Leadville Winter Mountain Bike Series #2

We hustled back from the sunny & 70 conditions of Phoenix, AZ to get right back to the heart of the Rocky Mountains. We traded our summer riding gear for Skis, wool & beer before hitting the road. We stopped at Loveland Ski area for a few runs and a Dale's Pale Ale & then continued on to Leadville for the 7pm start time. The temperature & the elevation certainly were felt as we turned on the lights & did a warm up. I love the vibe of these events & it was a fun pre-race hanging around the fire at the Tennessee Nordic center. The start line saw roughly 65 racers on pretty well packed snow.People head away from the fire & down to the start line.
At the top of "The Griz", the burliest descent of the evening my lights went out as I lost the wheel(and lights) of the front two. I ended up looking over my shoulder for light as i tried to stay on course of The Griz. luckily, the single speeder that caught was super freaking cool & changed helmets with me so I could have some light. He then promptly dropped me as I slid off the trail & into chest deep snow. Note to self, stay on the groomed course, that sh*t is DEEP!
There was a DPA fueled group of skate & tele skiers that provided some a much used pit area.
Once I overcame choking on powder I was able to get the Spot Brand Longboard 9 rolling again, it was getting pretty cold at this point.
After completing the race, getting out of wet clothes & letting the hands thaw out the tunes came out. Dale's Pale Ale, Old Chub & a few Mama's Little Yella Pils were cracked along with tons of hot food & good times.
Things were getting a little b l u rrr r y as the night went on.
Scott Banks from Abzolute Bikes in Salida was sporting new King Cage Titanium fork blades on his Maverick SC-32....pretty trick.

After finishing up the food, beer, prized & raffles we made it back into Leadville to finish the evening at The Scarlette in with Old Chub on draft. We headed to the hotel room ready for bed...but that's another story.

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE LEADVILLE CRYSTAL CARNIVAL, MARCH 6th for the 3rd & Final Race of the series. Check what is all going on that weekend!