Lance a mtb'er?

[Pain Freak]

Lance To Compete In Leadville 100
Endurance mountain bike race on 2007 calendar
By David L'Heureux


Lance Armstrong has different ideas about retirement than the average person. Between his work fighting cancer with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a recent partnership with 24 Hours of Fitness Sports Clubs, and a sub-three hour finish at the New York City Marathon two weeks ago, the seven-time Tour de France champ is keeping pretty busy.

Now you can add the grueling, high-altitude Leadville 100 Mountain Bike race to Lance's to-do list for 2007.

Armstrong made the announcement during a question and answer session last week at the opening of his new Lance Armstrong 24 Hours Of Fitness in Austin, TX.

"The other bit of a challenge I want to do is a bit crazy," said Armstrong in the interview. "It's a mountain bike race in August held in Colorado called the Leadville 100. It's about an 8 to 9 hour mountain bike race, mostly on single track that very few people do and even fewer finish."

Friend, and longtime trainer, Chris Carmichael said in a phone interview Tuesday that the idea for doing the Leadville 100 came about as the result of a bet.

"I did it for the first time this year and had a bet with a buddy that I could finish in under nine hours," said Carmichael, who finished in nine hours and 18 minutes and added that the race was a lot harder than he expected. "I lost the bet, and it cost me a thousand dollars. But I lost twenty pounds doing it, so it was worth it."

Carmichael said Armstrong, an experienced mountain biker who finished third at the short-track cross-country NORBA Nationals in 1999, just one month after his first Tour victory, heard about the bet and wanted to get involved. So for next year, a group of friends, including Armstrong and Carmichael, made a bet of their own.

"Let's just say the loser is going to be paying for an expensive night out for dinner and wine," said Carmichael.

So how does Lance's former coach think the 7-time Tour champ will stack up in Leadville?

"The guy's an animal. If he trained for Leadville he could probably go out and win it," said Carmichael, who thinks Armstrong will do the race more for fun than to win. "But he is also a busy guy,? he said, and predicted that, in order to complete Leadville, Armstrong would have to put in more training time than he did for his recent marathon.

Carmichael pointed to Armstrong's sub-three hour time in the NYC marathon as proof of his ongoing commitment to fitness and athletics (also a reason he's partnered with 24 Hours Of Fitness).

"He is not a retired athlete who is just playing celebrity golf tournaments," he said. "Lance is sinking himself into a lot of different activities. The NYC marathon, now the Leadville 100, this stuff is pretty hard core. He wants stuff that is a challenge."

According to Carmichael, a challenge is exactly what Lance will be getting at the 100. The course, laced with brutal climbs and technical descents, is all between 9,000 and 12,600 feet above sea level. Top competitors (like three-time winner Dave Wiens) finish in a little over seven hours. The cutoff for finishing is thirteen hours, and many don't finish at all. In 2006, 750 people started the race, and only 506 finished in the allotted time.

"It's one of the best mountain bike races in the country," said Carmichael. "It is a great event and a great town. There isn't a cooler place to ride your bike."

At a recent night out to dinner in Austin, Carmichael said that Lance was quizzing him about the race. He wanted to know about the course, and whether or not there were a lot of fire roads, or jeep trails or single track, and if the course was really rocky.

"We just talked about the event and he said, 'Wow, that sounds really cool,'" said Carmichael.

Those who come in under the nine-hour mark receive the coveted Silver Belt Buckle, a goal Bicycling.com asked Carmichael if he'd be shooting for next year when he and Lance were at the start line.

"Hell yeah," he said.

[jfromlv]

Very cool, I was riding in Leadville over the summer, there are some great trails there. I'm sure many of you have ridden at altitude, for me, when it get's above 10,000 ft., it is brutal. It will be interesting to see how he does, especially if Dave Wiens is there.

[Mudd]

Mark Weir will kick his a$$!

[1x1clyde]

I think Lance could use a big wheel and do fine...the guy is a killer!

[Stray_Bullit]

The guy is a total stud...obviously.

[Pain Freak]

I read an article once with a short interview with Lance and he said the hardest sport he thought would be mountain biking. If he trains well, I think he could have a better then most of a chance of winning it. I do believe it wouldn't be easy. I like Mark to win this again. Then again I thought Mark would beat Dave Wiens, but so far no go.

[jfromlv]

Dave has the whole altitude training thing working for him, probably what gives him the edge over Mark.

[cru jones]

If i remember correctly, Lance did a short stint in the mid 90's racing xc on the Norba circut. Im pretty sure he got his ass handed to him!!

[Pain Freak]

Originally Posted by cru jones

If i remember correctly, Lance did a short stint in the mid 90's racing xc on the Norba circut. Im pretty sure he got his ass handed to him!!

Yeah, he raced a couple races, but you got to remember he wasn't training for it and out of the 3 races (NORBA races) he raced he was in the top 5 twice. In his interview he stated he had only rode on a dirt downhill course a couple times in his life and then he goes and competes against pro mountain bikers and places very high. The guys he was racing against dedicated their lifes to the sport and he just walks in and gives them a run for their money. When he raced cylecross he won 2 out of 3 races and again he was only doing this for fun.

[cru jones]

Thanx for refreshing my memory. To be honest Im glad he didnt win. The pro MTB'rs probably don't get enough credit from the pro road weenies.

[Pain Freak]

On the contrary. They are held in very high regard. There are numerous ex pro mountain bikers who are in the Tour de France and some of the top road racers started out as mountain bikers. What's sad is all the money is in road racing with nothing for mountain biking. A lot of the road racers consider mountain biking to be more fun then road and for fun a lot still ride the dirt every chance they get.