Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Leadville modivational music

YouTube - Primus - Wynona's Big Brown Beaver Some people ask me - Cory, what kind of music do you listen to when you do those long races to keep you going.So i said behold, here is a sample.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Leadville race week report

So me and my wife left for Leadville on Monday night with the trailer in tow and drove 3hrs to stay at Turtle River State Park in ND USA.It was nice with a bike trail close by ( which i rode Tuesday morning ). On day 2 we drove on to Ponca State Recreation Area (7hrs) in Nebraska which had just had a storm so there were many downed tree's.From there on day 3 we drove to Windmill State Recreation Area  ( 4hrs ) which was nice and quiet and was close to the interstate.On day four we had a 10hr drive with stops to get to our final camping spot in Buena Vista CO USA which is 30 miles south of Leadville and is at 8000ft.We then settled in and went to bed.Day 5 i headed up to Leadville at 10000ft with Brandy to check in and get my race bag.There was also a rider's briefing later on in the morning.Man there were alot of people and the weather was great.I got all my stuff looked around talked to lots of nice people and then went to local bike shop for some supplies while Brandy got us a seat for lunch.Holy smackers the lunch was good i couldn't even finish the hole thing.Then we headed back to the camper at 8000ft to get my shit together.Soon it was bed time and because they started staging at 5 am i had to get up at 3:30 am plus we had a 30 min drive to get there.When i arrived at 5:45am i was almost last in a line up of over 1000 people so i had to weasel my way up to around the middle.The start was controlled with all the pro's at the front.I wanted to get past as many people as i could before we reached the first climb but there were just to many and there wasn't much opportunity to pass so i just went with the flow.There was lots of climbing and lots of rocky fast descents which i made sure to take my time on.I saw one guy that had gone down hard and had to be choppered out with head trauma.I never saw so much liter on the trails though.There were bottle's, gels,number plates,food and clothes.It was the worst i have ever seen.The last climb on the outbound at 13000ft is what made me suffer bad.I honestly though if i pushed any harder i was going to pass out.They say you need 3weeks to a month to get used to the altitude and i had 2 days.Every time i would talk to people they would say how they were here for a month or were sleeping in oxygen tents at 13000 ft and then they would ask me where i was from and after i told them they would say good luck with that but i can say now after looking at the results that i beat alot of those people.I guess i can suffer more.The return 50 miles was a death march.I saw so many mech's like chain's,pedal's,rear dropouts and ton's of tire's.I was glad to see the finish line because i was cooked.It was for sure my hardest race ever a true ultra endurance race.I also forgot to mention there were alot of single speeders and tandem bikes.Every one was friendly and the volunteers were super.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

?????

The bicycle had two flat tires, but Greg Estes figured the $5 asking price still made it a great bargain at a yard sale. Little did he know just how great.



Estes checked on the bike's origin after buying it in Owenton this month. He was shocked to learn it may be worth as much as $8,000 and was custom built for cycling star Floyd Landis, who used it in the 2007 Leadville 100, a mountain bike race in Colorado.



Landis crashed but finished second in that race, which was shortly after his victory in the 2006 Tour de France, a win since vacated due to doping charges.



"It's a Cadillac of bicycles, that's for sure," said Estes, 38, of Owenton. "It's just unreal how good it rides."



A sticker on the bike told him it was custom built by Cyco-Path Bicycles out of Temecula, Calif., near San Diego. Store manager Loren Foley said he was stunned when Estes started describing the parts, knowing the company had made only one such model and they remembered it well considering Landis' celebrity at the time.



Foley dug up photographs of the Colorado race to be sure and recognized Landis' crashed bicycle as identical to the model Estes was describing.



"It's even got the same under-the-seat gear bag, the same tires," Foley said. "It's definitely the same bike."



As for value, Foley said Estes could expect to collect $5,500 to $6,000 for it on the open market – maybe quite a bit more if he gets actual value or a premium because it once belonged to a celebrity.



For fun, Estes put the bike in his own yard sale, replacing the $5 price tag with a $6,000 one. He got no takers, but a lot of perplexed looks.



Story continues below



He says he planned to resell it ever since he bought it, and certainly does now.



"I was planning on making a couple hundred dollars off it," Estes said. "Never dreamed it would come out to be an $8,000 bicycle. Kind of just blows your mind, something like that."



Estes says he understands how the bike got discounted. Besides the flat tires, it had pedals that the yard sale owner thought were broken but actually are the smaller, clip-in pedals used by serious riders.



The bigger mystery, however, is how it got to the yard sale at all. The seller told Estes her family found it on the side of an interstate highway in Kentucky.



Landis did not immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment. He recently returned to the spotlight when he sent e-mails to cycling officials that accused ex-teammate Armstrong, along with his longtime doctor and trainer, and numerous other U.S. cyclists, of running an organized doping program earlier this decade. Armstrong has strongly denied the allegations.



Estes says he offered the previous yard sale owner part of the profits if he resells, but her response was finders, keepers.



"If someone lost it or had it stolen and wants it back, they can have it back, but it's going to take some serious documentation," Estes said. "They're going to have to show some big-time proof."



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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Screw Milk!!! Got Oxygen???

Well i made home alive.This race was the hardest thing i have ever done.It's my new #1 suffer fest.This is the first time i thought my health was in jeopardy.I started to feel ill and entered a dark place  as i reached the top of Columbine at 13,000ft and then suffered all the way back home.I had to dig deep to finish on time and fight off nausea and dizzyness.There is no recovery over 10,000ft and i was just wrecked as i crossed the finish line.I have never felt this way after any race i have done but felt better the next day.I will do a race report with pics as soon as i can,stay tuned.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

2010 leadville 100 start list

http://303cycling.com/2010-leadville-start-list

Times's top 10 endurance events

This year's 24 Hours of Le Mans saw automaker Audi finish in first, second, and third place. TIME looks at other notable tests of human stamina.




Full ListIs It Over Yet?

24 Hours of Le Mans

Tour de France

Dakar Rally

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Cannonball Run

4 Deserts

Tevis Cup

Marathon des Sables

La Ruta de los Conquistadores

Vendee Globe





Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1869820,00.html#ixzz0vYDuemVi