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ROAD TO LEADVILLE Part 22: HOW ABOUT A DAY OFF?

Dave Wiens gives his thoughts and tips leading to this years Leadville 100 MTB Race.

Thursday August 5, 2010 – The CTR leader board http://www.trackleaders.com/ctr/ is looking much the same, the notable exception being the absence of Jeff Kerkove. After being picked up on Hwy. 114 by Gunni local and MTBer since the beginning of time, Jim Dirkson, Jeff spent most of the day here at our house in my favorite chair (think Archie Bunker you old people) with his mangled feet up on a pillow waiting for Yuki to drive up from Denver to get him. I should have taken a picture but, of course, I didn’t think about until now. Jim said, “I was checking out the Spot Tracker and noticed that Jeff Kerkove was off course and riding 114 toward Gunnison. I knew what that meant so I jumped in my truck and went out and picked him up.” From what I could tell, this pleased him. Jeff is already planning for his return to the CTR next year.

I don’t see the top 5 changing. Ethan can smell Durango from Silverton, where he is as I write this at about 10pm on Thursday night. All the other gaps are solid with veteran riders who will simply keep putting one foot in front of the other. Eszter is in a critical spot: close enough to home to feel her own bed, but also sitting with a big chunk of course behind her. I say she’s going to soldier on (to borrow a Bobke phrase) and collect 5th overall. Crazy man!
Today I did nothing as for training but put in a full day of work. It went great; I got 8+ hours of sleep last night and my motivation was good. I also set up my race wheels tonight. DT Swiss wheels, Continental tires, SRAM cassette and Stan’s sealant. Very nice! Tomorrow will be a bit epic, however. Early, early ride, 3 hours of AMU on the road bike is the goal. That’ll be 3.5 hours all said and done. I’m toying with throwing in a set of 20-40’s, too, like I did yesterday. That’s the cool thing about 20-40’s, you can just drop a set in anytime you want to, even riding your townie to the store or the pub. People might think you’re off your rocker but who cares what people think anyway, right?

After my ride, it’s off to the gym straightaway to lift massive, I mean tiny amounts of weight. Then, packing for ride4yellow in Steamboat Springs, taking care of any work related issues that come up as I go, and hopefully heading out for a nice summer’s drive through the Rockies around 2pm. I’m looking forward to getting back up to Steamboat, truly a classic Colorado destination! Sleep well!

About this Article:

Date:: Aug 06, 2010
Author:: Topeak team

This picture was put here to capture your attention. It has nothing to do with today but I did take it last week up at the Crested Butte ski area. It's looking down one of our favorite winter lines, a short, sweet and steep little affair called West Wall. The picture doesn't really do it justice.