I have to drive back over to Leadville to get my belt buckle this morning, so this has to be short. I’ve never heard of an awards presentation at 7:30 am, the day after the race. Crazy. We’re going to take our road bikes and do a ride around the town after. Vincent says the bike path around Leadville is pretty interesting, going by a lot of old mines, etc.
Yesterday didn’t go as I had hoped or planned. I’ll write about it tomorrow. I kept motivated, even though I had no reason to be. Finally, with about 1/2 the race left, I started cramping and that was it. I tried to control the cramping as best I could, but who knows how to do that? Certainly not me.
Anyway, I’m not so disappointed. I had no chance of ever winning the race, but felt like I had the form to finish way better than I did. Limping in at the end of a race is not something I wish on anyone.
Okay, we have to head off. This early morning stuff, especially after a real early morning race start isn’t my cup of tea.
Crossing the line about 30 minutes longer that I would have been happy.
“Limping in at the end of a race is not something I wish on anyone.” – that’s how 90% of my road races finish. Of course I have no one to blame but myself as I keep entering races. For some reason I sweat way too much and cannot keep myself hydrated enough to stop the eventual seizing.
Dude controlling cramps with 50 to go is a race within a race…which you won. Get that buckle and enjoy your day! I look forward to your race report.
At least you beat Fatty by almost 50 minutes. It would have felt better with a couple hours, but he didn’t cramp and he’s a couple years younger… too.
It was great to see Jeremiah Bishop finishing so well. I remember watching JB as a young up and comer in the early 2000’s. First at the local MTB races and then at NORBA events. He would show up at the races in his beater station wagon with hardly a spare tube to his name. At the NORBA events, he would take on the supercharged Canadians who dominating at that time. That wasn’t much of a fair fight. At least he could sleep at night. The story’s were rampant at the time of the Canadian’s needing to get up in middle of the night to run stairs or get on a trainer in order to thin their blood out.
Congrats to JB!
what about those top two women?!?! damn!!
#1 in 50-59, beating last year’s winner by 27 minutes, #31 out of 1489 riders, #29 out of 1276 male riders… Nothing to complain about.
Sometimes you’re the dog, and sometimes you’re the fire hydrant.
Yet he complains as always, kinda denigrates his competitors and their effort if you think about it. A 100 mile mtb race is supposed to crush your soul. Steve should spend a little time with disadvantaged youth, volunteering at the Food Bank or the special olympics. Changes perspective and tempers expections in a good way for the winners of the genetic lottery
Why do people even bother reading Steve’s blog if all they’re going to do is criticize. Don’t you have something better to do?
Esther,
Every real competitor I know talks like Steve. It’s part of the deal, and why they keep competing. You might consider more lofty pursuits yourself!
Ester,
OMG. Stop it already with the go work the special Olympics. I don’t know if you’ve ever competed in anything worth while, but at a certain level, competitors usally think along the same lines. Steve is no different, that’s how you obtain certain levels of success, always looking to improve, never really satisfied.
It does seem a little disrespectful of the other competitors. Do you think you were the only one not on a great day?
whatever
Steve didn’t say anything bad about his competitors. All he said was he didn’t have the day the had hoped to have, but he kept motivated none the less. Do you guys that think Steve is bagging on his competitors even read the blog?
Competitive people measure themselves against others. His teammate that finished 2nd to him at the Lutsen 99er (Leadville qualifier) finished 12th. It’s natural for a competitive person to note where they “could have” finished if they had a good day.
I guess you are right, I retract everything. If I was in my mid 50’s, spent a month at altitude to prepare and sucked up tons of resources better directed at espoirs, juniors or women – I’d be pissed, too. 31st, phhhhht!
Esther,
Start your own blog. All your bitter judgmental condescending low achieving internet followers that appreciate dishonesty will love it. I am guessing low single digit readers.
I had money on no jump. The roulette wheel of excuses or disappointment…
Huge ride, really enjoyed reading your updates, hope you to see you out there again next year!
Get off your high horse. There is nothing in this post which is disrespectful towards other paticipants.
Also: to what are you referring, w/rt resource allocation?
Oh, for God’s sake, cut it out. This is ridiculous, and clueless, too. Preparing for a race at altitude is essential, if you live at 500 feet above sea level. He’s a competitive rider still, in his mid 50s, and he races fair and clean – and he’s come back from a broken hip one year ago that potentially was a career ender. That’s the real story here – not only overcoming the physical adversity of the race but also that posed by the injury.
Esther Kennedy = mike crum
A great result by Steve no doubt. But let’s put this in perspective. I would bet that every one of the other finishers in the 50+, and even in the 40+ category have had to balance training for this race and racing the race with daily commitments to a job and/or family. I have much more respect for the people who have to manage that balance. No disrespect to Steve, but if more of the non- pro people also had 30 hours a week of training, the results would likely be much different. Note to the Tilly fan boys: I don’t need to hear your counter arguments, I think he can defend on his own behalf.
Blah, blah ya got a job & a family.
Well the “crazy” awards ceremony comment is a bit disrespectful or he’s not too bright. The awards happen next day cause all the mere mortals are out there all damn day to just finish.
I don’t see why Tilford has to defend his choice to commit himself to racing his bicycle. Pretty much every professional athlete has heard this many times – “if I trained 40hrs/week and didn’t work fulltime I’d be just as good”. So what? You made different choices, live with them and enjoy them, or change them.
To have the awards the next day is just another way for the race to keep pumping money into the town. We have the technology to do awards as people cross the line. Lodging in Leadville is tight, it sucks to have to drive back to town the next day when your tired and shot from the race.
Ron = Esther Kennedy
I love this race. It’s the best. It brings both mountain freds and road freds from all walks of life together and gives them the chance to compete against their heroes.
The truly amazing thing though is the training put into this. A doped up Lance and Levi put up times of 6:28 and 6:16 just 5 years ago and now we have clean riders doing it in 5:58. What a time to be alive.
My money was on the free lap rule, the explanation for the event was a little vague
Clean at 5:58?
i have that ocean front property in Arizona tripod ron if you think clean riders are besting the dopers from a few years back.
Don’t feed the trolls people.
listen, juuuust because the top 5 this year crushed a doped up LA by 20 minutes doesn’t mean they are not all clean as a whistle. These are good people who year in and year out have gradually improved their times through training and hard work.
Steve, does it happen to be in Tucson?
Hahaha… this is really funny. Should we blame 29ers or some other stuff, yet unnown to us?
Definitely the yet unknown stuff then…
… or is it yet undetected stuff?
I’m confuse here…
This commnt fality eats letter s like I eat penuts. Damn!
Eskimos?
I thought “freds” is what the young people are now calling folks who old timers used to refer to as “squirrels”. If that’s the case. I doubt there were any freds at Leadville.
Go here Esther. everybodysawinner.blogspot.com. Why so bitter?
The “crazy” part is that the awards ceremony is at 7:30 in the morning, not some more reasonable hour, like, say, 11 or so…
You seem to be impervious to the fact that he *has* got a job – he’s a bicycle racer, year round. Not married with children, that’s his choice and is both irrelevant and rude of you to bring it up.
Steve,
You should be commended on your effort. As they say, “Jeder ein Sieger uber sich selbst!” (Defeat the urge to quit when things get tough!”
On a more sobering note, please know that the muscle cramping you experienced during the race may be an indication of something more serious than electrolyte imbalance, that you may be experiencing diminished blood flow to your muscles that may be attributed to cardiac dysfunction. Please do yourself a favor and get this checked out! And remember, after 50 we are all racing the undertaker!