There are a lot of fast guys around here licking their chops thinking
they are going to bury Lance at Leadville. I say be careful what you
wish for...

--- In keystoneoffroad@yahoogroups.com, "Eric Doswell" <trailjedi@...>
wrote:
>
> So does this mean that Leadville is officially 'uncool' now?
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Randall Clayborn
> To: keystoneoffroad@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 11:54 AM
> Subject: [keystoneoffroad] Lance plans Leadville 100
>
>
>
> Lance Armstrong has different ideas about retirement than the average
> person. Between his work fighting cancer with the Lance Armstrong
> Foundation, a recent partnership with 24 Hours of Fitness Sports
Clubs,
> and a sub-three hour finish at the New York City Marathon two
weeks ago,
> the seven-time Tour de France champ is keeping pretty busy.
>
> Now you can add the grueling, high-altitude Leadville 100 Mountain
Bike
> race to Lance's to-do list for 2007.
>
> Armstrong made the announcement during a question and answer session
> last week at the opening of his new Lance Armstrong 24 Hours Of
Fitness
> in Austin, TX.
>
> "The other bit of a challenge I want to do is a bit crazy," said
> Armstrong in the interview. "It's a mountain bike race in August
held in
> Colorado called the Leadville 100. It's about an 8 to 9 hour mountain
> bike race, mostly on single track that very few people do and even
fewer
> finish."
>
> Friend, and longtime trainer, Chris Carmichael said in a phone
interview
> Tuesday that the idea for doing the Leadville 100 came about as the
> result of a bet.
>
> "I did it for the first time this year and had a bet with a buddy
that I
> could finish in under nine hours," said Carmichael, who finished
in nine
> hours and 18 minutes and added that the race was a lot harder than he
> expected. "I lost the bet, and it cost me a thousand dollars. But
I lost
> twenty pounds doing it, so it was worth it."
>
> Carmichael said Armstrong, an experienced mountain biker who finished
> third at the short-track cross-country NORBA Nationals in 1999,
just one
> month after his first Tour victory, heard about the bet and wanted to
> get involved. So for next year, a group of friends, including
Armstrong
> and Carmichael, made a bet of their own.
>
> "Let's just say the loser is going to be paying for an expensive night
> out for dinner and wine," said Carmichael.
>
> So how does Lance's former coach think the 7-time Tour champ will
stack
> up in Leadville?
>
> "The guy's an animal. If he trained for Leadville he could probably go
> out and win it," said Carmichael, who thinks Armstrong will do the
race
> more for fun than to win. "But he is also a busy guy,? he said, and
> predicted that, in order to complete Leadville, Armstrong would
have to
> put in more training time than he did for his recent marathon.
>
> Carmichael pointed to Armstrong's sub-three hour time in the NYC
> marathon as proof of his ongoing commitment to fitness and athletics
> (also a reason he's partnered with 24 Hours Of Fitness).
>
> "He is not a retired athlete who is just playing celebrity golf
> tournaments, " he said. "Lance is sinking himself into a lot of
different
> activities. The NYC marathon, now the Leadville 100, this stuff is
> pretty hard core. He wants stuff that is a challenge."
>
> According to Carmichael, a challenge is exactly what Lance will be
> getting at the 100. The course, laced with brutal climbs and technical
> descents, is all between 9,000 and 12,600 feet above sea level. Top
> competitors (like three-time winner Dave Wiens) finish in a little
over
> seven hours. The cutoff for finishing is thirteen hours, and many
don't
> finish at all. In 2006, 750 people started the race, and only 506
> finished in the allotted time.
>
> "It's one of the best mountain bike races in the country," said
> Carmichael. "It is a great event and a great town. There isn't a
cooler
> place to ride your bike."
>
> At a recent night out to dinner in Austin, Carmichael said that Lance
> was quizzing him about the race. He wanted to know about the
course, and
> whether or not there were a lot of fire roads, or jeep trails or
single
> track, and if the course was really rocky.
>
> "We just talked about the event and he said, 'Wow, that sounds really
> cool,'" said Carmichael.
>
> Those who come in under the nine-hour mark receive the coveted Silver
> Belt Buckle, a goal Bicycling.com asked Carmichael if he'd be shooting
> for next year when he and Lance were at the start line.
>