Leadville 100

The Leadville 100 is the grandfather of 100 mile mountain bike races. This is the 13th year for this race, starting at 9,000 feet & ultimately climbing to almost 13,000 feet over 102 miles. The course is not overly technical, but there is a lot of climbing & little oxygen. The field is limited to 800 riders selected by lottery from over 2000 entries. The race is typically ridden very fast from the start & never slowing down. The 2006 edition was no exception.

Chipotle - Titus fielded 6 riders & had 6 fantastic finishes! All 5 of our men finished under the elite 9 hour time break. Mike Hogan lead the team with 4th place overall with a blistering time of 7:29:04. Dave Weins was the winner in 7:13. Dan Melish came in next for us in 8th place with a time of 7:55 breaking the coveted 8 hour mark. Thomas Dooley is back on his usual good form coming in 16th - 8:12. Drew Geer, riding his 4th Leadville, came in at 8:36 for 33rd place. Mark Gouge rode a 8:54 to come in 55th.

Beth Gouge, our sole female to brave the course was 7th in her division (270th overall including all the men) in a time of 10:48.






The course was a bit slow this year compared with previous editions due partly to winds. It was, however, in the best condition in years - more ridable than ever. The rain held off for those who were in the top 15, but cut loose & drenched everyone else turning the last 10 miles (or 20 - 30 for some) into a mud fest.

Our equipment was fantastic! The Titus Racer-X certainly has to be the perfect bike for this course. The Fox full suspension ripped the downhills off powerline & Columbine mine. The bike's extreme light weight was welcomed in the 9 mile, 10% - 20% grind up Columbine. The fast tire today was the Kenda Karisma UST run @ 40 psi. The team had no mechanicals over 600 miles of racing! Leadville has a lot of fast rolling terrain & the Racer-X's perfect balance was a kick over the rollers at 25 mph.

Our support crews performed flawlessly. Special thanks to Karen, Toni & the kids. We had a single feed station at the Twin lakes dam & had a selection of sticky drinks, nauseating gels & cubes. After 8 hours of pure sugar a burger was welcome!

Dooley finishes in grand style

Geer catches a bit of rain