked to double check my emergency contact information three times in five minutes. Once it was determined that if I were laying on the side of the trail bleeding and unconscious that Kimberly could be notified, I was ushered to the final stop in this process, the timing chip. The timing chip is your life line on this ride. You must wear it on your left ankle. Throughout the course, there were timing mats on the ground that you rode over. The Velcro chip on your ankle would log your times at these stops for the officials. I was all signed up and ready to race. I was no longer Larkin, I was rider 2086. I must admit that I'm a numbers guy and I hated this number as soon as I received it. Actually, I just hated the final two, 86. You see, in my industry, that numbers means your out. Nothing I could do, so I griped for a minute or two and moved on.

Douche and Jason arrived about two hours later....along with some other guys. Our Leadville 100 2011 fraternity was now complete. There was me, Douche, Mark, Bubba, Jason, Russ, Peter and Forest. Yeah....9 guys in a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house. It was going to be a long 2 1/2 days. We all relaxed around the house for the remainder of the day and got ready for dinner. That night I prepared boneless pork chops, Penne pasta diablo, rosemary focciacco and a wild mixed greens salad with dried cranberries, feta cheese and sliced almonds. It turned out great and everyone was really thankful for the meal. I appreciated it.

After dinner, we watched Hall Pass. It is definitely fraternity house humor, but it was funny as hell. I highly suggest checking it out if you have not seen it. Day 1 in Leadville house ended about 10:30.

Friday

One day until race day. We all headed up to Main St. to attend the mandatory riders meeting at the 6th street gym. We had a little time, so we wandered around the local shops, grabbing last minute items that we convinced ourselves we couldn't race without.

Walking into the gym was surreal. I had seen this so many times in the Race Across the Sky movies and I immediately got goosebumps realizing I was here. We all walked upfront and got a great spot just off the main stage. It was packed.

The vibe of the room was incredible. You immediately felt pumped up and ready to go to battle with the course. I also thought a lot about all my training and what I had overcome to be here, it was cool.

The room was packed with bike and Race Across the Sky celebrities. Everywhere I looked I recognized someone, but two people stood out the most.

Sorry the picture is fuzzy, Douche took it.

This is Elden, aka, the "Fat Cyclist". His blog, fatcyclist.com has become one of the most popular out there. I've been reading it for a long time and it was definitely one of my inspirations for starting my own blog. Without knowing it, he has become a mentor to me with my blog. There is a lot of meaning to his blog and his story and he puts in a lot of time and effort to raise serious bucks for Livestrong. He was extremely gracious and we chatted for a few minutes. Having my picture taken with him made my day. I highly encourage you to check out his site.

The man in the middle is Ricky McDonald. He is a Leadville legend. He is a 49 year old Denver firefighter and is 1 of only 3 men to compete in every Leadville race since it's inception. This year would be his 18th race. One of the more amazing and humbling facts is that he has ridden all 18 races on the same bike. He has also worn that same work shirt. Highlight #2, I was in heaven. A few days after this years race, the Denver Post did a cool story about Ricky. Check it out.

http://www.denverpost.com/extremes/ci_18688702

The meeting lasted about an 1 1/2 hours. It was filled with excitement, motivation, inspiration and emotion. We walked out of that gym and back into the cool Leadville breeze ready to conquer the world. I will never forget the 6th street gym...ever.

We headed back to the house and made all the final preparations for race day. We checked and double checked. We all made final inspections to our bikes and gathered our nutrition. You could definitely feel the nerves of everyone in the house. We ate another nice dinner and called it quits for the night. The silence of the house was eery, I knew that everyone's minds were focused for the big day.

9 hours until the shotgun sounds.......It was finally here

9 Guys + 5 Days + 500 Miles =



The Wings Ride is a five-day 500 mile charity cycling event coordinated by Dr. Todd Tillmanns of The West Clinic and the Wolf River Racing Team. The purpose of the Wings Ride is to increase cancer awareness, encourage a healthy lifestyle, and raise funds for the Wings Cancer Foundation. 100% of your tax deductible donations to the Wings Ride will fund Wings’ new wellness program which begins in June 2011. Research shows that these activities help survivors recover from their treatment faster as well as prevent future cancer diagnosis.

If you are interested in making a donation, you can do that online or via mail. You can also download the brochure online.

Let's all get out and support this great event.



http://www.wingscancerfoundation.org/wingsride

Newest Danny MacAskill Video

This is the latest video from Danny MacAskill. If you have never seen any of his videos,you are in for a treat. I would highly recommend viewing prior videos, they are all incredible. His music is always incredible also. His last video " Inspired Bicycles" featured the song "The Funeral" by Band of Horses.

Enjoy.

5 Days and Counting

So I arrived in Denver on Monday the 8th, five days before the race. I felt confident that this would be enough time to acclimate to the altitude. I landed and promptly headed for the rental car lot. I had made the executive decision that if I was going to be in Colorado I wanted a cool car to drive around and enjoy the amazing weather. I was extremely disappointed to discover that they were sold out of neon blue PT Cruisers, so I settled for this.....



I hoped onto I 70 West towards Edwards, Co. This was where I would be staying for a few days until we headed into Leadville on Thursday afternoon. Coming from weeks of brutally high temperatures, the weather was the first thing I noticed. I typically hate those people who take a picture of their interior car thermometers, (Yeah, I get it....It's hot. Do you think your car is the only one?) but I couldn't resist. I mainly wanted to do it because I'm an ass and I wanted my friends back home to see what I was enjoying.



The drive from Denver to Edwards was a beautiful one. It was really nice to look at mountains and streams rather than overgrown and weeded medians and neon green T-Dot trucks placing orange tow stickers on broken down or abandoned vehicles. One a side note, have you ever seen anyone trying to remove those orange tow stickers?? What a pain in the ass, I would probably just go get a new window. Sorry, back to the story. I arrived at the house in Edwards, my two house mates and fellow racers, we'll just call them B&M were not there. They had left me a message that they were going to be at the Ritz Carlton in Beaver Creek for the afternoon. No better way to prepare for a race than getting a facial and pedicure. Sorry guys, but you should have known I would mention it...

I carried my bags in the house and found my room. The house was fantastic. I settled on the room with the king sized bunk beds and began to unpack. I laid out all my race clothes and the other 30lbs of nutriton and bike accessories I have brought along. Once my OCD was visually pleased with the layout of the items I went on the porch to relax. Not a bad view...



B & M returned just a little while later. After five minutes or so of cracking jokes about their spa afternoon we made plans for dinner. We made plans to head back into Vail Village. The Vail Village was fantastic and our meal was really good. I knew I had a training ride the next day so I only had one beer, well.... Okay I had two tequila shots later that night. After dinner, we ended up at this Mexican restaurant in the village. One of the people in our party asked the bartender what the ski was doing hanging above the bar, he responded by telling us it was a "ski shot". He pulled the ski down and lined up five shot glasses into little rubber holders on the ski. The goal of this ingenious contraption is to get five friends and to lift the ski up and take the shot without spilling. I gave in to peer pressure and lined up at the bar. We successfully knocked out the "ski shot". There is video somewhere of the event, I will have to find it. We stayed an hour or so and then decided to head home, but it wasn't as easy at it should have been....

You ever see that Seinfeld episode where they loose the car in the parking garage? Yeah.....we did that. We spent 20 minutes walking around this parking garage, going from level to level with no success. It became comical, I'm sure the tequila shots made it funnier than it actually was. It's pretty hard to loose a Suburban with a four bike rack on the back. After making loop after loop we finally found it. We jumped back onto I 70 and headed home. I got into bed and told myself, "big day tomorrow". I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke the next morning and began to prepare for my big Columbine Mountain training ride. First thing on the list....remove the top from the jeep. With the top removed, I loaded my bike and headed to Leadville, Co. The drive was breathtaking.



I arrived into Leadville around 11:30 and the temperature was 68 degrees. The elevation in Leadville is over 10,000' I don't mean this as a knock, but there isn't much going on in this old mining town. There is a main street about 200 yards long and that's it. In case you don't know where you are, which I considered could be possible due to the lack of oxygen to the brain, they have this great concrete structure...



I stopped into the local bike shop and got directions to Columbine Mtn. Twenty-five minutes later, there she was staring down at me with all her glory. I unpacked the bike, geared up and took off. I rode the trail towards the mountain for about 3o minutes, it was awesome, but there was one problem....I wasn't getting any closer to the mountain, I was actually getting farther away. A short time later I came across something I recognized.....my rental car. I had just spent an hour riding a complete circle back to the car. Great start. I immediately called "Douche" for help, he told me he would send me a map, who am I, Lewis & Clark and spouted back. It was at this exact moment I had my first bike celebrity citing....Rebecca Rusch or for those who know her, The Queen of Pain. She has been the ladies winner of the Leadville 100 for the past two years. She blew by me like she had an engine on her bike. A few minutes later a few riders came by and I got directions towards Columbine. I was on my way.

The climb up Columbine starts on a great fire road. The grade isn't really steep......it's just relentless. The roads wind and switchback through the trees for 6 or so miles and then you get above tree line. It is at this point of the climb where reality kicks you with a steel toed boat. The road switches to a rocky trail no wider than a cart path. There were sections so steep I had to get off and push, lots of sections... At this point in the climb, you are at 12,000'. My breathing never seemed impaired by the elevation, only by the beauty of the view. After numerous sessions of short riding, then walking, I made the left turn on the trail that takes you to the 50 mile turn around point of the race. This is a really cool section, it's about 300-400 yards long and you can ride it all. It's as if your riding a levee on top of the world. I pulled down to the turnaround and dismounted.





At this point, you are sitting at 12,570'. I stayed on top for 20-30 minutes taking pictures. I think the coolest part was that somehow I had a full phone signal. So I had to make a few phone calls.

The ride back down is very sketchy at the beginning. The grade is so steep and some of the sections are nothing but loose rocks. I didn't want to end my race before it started, so I really took my time. It was still so thrilling. I don't think I have ever ridden that long downhill. I made it back to the car and headed home. It was a great day, one I will never forget.

The next day and a half were pretty relaxed. We chilled around the house and went back into Vail for meals. On Thursday afternoon, we packed up and headed to the house in Leadville, our home for the next two days. It was slightly different than the house in Edwards.

Tune in tomorrow for a report on the final days of preparation in Leadville. Oh......The Douche arrives, so you know there will be a story or six....

Back Home

What an amazing week. I wasn't able to accomplish my goal (this time), but the experiences and emotions and friendships that were shared this week were indescribable. I have absolutely no disappointment or regret over not finishing. I actually feel amazing over what I was able to accomplish Saturday with my limited training time. I've got tons of photos and stories I will be sharing over the next few days, so stay tuned.

I want to take the time now to say thanks to Kimberly, Kate, Ben, Michael, Russ & Peter for their support on Saturday and everyone that has taken the time to follow my story over the past few months.

I will say that there was a major game changer for this blog on Saturday, but I'll save that story for a later post.

Thanks Again.