Quick Leadville Results

I'll go into more details later, but here's what happened:

Dave Wiens vs. Lance Armstrong

Dave won his sixth straight Leadville title, breaking the record by 13 minutes. Lance dropped away with 10 miles left to go and finished two minutes behind. For you Lance Armstrong fans out there, take pleasure in the fact that Lance won the 30-39 age group. Dave Wiens is 43.

Me

I finished in 11:22:44. Besides being a Fibonacci sequence, this number is significant because it's less than 12 hours. I won a silver belt buckle. I also ended up going to the emergency room afterwards. According to the doctor, I actually drank too much water and flushed all the electrolytes out of my system, which made me so dizzy and sick I felt drunk.

Key differences between this year and last year:

* I was in better shape.

* The bike I borrowed was fantastic. I love the Superfly.

* I made better decisions during the race.

2008 Leadville Predictions

We're leaving for Leadville early tomorrow morning. Gulp. I know this sounds goofy, but I'm already having a difficult time sleeping. It's possible that I'm too fired up for this race. Here's how everyone I know is going to do:

Kenny - Kenny is recovering from a broken hip and a broken collarbone that required surgery. Last year he finished in second place in the singlespeed category, and I think he's headed for a similar result. 8:42, 3rd in singlespeed.

Actual finish: 8:31:31, 2nd place singlespeed

Brad - Brad is in excellent shape yet again, but he won't beat Kenny. 8:50, 5th in singlespeed.

Actual finish: 9:21:11, bad day for him

Racer - Racer usually drops out of this race, but I think this is his year. 8:28, 32nd place overall.

He dropped out again, bless his heart

Gary - Gary is riding so strong he's faster than Dug was last year at this time. He'll be riding a singlespeed. I think he'll do something Dug has never done -- finish Leadville with only one gear. 11:11.

Actual finish: 10:53:06, a very Dug-like performance, only faster

Rick S. - Rick is looking strong climbing, but he's sketchy on the downhills. 9:04.

Actual finish: 9:21:11, broken chain

Chucky - I haven't ridden with Chucky this year, but I hear he's strong. 7:35, 8th place overall.

Actual finish: 7:44:31, 12th place

Nick - Nick did a grueling 5-day mountain bike race in Canada a month ago, and he looks fit and skinny. He lives in Seattle, so there's always the possibility that the altitude can mess him up. I don't think so. 9:14.

Actual finish: 10:59:34, pale face

Elden - Elden says he hasn't been training, but that just means he isn't being coached like last year. He's still a much stronger rider than I am, singlespeed or no. 11:11.

Actual finish: 10:06:42, wow

Me - I'm feeling more fit than I was last year, and I'll be riding a faster bike. Elden's Superfly broke, but Racer's wife Marin was kind enough to loan me hers. Can you believe she'd loan a $4,000 bike to someone she's never met? Since it's a loaner, I'll probably take extra risks because I don't care if I break someone else's bike, so I'll end up crashing. DNF.

Actual finish: 11:22:44, no crashes, no near crashes

Dave Wiens - I don't know him. He's won this race the last five years, he owns the course record, and he beat Floyd Landis last year. But he's 43 years old. 7:17, 3rd place.

Actual finish: 6:45:45, 1st place overall

Lance - I think there's going to be too much of a gap between what he used to do on a bike and what he does now. His muscle memory will lead him astray. DNF.

Actual finish: 6:47:41, 2nd place overall

The Lance Dance

The cycling community is abuzz because Lance Armstrong will be racing the Leadville 100 this year. I'm going to complain about some of the hero worship that's going on, but first, I want to go on record saying that I think Lance is heroic. He battled back from cancer to win seven (7) Tour de France races. During one race in which he overheated and became dehydrated, he battled his pain and climbed the mountain ferociously, losing only a few minutes where he could easily have lost twenty. Granted, Lance was most likely taking performance-enhancing drugs, and we know that a bunch of his competitors were doing the same thing. Maybe Lance's drugs were better than his competitors and he had an edge. Whatever. Some of his Tour de France rides were spectacular.

Even more heroic is the Lance Armstrong Foundation. For a celebrity charity, his organization is shockingly helpful.

That said, let's get on with the nonsense. Here's what one writer had to say about Lance's resolve:

This year the race gets continued attention in that Lance Armstrong has signed up once more. The race is scheduled for August 9th so I think at this point there is a good chance Lance will show. As we all know Lance is no slouch. He has raced mtb, including at this years Miles of DisComfort 52 miler in Comfort, TX this January. Lance ended up DNF at mile 41 as a result of leg cramps. From what I’ve read, he lost his water bottles and may have dehydrated some. I don’t figure this will be a problem at Leadville. As with anything Lance attempts, he will come prepared.

Ooh, question! If Lance comes prepared with anything he attempts, why did he get dehydrated and DNF (Did Not Finish) at mile 41 of a 52-mile race?

Here's the thing. The guy retired from serious professional competition, but he can't give up competing. Deep down, he's a gym rat. He's run a marathon in under 3 hours. But he's still a retired athlete who spends most of his time running his charity and balling needy singers and actresses.

The thing I love about Leadville is that it's a race for the cycling gym rats of the world. It's a place where amateurs like me and Dug and Elden can test ourselves. For a few years, Elden was Ahab, and the 9-hour mark was his ubiquitous white whale. Dug has ridden Leadville successfully several times, but never on a rigid singlespeed. I want to get back into good enough shape to finish in under 12 hours and get my sweatshirt and belt buckle.

Before the Leadville race was around in the early 90s, Dug and I got ourselves into great shape, but we didn't have an epic way to test ourselves. So we decided to do the White Rim Trail on summer solstice in 120-degree heat, and almost got ourselves killed. Leadville changed that. Now, when we start feeling cocky about what great shape we're in, we can just do Leadville. And so can Lance.

I'm glad Lance is racing -- seeing him bomb down Columbine will be a magic moment -- but he's not racing as a professional cyclist. He's a retired cyclist. There's a good chance he won't finish.

Riding in the Beehive State

I flew out to Utah ten days before the Leadville race so that I could acclimate to the altitude. Even though I like to blame my poor showing last year on Dug, who certainly deserves censure, I think my most serious obstacle was the altitude. I felt dizzy from the start. When we climbed up to Columbine at 12,600', I was sick and wobbly. That feeling stayed with me for several hours. By the time I recovered enough to ride hard again, I'd lost too much time to beat 12 hours. So I came out to Utah early so that I can ride in the early morning and then work remotely the rest of the day.

Now that I've been here in Utah for the last five days, I feel torn. On the one hand, I am getting used to the altitude. After the first couple rides, I returned to my parents' condo in Provo and dealt with the fallout -- fatigue, chills, sweats, headaches. By the time Leadville rolls around, I hope to be better adjusted. Plus, it's great to be able to do a ride every day with my buddies. Feels like old times.

On the other hand, I miss my family. It's nice to get a break for a day or two, but this is too long. If I don't beat 12 hours, I'll feel foolish and bitter. If I do beat 12 hours, goodbye Leadville, hello triathlons!

Hogg's Hollow - On Wednesday morning, Elden and I met at his house at 5:50am and we rode our singlespeeds up to the saddle at the top of the ridge that divides Utah County from the Salt Lake region. There we met up with Dug, Rick S., and a guy named Sam, who is also training for Leadville. We rode a beautiful local trail that winds over ridges and through groves of trees and shrubs. I would love to be able to leave my garage like that to ride a network of trails. In Seattle, I have to drive at least 30 minutes to ride trails.

Susan's Ramp - On Thursday morning, we skipped a ride to build Susan's scooter ramp. Susan looks great, by the way.

The Alpine Loop - On Friday morning, Elden and I started from his house at 6:30 and met up with Dug's group for a road ride. As we headed up the canyon, we formed a pace line. When it was my turn to lead, it suddenly got steeper. I didn't want to appear weak, so I tried to keep the same pace. After I flicked my elbow and fell out, I noticed there were only three riders behind me. The other five had fallen off. It was ridiculous for me to break up the group like that since I was the weakest rider.

The fast group rode ahead of us while the slow group chatted until we were more than halfway up. Then Dug and Elden broke away from me and another guy whose name I forgot. He and I formed the gruppetto. Even though we were talking the whole way up, I rode hard, and I got an altitude headache as we neared the summit at 8,000'. It was somewhere between a 10- and 16-mile climb, depending on where you think the climb starts.

Tibble Fork - In the right condition, Tibble Fork is one of my top 5 favorite rides. On Saturday morning, Tibble wasn't in good shape -- motorcycles and dry weather turned the steep parts of the trail into dust -- but it's still a top 10 ride. For one thing, the scenery is stunning, what with the summer wildflowers and the Sound of Music meadows. I suppose I could impress people by mentioning the deer that stood in the trail 20 feet in front of me before it saw me and bounded off, but I think deer are trash animals.

I rode the bike that I'll be taking on Leadville while everyone else rode singlespeeds. I was definitely slow guy. That said, I'm definitely in better shape than I was in last year. I'll write another Leadville Training post later this week with updated estimates.

Too Dark Is the Knight

Short version: I loved The Dark Knight despite its manipulative sadism.

Long version: The Dark Knight is everything a summer blockbuster movie should be. Plenty of violence, chase scenes, compelling story, long play time, over-the-top acting -- it has it all.

What I didn't like about the movie is that it was guilty of a couple of pet peeves of mine. One thing that bothers me in movies is when a movie preaches against something it's guilty of itself. The Count of Monte Cristo is a perfect example of this. On the surface, the movie supports the theme that revenge is bad. In the end, the guy loses his love because he's changed too much, etc. But on a deeper level, the movie (and book) is a celebration of violence. In fact, it has no value -- aesthetic or otherwise -- without using revenge as a driving manipulative force.

It's a neat trick. Not only do we get to revel in vengeance, but we also get to feel good about ourselves by climbing to the moral highground at the end.

The Dark Knight has some of that dissonance going on. There's all this lofty talk about the nature of heroism (or anti-heroism), but deep down, the movie relies on the joy of violence. In real life, violence is rarely both satisfying and warranted, unless it's done by a cop.

I know, I know. It's comic book violence. But there's something especially unsettling about the violence and torture when there's an attempt at sophistication. Any realistic depiction of that level of violence should be less gratifying.

Still, I dug it.

I Am So Tagged

Elden tagged me over on his blog. I do not fear him. Despite his nickname, he is a puny man who strikes dangerously only when he comes up behind you on a bike. Here are the questions I must answer to avoid leprosy:

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?

I honestly don't know. I don't pay attention to which bikes are good. I like Elden's road bike that I picked up with one finger. And I want a mountain bike that makes me go faster, especially at altitute. In short, I want a really good bike.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?

No, I don't own the coveted dream bike. No, I'm not working towards getting it. Spending $5,000 on a tricked-out bike is taking food out of my children's mouths. Literally. I would have to pull the macaroni and cheese out of their mouths and put it up for sale on eBay.

If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?

If this question really means every day for the rest of my life, I'd have to pick something relatively easy, like Hogg's Hollow or South Fork. When I'm 72, I don't want to have to drag my colostomy bag up and down a hard ride like Tibble Fork.

But if this question really means "What's your favorite ride?" I'd have to narrow it down to these five:

1) Gooseberry Mesa
2) Tibble Fork
3) Gold Bar Rim
4) Little Creek Mesa
5) Slickrock

What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to to do for the rest of her / his life?

This has the makings of a sci-fi novel. On the planet of Gebarn, enslaved Polowots are forced to do all kinds of things against their will. One polowot must do the same ride every day for the rest of his life -- until he escapes! On a Vespa!

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrowminded?

I ride both, but I spend way more time on my road bike since I live in Seattle.

Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.

Yes, I have ridden a recumbent, and it was fastastic. Seriously. It put a huge smile on my face. I wouldn't think twice about riding a recumbent around.

Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?

Yes, triathlon. No, flossy suicide. In my first triathlon, I won my age group (35-40). For my victory, I received an Ironman watch, which was an excellent conversation starter: "Hey, guess where I got this watch..."

I swam in high school. In fact, I was a two-time state champion* so I could hop in a lake right now and swim a mile in under 20 minutes. But I destroyed my knee training for a marathon, so I'm not supposed to run more than 6 miles. If I do a sub-12 Leadville, I'm going to train again for triathlons.

* The Upper Peninsula in Michigan is officially considered a state in high school athletics.

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?

Easy -- ice cream. I could take or leave it. Now if you gave me the choice between bicycles and pastries, I'd have a more difficult choice. But you said ice cream, so that's the end of that.

What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it.

“Do prefer riding uphill or downhill on a bike?” would be my question, to which my answer would be "Both!"

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?

Look for a wild berry to eat.

Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below.

No. The cycle of tagging ends here. I do not fear leprosy. By the way, I read a cool article about a doctor named Paul Brand who spent his life trying to cure lepers. When he visited the leper colony, he tried to figure out why lepers lost their fingers and toes and went blind.

He had an epiphany when he tried to open a jammed lock with a key. The leper boy who was with him grabbed the key and opened the door instantly. But the boy's hand was torn and bleeding. The Dr. Brand realized that leprosy caused partial paralysis, and the lepers were losing their fingers and toes to avoidable injuries and nibbling rats. So he had them wear heavy duty gloves and socks.

Lepers also developed cataracts more easily because they weren't blinking enough due to damaged optic nerves. When Dr. Brand figured this out, he performed a simple surgery in which he rerouted the eye muscles to the jaw muscles so that whenever the patients moved their jaws, their eyes would blink. True story. And that's why lepers look so silly.

Leadville 2008 Status Report, Part VI

Three weeks to go until the big race.

I am not ready. I repeat. I am not ready. I am five pounds heavier than I was last year. I get winded more easily climbing hills and running up the Thistle stairs. I'm telling you, I'm not ready.

Finishing Leadville in under 12 hours isn't entirely out of the question. I missed the 12 hour mark by 25 minutes, but it's not like I had a good race. The altitude messed me up from the beginning. If I'm feeling well, I could cut 25 minutes off the Columbine Mine climb. I could cut 25 minutes off the Powerline climb. Hell, I could cut off 25 minutes if I had just stopped at the last rest stop for only 5 minutes instead of 30. I could cut 25 minutes off by riding a faster bike.

So yes, if the altitude doesn't get to me, I could finish in under 12 hours. But since I live at sea level, and since the race reaches 12,600 feet, can't I assume the altitude will get to me? But that's being too negative. Here are some positives:

* Last year, two weeks before the race I went on a cruise to Alaska. While I had fun, eating rich cafeteria food wasn't exactly the best way to train.

* This year, I'll be in Utah ten days before the race instead of five days before the race. That means I can do three or four small training rides at altitude instead of just one. That could mean a lot.

* While the conditions were nearly perfect last year -- fast course, no rain, no headwind -- it was really hot in the afternoon. Maybe we'll get cooler weather and an actual tailwind. Or at least I'll cool myself off better with a water bottle.

* Last year, my single biggest mistake was accepting the pain. I should have taken Tums early in the race when my stomach was bothering me. I should have taken ibuprofen and Tums the first time I hit a wall on Columbine. I waited until I was three-fourths done with Powerline, which gave me the energy to ride faster than I had all day. If I can do a better job of pill popping, I can avoid losing so much time on the two biggest climbs.

* This year, maybe the highway won't be jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive.

Estimated time if the race were held tomorrow: 12:15

Estimated finishing time on August 9: 11:59.30

Ride Report - STP 2008

I woke up at 3:30 on Saturday morning and debated whether to try to sleep for a half hour before the alarm went off. I couldn't sleep, so I got up, ate breakfast, and unloaded the dishwasher out of guilt. I started the ride from my driveway at 4:20am. It was still dark, even in Seattle.

I live in West Seattle, which should really be called South Seattle since it's due south of downtown. Instead of driving to the starting line, I decided to ride north to meet the early starting riders at the I-90 bridge. I ended up riding an extra 3.5 miles, which seemed like nothing until I got close to Portland.

Early Speed - I went out too fast by plan. I wanted to bonk and then work my way out of a bonk to practice for Leadville. So I jumped behind two tandem bikes from California who were going about 23 mph. You get a good draft off tandem bikes, so I wasn't pushing too hard. I stayed in pace lines for the first half of the ride.

One big difference between this year and last year -- the pace lines were smaller and more traditional in 2008, with each rider taking a pull. Last year, nearly all the trains I jumped onto were being pulled either by an exceptionally strong rider who was dragging along his wife or buddies, or by a team of strong cyclists that didn't care about sharing the pull. I left a little earlier this year and rode faster early on, so maybe that accounts for the difference.

Tailwind - For the last 150 miles, we had a nice tailwind that at its weakest caused the leaves to rustle and at its strongest caused flags to wave straight out.

Besides helping you to go faster, the great thing about a tailwind is that when you hit a wall, you can drop out, ease up, and still go along at a pretty good clip. For me, it was pretty easy to sit up and still go 18-20 mph -- at least until we crossed into Oregon for the last 50 miles.

The heat - In the afternoon, the bank displays along Highway 30 flashed temperatures between 92 and 94 degrees. I was worn out and riding around 15 mph, blowing by a few people but watching a whole bunch of people blow by me. I never really bonked, but I hit a few little walls here and there. At various points along the way, I saw riders collapsed in the shade. I heard later that a whole bunch of riders trying to make it one day had to abandon the ride from heat exhaustion.

The Lexington bridge - People kept talking about how treacherous the Lexington Bridge is, but I didn't understand what the issue was. There was a dedicated section with room for two riders to ride side-by-side. But no one mentioned the fact that there are huge gaps in the bridge on the downhill side that can cause a pinch flat or even taco a wheel if you hit them. Fortunately, I was riding alone, so I had time to jump my bike over the gaps.

Friends and Family - Minette, Andy, and Wendy and the boys drove down to meet me at the Lexington food stop and again at the finish line. Stan and Grey met them at the finish line, so I had a whole throng cheering my arrival. That puts a smile on your face.

Final stats

Total time: ~14 hours
Total time in saddle: 12 hours 35 minutes
Maximum speed: 40.9 mph
Average speed: 16.6 mph
Distance: 208.3 miles

Conclusion

Riding 200+ miles in a day isn't exactly fun. I love the course and the support and the festivities, but I don't want to do it again, not in one day. I'd rather take two days. I'd stop and eat pancakes, fill a Camelbak with whiskey, and sing "Danny Boy" during the ride.

Photo courtesy of Minette.

Pre-Ride Report

I'll be riding the STP (Seattle to Portland) again this year. The ride is tomorrow. Because I finished this 206-mile ride in one day last year and failed to break 12 hours at Leadville, I have it in my mind that the STP is a cinch while Leadville is nearly impossible.

Today, the day before the STP, all of a sudden I'm getting jittery. I'm just remembering now that I had a pretty serious bonk last year around the 110-mile point. I was dizzy and sick to my stomach. I tried to call Wendy so that I could tell her to forget about meeting me at the next check point and come pick me up right then. Fortunately, we had a bad connection, so I was forced to keep riding. By the time I got to mile 146, I had recovered enough to push through the last 60 miles. By the end of the ride, I felt sore and tired but happy that I made it.

I was in better shape last year.

This year, we're going to ride in temperatures in the 90s. For you desert types, 90 degrees seems like nothing, but in the humid northwest, 90 degrees is hot, especially for people who are used to 55-degree weather seven months out of the year.

In an odd way, I'm looking forward to a nasty bonk. I think one of the reasons I failed at Leadville last year was due to mental weakness. It took me too long to work my way out of pain, and I made things worse by mashing a high gear and getting discouraged. And discouragement is Satan's tool. He has a pitch fork in one hand and discouragement in the other, the foul red beast. I hate him!

Tomorrow will not be a jaunty ride down the coast to meet friends and family. No. It will be Bob's Battle Against Beezlebub! BBAB. Courage! I shall not fail!

Olio

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't updated my web log in awhile. Here are the reasons.

Work - I'm in crunch mode at work. Basically, now that most of Adobe's products are part of a suite, I'm extra busy whenever the suites near the end of the 18-month cycle. Now is that time. After the suites ship, I'll be in cruise mode for the next year or so, and then it ramps up all over again. In the past, writers worked on several different products during the year, sharing the workload. Now, the writers work on one project, unless of course there aren't enough writers, in which case certain writers have to work on multiple products. In my case, I'm responsible for four different help systems -- InDesign, InCopy, Version Cue, and some goofy Japanese product. As compensation, I have demanded two extra phones for my desk.

Lisa - My sister has cancer -- a particularly aggressive form of lymphoma. No, it's not Hodgkins, which is highly treatable. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is still treatable, and Lisa has a good chance of surviving. Still, Lisa's cancer made me profoundly sad. She's a single mother of a 1-year-old toddler who's now undergoing chemotherapy, which is harsher than aromatherapy by a good margin. I've been meaning to write about Lisa, but the situation was too depressing and uncertain. I thought about writing other entries, but I kept wanting -- and not wanting -- to write about Lisa, if that makes sense.

Cycling - I've gone on two (2) mountain bike rides since last I wrote. One was a six-hour ride at Tiger Mountain in which I kept doing loops around the Preston and Iverson trails. Six hours is a long time to ride a mountain bike alone. I've mentioned this before, but I would almost rather prefer riding a road bike alone. Riding a mountain bike alone is actually depressing to me.

One good thing about being alone at Tiger Mountain is that I took a particularly embarrassing fall that I'm glad no one saw. It was one of those slow-motion falls that lends itself to announcers. Here's what the announcers would have said if they had been there.

Announcer 1: And here comes Bob riding up the trail. This is unusual because most mountain bikers ride up the 5-mile dirt road and ride down the singletrack trail, while Bob is riding up. Isn't that unusual, Announcer 2?

Announcer 2: Sort of. I know people who put their bikes on ski lifts to go up to the top of the mountain.

A1: Right, it's very unusual. And here goes Bob. He's riding up over a set of roots, and IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!

A2: He's tipping over. I though he could pull it out, but he tipped over.

A1: He's on a downslope right now with his hand just above a puddle.

A2: Now his hand is in the puddle. Why would he put his hand in the puddle like that?

A1: I have a better question -- Why did he slide the side of his body into the puddle like that?

A2: Where is his arm strength? Where is his agility?

A1: Look. Now he just put his foot in the puddle. It's like he doesn't care anymore about personal hygiene. What's next? Will he throw himself headlong into the puddle and make a mud angel?

A2: No, he's made it out. He's swearing. He's saying lots of swear words right now, aloud.

A1: "Chit. Ducking duck. Some in a ducking birch." That's all I could make out.

A2: He's riding again. Oh, here comes someone down the hill. They just rode by.

A1: Yes, and he's gone now. That was uneventful. Let's hope Bob comes down again. That should be fun.

I also rode Crop Circles this morning while listening to Bruce Springsteen.

Music - It's official. In any desert island scenario, the Boss would make it on my list, even if it's a list of one. I just discovered an album of his called "Born in the USA."

Television - It's also official. Deadwood is my favorite television show. I'm not saying it's the best. But for me, it's the most watchable and rewatchable. It's oddly ugly in its beauty and beautiful in its ugliness.

And now I better stop ignoring the twins.

Bob