Hammerfest on high
By Scott Willoughby

Nicknamed "The Race Across the Sky," the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race ranks among the most grueling off-road cycling events in the world.

Near the mountain hamlet of Leadville, Colorado, is the rare chance to ride across 100 miles of dirt at an elevation generally above 10,000 feet.

The course does dip down to around 9,200 feet at one point, just before climbing to 12,600 feet at Columbine Mine, the highest point in the race.

The 100-mile bike race offers 10,600 vertical feet of climbing and descending on tortuous stretches of off-camber washboard roads that can shake teeth fillings loose. Riders set off at 6:30 a.m. for a hammerfest of up to 13 hours, butt aching, legs rebelling, hands groping in a late-race climb for an easier gear that just isn't there.

Since its inception in 1994, the event has grown from roughly 150 entrants to 350 last year. Organizers anticipate nearly 450 die-hard cyclists from around the world at the starting line on Saturday, August 17.

Spawned as the sister event to the ultradistance running classic, The Leadville Trail 100 foot race, the bicycle race is held in nearly as high regard as a rough-terrain, high-altitude endurance test.

Last year's winner and course record holder Russell Worley of San Diego simply describes it as long.

Like most of the competitors, Worley recognizes that elevation as the biggest hurdle in the Leadville 100. Coming from sea level, it takes about three weeks for one to completely acclimate to Leadville's altitude. Vigorous exercise without prior acclimatization can predispose athletes to exhaustion. Then there is the relative humidity level as low as 5 percent, increasing the likelihood of rapid dehydration.

According to Cole Chlouber, the 22-year-old son of event director Ken Chlouber and a registered racer this year, the Leadville 100 is "definitely a climber's course." The out-and-back route also makes it a descender's course to some degree as well.

"There is only a mile and a half of singletrack," Chlouber said. "But coming back down the Sugarloaf power line downhill after the 50-mile mark is brutal. Because of fatigue, descents can take much longer than they normally would. A long downhill that in a normal race might take minutes could last an hour."

Racers also have to consider mechanical abuse over the course of 100 miles. Rims become scarred, drive shafts mired in gunk. Imagine which would be worse, pushing your bike across the finish line, or fixing a flat after pedaling 99 miles?

"For most of the competitors, it's not as much of a race as it is a challenge," Chlouber said.

Worley agrees: "You are way out there and it's all self-supported, meaning you have to carry your own tools and keep your bike running. Most people aren't serious about winning, they just want to finish."

Scott Willoughby is a writer from Minturn, Colorado