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