The Race Across the Sky was inspiring to watch, on many levels. Not only seeing Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens put in amazing race times, but also watching our friends challenge themselves on a very tough course.
After dragging our sorry asses up from our hotel bed at 5am, Rob and I got on the motorcycle and set up a brief camp near the start, where the race leaves the pavement onto the first dirt section.
Not long after we had the hot drinks going on the camp stove, the riders came through. Wiens stating his intentions:
Finally waking up and getting stoked, Rob and I threw our stuff into the cases and made a beeline for the Powerline. The riders descend it on the way out:
Even though this lead group was together here, it wasn’t going to last. By the time Rob and I got to the base of the Columbine Mine section, Lance had already taken the lead.
At this point, he had 30 seconds on second place, a rider from Fort Lewis College in Durango, and two minutes on Wiens. I began to worry for Dave, since Lance looked really strong. But then again, the guy is just off the Tour de France. What else should we expect?
We hung out there for quite some time, watching for the return trip of the leaders, and spent some time hollering at other people we knew. Here’s my Dirt Coalition teammate, Ryan Amirault.
And before we knew it, Lance was back. He had laid waste to the rest of the field on the steep, above-treeline climb. He had created a gap of ten minutes on Wiens, who had made his way into second place.
From there, we jumped back onto the motorcycle and headed back to the Powerline. I gotta say that following this race on a motorcycle is the best way to do it. We not only passed hordes of slow-moving cars on the highways, but we also drove right to the front of every parking area and found a place to slot the bike in. It was pretty pimp.
We started hiking back up the Powerline again, hoping to see the leaders climb the steepest part, but Lance caught us right after the water crossing:
We hustled up the Powerline after that, but by then, Lance had a monstrous lead. It took about 17 minutes for Wiens to come through.
Lots of people cheered for him, calling out, “YOU are my hero!” (playing on the Lance “hero” theme), and I was pleased to see that he was getting so much support. I had secretly wanted him to beat Lance. Not because I’m anti-Lance at all, but I just liked the idea of the local favorite keeping his streak going. But there was really no chance of keeping up with one of the best cyclists in the world.
Speaking of local favorites, we hung around to watch for our pals.
Ward Baker making an incredible showing in 16th place up the Powerline:
The twins came through somewhere in the 30s or 40s. Tom:
And Tony:
We wanted to see some of the finish, so it was time to hike back down the Powerline and rip into town. We missed Lance, as he was probably already on a plane back to Texas. He finished with a course-record time of 6:28:50, and he rode the last ten miles on a flat tire. I was surprised to read in the paper the next day that he admitted he was terrible at changing flats, so he just put air into it and kept hammering. He also mentioned how he hadn’t ridden more than 20 miles alone in his whole career — no teammates, no support cars — so this was a unique experience.
Later, some news came out that he had recruited other riders to help him, by pacing him through those early sections. I was disgusted to hear that, since mountain biking is supposed to be an individual effort (unless you have actual teammates who decide they want to help you rather than try to win their own race, and that’s not always that common). But it sounds like something Lance would do, so I wasn’t too surprised. It’s not illegal, after all. I bet there were tons of riders who would love to say they towed Lance Armstrong at Leadville.
Speaking of this interesting dynamic, I got thinking that this is the only race where rank amateurs start the race and can ride along right next to someone of Lance’s caliber (for the two seconds they could hang 
). You don’t see that in other sports. It’s kind of cool, really. Lance himself was quoted as saying he really enjoyed the return leg of the race, where he rode by all the other folks, who hollered and cheered for him.
The finish that Rob and I liked even better was Ward, who pulled ahead two more spots to come in 14th. It’s an incredible result for a super cool guy.
We hung out at the finish with Ward for a while, soaking in his elation. Even though Rob swore he’d never do Leadville again because it sucked so bad, I know he’s secretly plotting a comeback. I will be adept enough on my own motorcycle by then to be his support crew, so that could be pretty rad. Although I never say never, I don’t imagine I’ll get the urge to do this race. It has no singletrack to speak of, and I’m not keen on that much mileage. But hey, you never know….
Congrats to all the finishers; it looked like a cold, tough day. You can find results here.
