Leadville Finish Line Update

In a small town race you are bound to meet everyone. I took this picture of Floyd and Ryan before the race.

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It was a brisk 43F this morning. This pre-race photo shows Floyd greeting other fans.


This is the lead out of the starting line.  Floyd is in the center behind the car and slightly behind the rider in blue.


I met Suzanne, Ryan's mom at the Fish Hatchery twenty miles into the race and six miles before the first crew pit stop at Pipeline. We enjoyed cheering the riders and gave the riders who waved and acknowledged us back with "points".
The lead group contained five riders including Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis and Mike Kosler.


My second shot shows the detail of Floyd's injuries that happened early in the race.



It was hot at the finish line. It was exciting. Dave Wiens had broken the record of 7:05 by finishing at 6:58:46. Floyd finished at 7:00:30 also besting the old record.

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Floyd disappeared pretty quickly after he finish. I hope to see all the riders tomorrow for the awards ceremony in the Leadville gym.

Next time I would like to ask for press credentials so I get better photos!

Leadville Hatchery

Near the 20 mile mark of the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race prior to the Pipeline crew station there is a National Fish Hatchery. The lead group of five riders including Dan Wiens and Floyd Landis passed the hatchery at 8:10 am. Photos confirmed the observation that that Floyd had a red raspberry on his thigh and blood on his knee. Floyd is number 1220.

Standing along the side of the road a few cyclists nearly took my toes off. I am not a crazy Basque fan and was politely in the dirt. But I did move back after a few close encounters. The riders were strung out and dribbled past us for the next hour that we stayed.

Leadville Startline

We arrived at Harrison and 6th in Leadville Colorado for the race start. The elite riders had their bikes lying on the pavement as the rest of the peloton queued up behind the netting. The fire engines arrived to put up the start/finish banner. Late arrivals were checking in with race organizers at the start line. There weren't alot of spectators until Floyd Landis appeared and the flock congregated for signatures and photo ops. After a few snapshots we hiked up the hill on 6th to watch the peloton start the race. The array of riders passed by. There were five tandems, but I saw only three. I also saw the rider with the one leg. As the group moved up this little incline, a rider commented "this hill feels good!"