220 Days and Counting

Until the Leadville 100. The Karate Monkey patiently waits out the winter dark.
Why countdown to this race? There will be other races, other events, other rides; before and after August 9th. Rides that are more fun, rides that are longer, races that have more singletrack, races that have less singlespeeding. Definitely races with less pushing. But very likely, no rides or races that have the presence of Leadville. Presence lent by the history of the race, by the deeds of past champions, by the character of the events founders, by the dedication of its volunteers, by, most of all, the 900+ racers who toe the starting line. It's the 800 pound gorilla of marathon races.
Oh, how I tried to like the Leadville that first year. And the second. It's just hard to really get into it when you have to choose between pushing past mile sixty and checking yourself into the hospital for two weeks. Damn you, ulcerative colitis.
Then the wizards who gave you the Six Million Dollar Man ($28.9 million in 2006 dollars) got a hold of me. One TPCIAA surgery gone wrong, then corrected, then riddled with complications, and finally recovered fully from, later, and I was ready to go. All I can say is, Steve Austin got ripped off. I can do all the same cool things he did, minus that awesome "Schwich-chi-chi-sha" sound effect when I jump over things. Actually, it'd totally be worth an extra million or so to get that sound--too bad my surgeon didn't offer a-la-carte upgrades.
Anyway, back to the story. Post surgery in 2005, I was able to finish Leadville, and do pretty well, too. But I couldn't say it was really all that fun. It took until 2007 for me to realize that it wasn't supposed to be. The real challenge at Leadville isn't the mileage. It isn't the climbing or the weather. Or the endless doubletrack. The challenge is to have fun despite the fact that all those elements are (purposefully, apparently) arranged to deliver to the racer the most mentally crushing experience possible. Here's where your fellow racers come into play. As with entrenched World War I infantrymen faced with the the demoralizing affront of endless artillery barrages who might cope with their implacable situation by punching each other the shoulder and commenting with cheeky British humour about the "Bloody lousy weather we're having!" while laughing hysterically; so too do the enqued Leadville racers, faced with the appallingly distant Columbine Aid Station and the demoralizing affront of proximate lightning strikes and thunder, cope with their inexplicably self-imposed situation by punching each other on the shoulder and commenting with cheeky British humour about the "Right-crap weather we're having!" while laughing hysterically and slipping on a discarded GU package.

It's all about the journey, after all. Especially when you're hours away from the podium. In that situation, I like to chat with the volunteers at the aid stations.

Ed Ellinger Photo

Leadville has some of the best. Aid stations and volunteers. Heck, in life you hope to find friends who will support you as you seek your goals. At Leadville, for one day and for one goal, you have hundreds of friends to back you up. Thanks folks.
So,yup, finally, after five starts, I'm looking forward to Leadville. It's gonna be a fun ride.