Leadville Trail 100 Recap

By: Floyd Landis

Well, that was fun. No, seriously it was a blast.

Considering the Leadville Trail 100 is almost all over 10,000 feet of elevation, climbs somewhere in the vicinity of 15,000 feet of vertical and that I laid it down in massive, 35mph wash-out on an early downhill, I’d say it was a great experience. One I look forward to making an annual excursion.

I’d like to take some time for a few thank you’s. Starting with a big thanks to the fine people at Smith & Nephew who have been extremely supportive through rehabilitation and training with my Birmingham Hip. We made the right choice, used the best technology and now are seeing the results with my BHR.

Next, a very special thanks to Ken Chlouber and Merillee O’Neal, who have built the Leadville race into one of the most impressive and challenging one-day races anywhere in the world. Getting the invite to come to Leadville, despite all the other distractions, shows you what great people they are.

Two final thank you’s; A big, big bravo to the support staff, volunteers and crew people. The sight of some fig newtons and Gatorade has never been made more appealing than by these “saints” of the trail.

Lastly, to all the other competitors who buzzed off the line at about 6:30am not far from the highest Main St. in the country. It was an impressive sound hearing all of us clicking into our pedals, shifting gears and revving up our knobby tires. But what was more impressive was at the end of the day, watching rider after rider roll up into town and cross the finish line, each of us just as tired, hungry, happy and proud as the next. We all rode the same course, the same trails and the same mountain and it was awesome.