Race Across the Sky: The Leadville Trail 100

Below is a trailer for a limited release movie about the 2009 Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race.

This was a significant race as it marked Lance Armstrong's return to Colorado after finishing second the year before to Dave Wiens, a six-time winner of the race.

The race starts from the historic mining town of Leadville, Colorado. Along with Ouray, Leadville is one of my favorite mountain towns in Colorado. Unlike most of the ski towns of Colorado, no one could ever accuse Leadville of being pretentious.

First run in 1994, the Leadville Trail 100 MTB is one of the oldest ultra-marathon mountain bike races in the world. The race is run on a 50-mile out and back course, starting and finishing in downtown Leadville, Colorado (which sits at an elevation of 10,200 ft). Total elevation change is roughly 14,000 feet, with riders peaking at 12,600 feet on Hope Pass.

I happened to be in Leadville the week before the 2008 race. Unfortunately our plans were already made well before Armstrong announced that he was going to ride the the race that year. After learning that he was going to return in 2009, I came up with the brilliant idea that I was going to enter the race as well. My sole purpose was to do an all out sprint at the starting gun so that I could get in front of Lance, and then have my wife take a picture - just for bragging rights.

For some reason though, Kathy thought this was a silly idea. Geez, can't a guy have a little fun once in awhile!

Anyway, here's the trailer:



Race Across the Sky: The Leadville Trail 100 was shown in select theatres across the country on October 22, but is scheduled for an encore viewing on November 12. You can find more information by clicking here.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Great Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.