Latest from Leadville

by

Oh snap! LT 100 baby, life just got real.

I was getting pics sent to me as I sorted out my central air conditioning drain. Yes, the pan overflowed. Yes, it was mess. Yes, I fixed it. Yes, it required crawling into a small dark space underneath the air return to clean up an inch of water with a bucket and a sponge. Yes, I live in Phoenix, Arizona. Yes, it was like 105 today. Yes, I was literally standing in front of this son of a bitch, sweat beading on my forehead like I was a pressed ham, working my way down to the drain pan when my cell lit up. Damn right I’ll take call from Dirty Biker in trying times such as these.

He told me he had some good photos from Leadville, and could I post ’em? Hells yeah. Dirty Biker keeps it hopping. Kid has more class than ten of my former law school contemporaries wrapped together.

Images from bike races generally flatten the gradient, making it hard to tell just how fucking awful it really is out there. This next pic shows you what the Powerline looks like. It looks like a fucking cliff. The photo was taken from up on the climb, the one everyone just went down on the way out to the turn around on Columbine (which is another mind-fuck nightmare altogether), and the same one everyone will be grinding back up on the way back. Look how those cables just pop upward. It literally goes straight up the hill. Evil is as evil does.

Who knows how to suffer? Todd Wells knows how to suffer. I first met him when I was “volunteering” (I can’t really say “working”) for a composite team out at Redlands one year. We were squatting in this unfinished remodel, bare plywood and the like, while he was maxing at some cheap motel full of hookers. He’s one hell of a nice guy and I’m super stoked for his win. He earned this.

Not sure you can dig any deeper? Need I remind you what happens if that damn dirty ape catches you? Well, it ain’t gonna be nice.

I didn’t get a lot in the way of text with these photos. But I did get this:

Jeremiah Bishop drinking the Kettlehouse IPA at the top of the power lines. Cross racers know how to take a hand up

God damn right they do. Good on ya, Bishop. You are 100% man. Like a fucking Viking.

That’s right, Snake. Give us a little smile. How’s the Pain Cave today? All funzies? Yeah. Thought so.

Full disclosure: I’ve done Leadville twice. And I’ve walked on Powerline both times. The worst part, at least for me, is the half dozen false summits that taunt like the Sirens with their come-hither honey-sweet irresistible enchantment, “You’re almost there…” Bullshit. You are not almost there. You’re not almost anywhere. You’re nowhere. And, you’re going to fucking die.

Enough about me. Let’s have a look at Snake.

Dirty Bike wrote:

He left it ALL out there.

Snake wrote, simply:

I am no longer in showroom condition.

Nice.

This is Snake’s 10th run at it. That’s 1,000 miles of Leadville. They ought to give him a belt buckle the size of a dinner plate for his efforts.

Last pic. I think this is Rebecca Rusch. She’s all class. Broke her own record out there today, by sixteen minutes. See http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/news_article/show/99635.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that was our own 40 Hands flying the DC flag out here today. Yeah. We’re all in.

Congrats to the winners. Congrats to the sub-nine folks. And, congrats to the sub-twelve folks. You all worked hard today, and you should all be proud of yourselves.

All of these photographs were taken by our own Caveman. Check out more of his work here: http://www.bentography.com/.

Update: Full results at http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0020/5025/Final_Overall.pdf.

by