2016 Leadville Silver Rush 50

The only other time I raced the Leadville Silver Rush 50 (SR 50) was in 2011.  I vowed I would never race it again because it is so hard and does not suit my skills.  The SR 50 is like the Leadville Trail 100, except there are no flat sections.  In the SR 50, we started at the elevation of Leadville (10,150) and climbed above tree line three times on the way to the turn-around, and three times on the way back.  If you weren’t trudging foot over foot on the way up (because there were too many rocks and it was too steep), you were trying to bomb down a steep rocky descent.

In 2011, we drove from Newton to Frisco (west of Denver) on Friday, and I raced on Saturday.  This year my work schedule had me in Denver for a meeting on Wednesday and Thursday.  We stayed with friends and hiked in Rocky Mountain National park on Friday.  We drove to Leadville Friday afternoon and checked in to the race.  We met Matt and Sandy at High Mountain Pies for a pizza and to catch up.  Matt was driving out and was hauling my bike and a bit of gear.  The fact we would get a chance to hang out in Leadville with Matt and Sandy and they were willing to haul my bike were the main reasons I broke my vow to never race the SR 50 again.

I was expecting my new lighter bike to provide a benefit on the steep climbs.  I checked my time in 2011 from the application I use to download data from my Joule GPS cycling computer and saw 5:29 recorded for 2011.  My goal is to improve my time from year to year, even though I get a year older each year.

The low the night before the race was 47, but by race time it had warmed to above 60.  This is truly mountain weather.  Skies were bright blue, there was no chance for rain in the forecast.   The weather looked perfect.

The race starts with a 100 yard very steep climb.  It is so steep no one is able to ride it.  There is a prize for the first male and female to the top.  Everyone else tries to catch their breath in the tight dusty trail which starts just after the ascent.  On a short tight descent Jeff went flying by me with a polite hello.  I was very surprised I made it to the top of the foot hill ahead of Jeff. 

Matt, Brad and Jeff at the start line before climbing the first hill.

Within 20 – 30 minutes the first long climb starts.  This climb will take me 1.5 hours and top out over tree line.  The climb was hard, but I felt as good as I expected.  I still had not seen Matt, and was thinking I may be ahead of one other flatlander.  Once at the top there is a wide gravel road descent with patches of exposed rocks.  Matt (and what seemed like everyone else) flew by me on the descent.

On the third climb above tree line I started meeting the leaders on their way back.  Once over the top, the descent is very steep, rutted and rocky.  I was trying hard to ride because I knew riding was several times faster than walking.  There were a couple times I nearly crashed as I was descending, but was able to pull it together.

As the descent started to flatten out I knew we were nearing the turn-around where I would see Jenni and get two full bottles.  There was something a bit different about the route at the turn-around, but soon I was able to stop and grab fresh bottles because I had drained both in the three hours it had taken me to get to the turn-around.  In my foggy mind I was able to complete the simple math to subtract 3 hours from 5 and one half hours to get to two and one half hours remaining.  I felt a sense of ease because I was past halfway from a time standpoint.   How bad could the remaining race time be?

As I was climbing a slight grade I encountered a car on the mountain road.  The car was actually on the course and was pulled over to yield to oncoming riders.  Because the car was taking up over half the course I could not pass.  Luckily, it started moving quickly and pulled off so I could safely pass. 

I knew the climb back up the first big mountain pass was steep from my recent descent.  I was very tired and likely dehydrated.  I rode as far as I could, but was forced to walk to the top.  It was a long distance and quite steep.  It felt like it took over an hour.  I even stopped a couple times to rest my body and get my breath.  I noticed a couple times my PowerTap Joule cycling computer had gone to sleep because I was moving so slow.  It is hard to believe pushing a 21 pound bike while walking uphill can be so tiring for your entire body.  Maybe being at 11,000+ feet of elevation has something to do with it.  At least the view was spectacular!

One of the spectacular views on the way back down to Leadville.

Each climb on the way back was difficult.  I finally came to the last long climb up a wide gravel road.  I knew it was long, but I thought it would not be so steep.  I started grinding up this climb and tried to get into a good rhythm.  There was no shade in sight and I was going through my fluids.  With each twist in the road I would discover I was not at the top.  Finally, I made the last corner and could see the top.  It had flattened out some, but since I was above tree line, there was no going fast.  I made the turn to start down the long descent without walking any of the gravel road.  Now to bomb down the several mile descent without crashing or flatting.

I made it down the descent to a flat section near the finish.  Several racers passed me on the way down.  I was able to keep one in sight once we were on the flat.  As we approached the finish I realized the finish route had changed.  I was able to follow the course and made it to the finish line.  I crossed the finish line at 6:32 and Ken Chlouber put a finisher’s medal around my neck and handed me a silver glass.  I was both elated and disappointed.  I was happy the pain would stop, but disappointed with my time (63 minutes longer than 2011).

When I looked at my Joule computer I saw a much different time.  I recalled it had gone to sleep because I was moving so slowly it thought I was stopped.  I quickly understood the time on my Joule would not match my race time.  It did not dawn on me; the time I had looked at from 2011 was the time from my computer, not my actual race time.  When I compared the actual race times I learned I finished in 6:09 in 2011, so I was only 23 minutes slower in 2016.  While this still was not where I wanted to be, it felt much better than being over an hour slower.  Life is about perspective; being 23 minutes slower sounds good compared to 63 minutes slower.

For the record, I am never doing the SR 50 mountain bike race again.  This time I mean it and you are all my witness!