Leadville 09

At first I just wrote "Leadville" for the title of this post, but I'm beginning to think that this race is something that will occur more than once or twice, so I am going to have to specifiy the year.

Sam and I left last Thursday, headed for the bizarre town of Leadville, Colorado for a 100 mile mountain bike race. It is like 10,800 feet altitude. Old mining town that seems to be lost in time. Again we stayed at "The Delaware" hotel which is an experience itself! I'm sure dad will sum up the race pretty detailed on his blog, so I will just say how proud I am of him and the 13 or so others who were there with us! It was a total blast cheering and crewing for them! Good times with great people.We all mostly wore "Fat Cyclist" jerseys in support of Eldon.
Again Sam amazed me with his athletic talent...this year he raced on his single speed bike which is even more challenging. He faced and endured his biggest weakness - the cold. At the top of the huge climb (Columbine) it was hailing and freezing strong winds. When I heard this from some of the leaders, I began to worry because I know Sam does not do well in the cold. When I saw him approaching me for the second stop, I was so relieved that he hadn't quit. Sure enough, the first thing he said was "I had to stop for some hot soup" in a little boy voice. Poor guy. But he finished in great time with 3 of his buddies and he got his sweet belt buckle! Big props to Rick.

In the end, every guy (and Whitney) said it was the most brutal race they've ever done. Most said they would never ever do it again. But it didn't take long because the next day I heard many conversations about next year's attack. Whitney you are absolutely fantastic!
Way to go everyone! Oh yeah, and way to go Lance! While most racers are pushing to finish in 9 and 12 hours, he won the race in record time of 6:28! It's always fun to see Lance. See Dug here for a story that will melt your heart. I still can't write about it.

And this is what we came home to. Thanks Megan and Josh for staying with our kids and taking such good care of them! They had a great time!