Grizz Passes On

Grizz died during the night peacefully in his sleep. Over the last two weeks Grizz had less of an appetite but no obvious signs of illness. He continued to amble around the property, nap and spend time with his human and dog family even on his last day. Last night he walked away from the house and laid down under a full moon, surrounded by pinon trees and mountains and fell asleep forever. Today he was cremated with a picture of his family and flowers from our driveway.


Grizz was adopted from the Ark-Valley Humane Society in the spring of 2007. He was about 8 years old when we took him home. His teeth were worn most likely from years of chewing on fencing and his back end was weak due to nerve degeneration. We know that in the six months before we adopted him he had been at the Leadville Animal Shelter and three homes. He had been bounced from home to home because of destructive behavior and was unable to adjust to living in a kennel while at the shelter.


After we brought him home, he let us know right away that even though he weighed 130 pounds and was covered in thick fur he, in no uncertain terms, was only happy as an inside family dog. Fortunately his calm presence gained him acceptance from the other dogs in our pack. Although he occasionally ate books, he was never destructive or anxious as long as he could come and go from the house as he pleased. He would sleep along the fence whenever we drove away so that he could greet us with a raised head and perky ears upon our return.


Grizz made friends wherever he went and we know that there are many people who loved him and will be touched by his death. I'd like to think his spirit energy is running with his ancestral pack, wolves and dogs alike, as wind through the mountains. I know in my heart that he is eternally at peace.

2008 Townie World Champions

24 Hours in the Sage
Townie World Championships
Gunnison, Colorado
The A-Team: Special Edition
Andrew, Anton, Brandon & Rich
16, 13-mile laps completed in 24 hours
First Place Finish!

Anton & Moby taking it easy before the race start at noon on Saturday at the KOA campground in Gunnison, Colorado.


Andrew finishes the first 13-mile lap of the day for The A-Team: Special Edition. The team is off to a great start with his lap time of 1 hour 13 minutes!


Now it's Anton's turn for his first lap...


Anton lovin' that fast singletrack.


Rich is up next..... And go!

Anton, Andrew & Moby refuel back at the camper.


Rich finishes his lap and Brandon is off and pedaling...


Rich ran the last part of the course due to a flat tire and still made it in 1 hour 27 minutes!


Andrew finishes his fourth lap shortly before midnight. Tambi takes the first half of the night's support duties.


Night laps were exhausting. Brandon makes it in and is ready for bed at 5 am.


Anton completes his first early morning lap and eagerly awaits sunrise as he heads out for a second lap near dawn.


Anton rolls in at 8:48 am and is beyond tired. Rich is up next. Then Brandon and Andrew go out on the final lap together to ensure a timely finish.

Two other four-person townie bike teams raced. The A-Team maintained their lead throughout the race, but the Tune-Up Team stayed hot on their heals, trailing by only a half hour nearing the finish.

Thanks to a great support team, sturdy bikes and a burly effort from the racers, The A-Team wins the 2008 Townie World Championship!


When the race announcer asked the crowd of mountain bike racers if any of them had been passed by a townie bike during the race, about half raised their hands. Everyone laughs & cheers. The A-Team is awarded a bit of cash and lots of applause.

Crest Trail Sans Bicycle

28 Weeks along and I'm starting to make peace with this pregnancy. Mostly because I'm not constantly nauseous anymore. I've come to accept that daily bouts of nausea and heartburn are tolerable after enduring five months of the more extreme variety.

Jon Kabat-Zinn writes:
There is an art to facing difficulties in ways that lead to effective solutions and to inner peace and harmony. When we are able to mobilize our inner resources to face our problems artfully, we find we are usually able to orient ourselves in such a way that we can use the pressure of the problem itself to propel us through it, just as the sailor can position a sail to make the best use of the pressure of the wind to propel the boat.

I learned early on that I couldn't head straight into the wind. As a result of hyperemesis gravidarum, I left my job, I handed over pet chores to my husband, and I sold my bike. Now, that I'm starting to feel human again, I feel way off course and am trying to make sense of that. Going back to where I was isn't an option and motherhood is less than three months away.

I never expected to be up on the Monarch Crest Trail without my bicycle. It seemed unnatural. We got up early and I dropped Anton and two of his friends off at the the top of Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet elevation, so that they could ride the trail and road back into town.


I went for a slow hike with Moby and I was exhausted but thoroughly glad to have gotten out of the house and into the mountains for the first time since March.

Anton van Leuken, Lance Armstrong Race Across The Sky

Anton van Leuken, Lance Armstrong and 818 other competitors rolled from the start at 6:30 am Saturday, August 9th for the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. Although the paparazzi focused most of their attention on Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour de France winner, and Dave Wiens, five time Leadville Trail 100 winner, several pictures of Anton hot on their heels just hours behind the lead pack made it into this blog...


It was cloudy and a brisk 48 degrees at the race start in Leadville, Colorado at 10,350 ft elevation. Dave Wiens, last year's race winner, is wearing lime green and black and has the race plate #1. Lance is wearing yellow and black with race plate #7. Anton is way back there somewhere.

Click Here to see video coverage of the race from VeloNews.tv.


Lance is all business pedaling through the Twin Lakes aid station at mile 60.


Anton is all smiles when he rolls into the Twin Lakes aid station--thinking yes, I've made is this far! They just finished climbing to and descending from the highest point, Columbine Mine, above treeline, at 12,600 ft.

Anton's pit crew; starring pregnant wife Amber, and friends Jackie and Tambi get to work refueling Anton. The cloud cover is ominous but welcomed, keeping temperatures in the 70's.

At the next aid station Anton and his boss Shawn roll through so fast we don't have time for pictures. This is Shawn's 13th year competing in the Leadville Trail 100! They are heading into rainy skies. The last 25 miles of the race ahead are grueling with a very long, steep climb up a powerline access road - where they met with a five minute hailstorm.

Andrew, Tambi and red Rollfast cruiser bike call it a day at the Pipeline aid station.

At Pipeline aid station, friend Andrew just misses the 75 mile cut-off time, and is unable to continue the race after making it 75 miles on his one speed cruiser bike, with a coaster brake - an amazing feat, and not a scratch on him! Andrew has raced the Leadville Trail 100 on his single speed mountain bike for several years and decided this year to up the challenge.

The official cut-off for the race finish in downtown Leadville is 6:30 pm, 12 hours after the start. The crowd waits with bated breath as the 12th hour approaches. Is Anton going to make it this year?

Anton arrives at 11 hours 36 minutes and the crowd goes wild!

(photo credit to Associated Press)

Anton finished a mere five hours behind race winner Dave Wiens and second place finisher Lance Armstrong. Dave and Lance both broke course records finishing 100 miles in 6 hours 45 minutes and 6 hours 47 minutes. Anton broke his personal record, taking an hour and 40 minutes off last year's race time, which was his first attempt, with an unofficial 13 hour, 15 minute finish time.

There's no yellow jersey to be won in this race. Instead, Anton wins a sporty red sweatshirt, medal and belt buckle for finishing under 12 hours--a feat accomplished by only 653 of the 818 racers. And he's still walking the next day and rode his cargo bike to the store for groceries.

Click Here to read the Associated Press article about this year's Leadville Trail 100 race.

Spot the rattlesnake in this picture

As i'm out taking care of our chickens, I nearly stepped on this little fellow. Barely a foot long. Note the chicken feather for scale. Maybe one or two little bumps on his rattle. I pushed him out of the way with a stick, and though his tail made a tiny little housefly-at-the-window sort of buzz, he didn't strike at the stick until I'd given him a few good shoves. Far enough away from the house that I wasn't too concerned.

Here he's heading away through the grass and pine needles:

The camera shutter noise gets his attention, and he turns around:

And he settles into the classic position, fixing me with a steady gaze and buzzing his tail. No, I didn't get in any closer. At this point I put down the camera, high centered him on the stick and carried him down to the edge of the property.