Leadville 100

Mike Hogan & Thomas Dooley starting the 10 mile, 3000 ft Columbine climb

Chipotle-Titus had a huge presence at the 2007 Leadville 100 with 2 in the top 10 & all 6 riders in the top 100 - under the 9 hour elite cut off. No other team had 2 riders in the top 10 while Mike Hogan & Thomas Dooley rode most of the race together overcoming crashes & a broken bike to finish 7th & 9th.

The Leadville 100 is the grand daddy of the epic 100's. 800 people lined up this year including 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis. After the neutral start the field ripped up the first climb as if this were a 45 minute race. 4 time Leadville winner Dave Weins & Floyd Landis positioned themselves at the front while Hogan & Dooley sat just a couple places back. Dan Mellish, riding his 3rd Leadville & Drew Geer in his 5th were in the 2nd peloton only several minutes back cresting the 2nd big climb, Hagerman pass. Jamie Kilkoyn was sitting one group back. Mark had snapped his chain on the first climb landing him near the rear of 800 riders. After a few expletives he spent the first 4 hours chasing through the entire field back to the top 100. 

2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis & Leadville winner Dave Weins

Dooley tore the group apart on the Powerline downhill, putting 2 minutes on his group in just 3 miles. This place him in no-man's land, 2 minutes up on Hogan & 2 down on the leaders. He eventually grouped back with Hogan & the two worked together for the next 50 miles. Mellish & Geer pulled through the Twin Lakes feed zone on a solid sub 8 hour pace. Our elite feed crew was amazing, catching applause from the crown as they flawlessly handed up to every Chipotle rider.

Mike Hogan climbs to a 7th place in the 2007 Leadville 100

Dan Melish starts up the "powerline" - an endless brute of a climb.

Drew Geer in his 5th Leadville starts the Columbine climb

Mark Gouge at just past the Twin Lakes feed zone

Jamie Kilkoyn in his first Leadville

Descending from 12,000 foot Columbine Mine, Hogan had to dive into a ravine to avoid a rider climbing on the wrong side of the trail. Dooley, on his wheel, witnessed him flip over into the rocks. Dooley waited while Hogan pieced himself together & the two then proceeded to descend Columbine at unreal speeds. Leadville is an out & back race & the Columbine climb has 2 way traffic. The Chipotle-Titus pair was so impressive there were cheers from the ascending riders - while many others were just plain terrified.

Hogan & Dooley at 70 miles, ripping down Columbine while riders 20 miles behind are just starting up

Unfortunately Hogan had snapped his top tube in half & sheared off his front shift lever. He was not aware of this damage until another 10 miles. His bike held together the remaining 50 miles, though his shifting was very limited & he had to be cautious on the downhill sections.

Ultimately Hogan left Dooley on the brutal climb back up powerline. This monster is 5k long at 10 - 20% grade with a max piece of 30%. There is one more big climb before the finish - another 5k up Turquoise Lake though this is on the pave. Hogan rolled in fast to finish 7th place in this very elite field with a time of 7:37. Dooley dug deep into the suitcase of pain to hang on for 9th, meeting his goal of a top 10 finish. His time was 7:44. Dan Mellish did not eat or drink enough, only taking in 4 bottles for the 8 hour race, compared with 12 for the rest of the team. He ended up loosing 7 pounds & nearly passed out at the finish. Still he had an amazing finish of 31st in a time of 8:11. Geer hit the wall at the base of the powerline & it was not clear that he could even make it over the climb. After a long painful granny gear effort he pulled it together to finish in 8:37. Mark Gouge was just behind at 8:43 & Jamie Kilkoyn at 8:48 - all within the top 100.

The race was won again by Dave Weins in a record time of 6:58, with Floyd Landis coming in 2nd just 1:45 back.

6 starts
2 top 10
6 top 100