Chuck descends Powerline during the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race
Chuck Byrge competed in the 2010 Leadville 100 mountain bike race in Colorado this past weekend. This race is one of the most brutal long distance moutain biking events in the world. Levi Leipheimer (this year’s winner and current course record holder) said via twitter that Leadville was “One of the harder days [he's] ever had on a bike” and that “Everyone who competes in the [race] is tough as nails!”
Chuck proved that he’s tough as nails by pushing his body well past it’s breaking point on this high elevation course. The race starts in downtown Leadville and proceeds out of town where the gravel roads start. The course is mostly fire roads and some singletrack, and is all above 9,000 ft elevation. Fast paced riding, crowded trails (1600+ racers), and technical terrain all contribute to the excitement and danger of this event.
I felt great at the start – huge rush – left town doing 40 mph downhill and freezing to death (40 at start). Had a strong climb up Kevins – but climb was really crowded, good decent, starting feeling first twinges of cramps heading up Sugarloaf – never been a bad cramper so assumed they would go away quickly, had what was for me a great decent down Powerline (reasonable fast and didn’t crash). Was ahead of the 11 hour finish splits I had laid out. By the way, worst year for injuries officials said, 5 very serious head injuries (including one that the medic said might end in death – let’s hope and pray that isn’t the case). I went by one person being strapped to board with head/neck injury and they were waiting for helicopter to life flight him out. Very scary, probably lucky I wasn’t down as well (particularly given how way over my head I was descending at those speeds – that too was a huge rush).
After completing the climbs up St. Kevins and Sugarloaf, and the technical descent down Powerline (see video of this descent here), Chuck made the 4 hour/40 mile time cutoff at the Twin Lakes aid station with time to spare. Many riders are pulled from the course at this point due to the time cutoff. Chuck pushed on despite fatigue and cramping and started the long climb up to the highest elevation point of the course, Columbine Mine (12,400 feet). Altitude and fatigue finally forced Chuck to exit the race as he neared the summit of Columbine, but not before covering nearly 50 miles of the course in less than 7 hours.
[The]course is incredibly demanding but I thought my fitness was good – which makes it even more frustrating. Did I say the course was demanding – it never stops challenging the rider – ever, always going up, very tough surfaces to climb on, scary fast descents.
Despite not finishing the race, everyone on the Harpeth Bicycles Racing Team is proud of Chuck for toeing the line for this event. Especially as a new mountain biker who only made the transition from road to dirt a few short months ago. Inspiring stuff.
Way to go, Chuck!
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Awesome job Chuck! Love the picture!