Riding the miles for The Raymond Wentz Foundation

Exceptional Events; WW rider takes Leadville 100 under 7 hours (!!); and an Over-hanging Dark Cloud

The Dark Cloud: Josh Blum is one of our best bike handlers and multi-recipient of the Compassionate Rider Award, most recently for stopping in the Leadville 50 Mtn Bike race to help another rider fix his chain (he still finished at 5 hours). In the Leadville 100, Josh began the Sugar Loaf descent, found his riding line encroached upon, and fell off the side of his bike square onto a rock. He broke his pelvis in multiple places and it was thanks to WW rider Todd Stevenson that help finally arrived. His Garmin Computer indicated a speed of 16 m.ph. at the time of the crash (not real fast) and 2 hours 12 minutes elapsed before he was transported out. We’ll ponder with race officials how to make rescue more safe and time efficient. All things considered, Josh’s spirits are good, and he will recover. Even for the cautious and the best of bike handlers, bike racing is a dangerous sport, and each must decide if it merits the risk.

Willa’s Runners take on the Leadville Trail 100. Which is tougher, the run or the bike? You only have to run a section of the course and then look at the race-time cut-offs, 30 hours versus 12 hours. Adam Mackstaller blazed to his first 100-miler in 23h 32m, taking 36th place. Bill Farrett has finished this race twice (previous 13th place), with Addison’s Disease (no stress hormones) and wisely knew when his body was telling him to stop this time around. John Rice, 2-time previous finisher, made it to mile 78 before intense foot pain kept him from continuing.

Good WW showing at Copper Triangle: 24 riders wore the WW jersey for this one and all finished this tough ride, including our 3 flatlanders, Bill Stanley, Mark Skirgaudas, and Pieter Cohen. The flatlanders exhibited various successful training approaches. Cohen navigated Boston traffic to get some biking miles to and from work; Stanley found “the hill” in Columbus Ohio and had been riding it continuously since June; and Skirgaudas took to 20-minute anaerobic rowing bursts in preparation for the Masters Championships (?and Copper Triangle). The Continuous Micro-Seat Adjustment Technique: Some were skeptical, but Cohen successfully employed this throughout the race: “….that way you keep using different muscles.” Consider this challenging event for WW next season (5800 feet of climbing over 78 miles).

Breckenridge Epic: Jeff Carter capped off a phenomenal 1-speed season (3rd place Bailey Hundo under 8 hours and 3rd place Breck 100) with this 6-day multi-stage Mountain bike race and, again, a podium finish. It requires a sizable “Hall Pass”, but this is one to consider for next year with sweet single track, lots of climbing, and tasty dining under the stars (go to: http://breckepic.com/).

How to go under 7 hours at Leadville 100? Stig Somme: 6 hours 51m and 8th place!! Clear your schedule—you need focus. This summer, Stig worked as a pediatric surgeon with frequent in-house overnight and weekend call, traveled to Europe twice, took classes towards his Public Health Masters, attended a wedding (his own)….and his wife Ruth is 7 months pregnant. Build the base. With no races this season and feeling the need to improve his fitness, Stig did Pierre’s Hole (100 mile Mtn Bike race, largely single track, with 16K of climbing)….7 days before Leadville! (4th place despite mechanical problems). Have a pre-race routine. The day before the Leadville 100, he rounded on his patients, attended a lecture, and drove up from Denver, squeaking into the registration line before the 10 a.m. cut-off. “You better get to sleep. It might be hard to fall asleep,” Stacy observed pre-race. Stig couldn’t comprehend the statement. “You know, with the race tomorrow….everybody’s pretty amped up.” Stig: “What? Not sleep?” 515 a.m. race day I pull out of the driveway and peer over at Stig’s camper which is dark and silent. Stig later wandered into the house and drank some coffee (he really is multi-talented on the bike), and made it to the start line in time to crawl into the back of his 250-person start corral. Real Quotes from Stig: “I almost DNF’d on St.Kevins….People were going so fast.” Looks like we were not alone on this line of thinking for the race’s first climb. “Sir Brentjens went ahead on the Powerline climb….really they call him Sir.” Dutch rider Bart Brentjens was deemed a “Sir” after winning a Olympic gold medal in mountain biking (finished 6th place, 5 minutes ahead of Stig). This caliber of this race has rocketed in recent years with 14 riders going under 7 hours in 2011 (none had done that until the 14th edition), 79 riders going under 8 hours (28 had done that in 2010) and the likes of David ‘Tinker’ Juarez finishing 15th place this year in 7h 2m. “I was pretty wimpy on the downhills.” The “W” on Stig’s jersey was flat-lined, as was my heart, as he flew downhill past me at 11600 feet on the columbine climb (Leadville is an out-and-back, with the turn-around at 12,500 feet). We all found Stig back at the finish-line, showered and post afternoon Latte. ….Is it Ok if we call you “Sir”?

The High-Maintenance Biker: Maybe it’s because I’ve done a handful of ultra Mountain Bike Races now, but I was remarkably relaxed for this year’s Leadville 100. You took your bike to Leadville’s Cycles of Life for yet another pre-race tune? It’s good luck to put their deft hands on the bike pre-race. And besides, they weren’t really that busy this summer (“Eat, work, sleep….Eat, work, sleep” since June). You slept approximately zero minutes the night before the race? It’s important to visualize the race….again,…and again,….and again. You positioned Stacy at 6 different spots to hand you up single bottles? Oh, Stacy finds the race really relaxing—it’s a stress reducer (“You should have gotten me a couple of ativan for tomorrow’s race.”) Friend Eugene Chu biked 3000 feet up the Columbine climb to give you a bottle that weighed 1.5 pounds (and turned down Tinker Juarez who asked him longingly if he had a drink)? You know Eugene—he wanted to do that. His Saturday would not have been complete without a good work-out. You achieved your under-8 hour goal by 1 minute and 47 seconds? Is this going to re-enforce this obsessive behavior? You know ,next year if Stacy runs a little faster alongside the bike for those hand-offs….

Great showing by WW in L100 Mtn Bike. 14 of 17 WW bikers finished under 12 hours. Ari Melmed was the energizer for Willa’s Wheels, starting with recruiting friend, and former Navy Seal, Brad Kolarov (10h 34m). He then brought in 2 other E.D. docs for a Leadville 100 intra-E.D. competition (Dave Kaleugher –10h42m and Ryan Patterson, strong effort all the way up Columbine) and Max Hagen (personal best 10h10m) brought in a fourth (Rick Henderson) . Ari rigorously analyzed training approaches, nutrition, and split times in a way that would have made the most fastidious of coaches insecure, and conquered the Leadville 100 in 9h 34 minutes. Shannon O’Grady took her 1×10 gearing under 11 hours in her first Leadville 100 (“I could have used a few more gears up Powerline and Sugar Loaf). Kristina Tocce and Adam Trosterman overcame an asthma attack at 12000 feet and took their tandem bike across the line under 12 hours. They have raised almost $5K. Rachel Farrett raised over 5K in 10 days and capped off a great season (2nd in Leadville 50 and 5th at Crested Butte) with a 9 hour 10 minute finish (despite a flat), crossing the line, arms raised, simultaneously with Peter Riley. Kristin Riley-Lazo took 1 hour 30 minutes off her previous best time, and Mary Blomquist stayed steady to finish solidly under 12 hours. Much, much thanks to many WW volunteers, including Leanna and Jamie Harris and Eugene Chu and Josh Toplitsky at Twin Lakes and Jenny Gallaher and Hill Harris at Pipeline.

Kids/Family Ride and Summer Wrap-up Party Sunday September 25th. Join us for kid and family-friendly rides along the highline canal of various distances, followed by a party at Arapahoe Tennis Club. We will provide various flavors of tasty goo as well as tasty sports nutrition drinks with added fat and protein, like perpetuem and accelerade (oh, and some beer, beverages, and actual real food). Awards will be given. Bring family, friends, a hungry stomach, and ideas for Willa’s Wheels as we ponder next season. Details and e-vite to come.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 9:07 pm and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.