August 21, 2009

  • Crewing at Leadville

    Another year has passed and it's Leadville time again.  This year my brother Paul is coming up again and we are primary crew for Nancy Gray and Secondary for Dave Newman and Scott Giffen.

    One of the good things about crewing, is that you don't have to ride the bike.  Yeah, I know, riding a bike is fun, but riding for 12 hours, in the rain and cold, well, that might not be so fun.  Another good thing about crewing is that you get a front row seat at the event!   I love getting to meet new folks and hearing tales of victory, suffering or whatever.

    We get up at about 5:30 in the A.M.  I actually woke up earlier, but there was nothing to do so I just laid there trying to get some rest, but that didn't work.  Scott and Dave were already up and were eating and making last minute preparations.   Nancy was somewhere a foot and was ready to rock and roll. 

    We made plans and we were ready.  It was pretty cold in the A.M and Paul was to go with Nancy to get take the pile of clothes from her before the Start.   I was going to miss the start this year to go over to Twin Lakes with Dave's father Pete and help setup the tent and bring all the supplies up.   Shannon and Jackie were Scott's primary crew and they were going to meet him at Pipe Line, and we would take care of Scott at Twin Lakes.

    Pete arrives at the house and we disassemble the wagon and stuff it in the truck.   Paul has gone to the Start to see Nancy off.   Pete and I make it over to Twin Lakes with the 1st Wagon load.  As luck would have it, the TV crew was moving their tent and offered us a prime spot!.   We help the TV folks take down their tent and we promptly put ours up.   During this there was this beautiful rainbow, that was the finest one I think I have ever seen.   We made a couple of wagon trips but we got all the stuff up without a hitch.

    That rainbow of course mean rain and before long it's raining a bit and it's only 7:00 or so.   Pete and I saw another crew struggling with a broken Tent and Pete was quick to offer up some Duct tape to them.  They were grateful.   This gave us a chance to meet one of our 1st neighbors,  Miguel,  Pat and Christine.   They were very nice. Miguel and Pat each had guys they were crewing for.   We chatted with them for a bit.  Those were good folks.

    After a bit my brother Paul shows up.  He had no problem finding us due the pink flamingo, but he did have a problem finding Nancy, so he never did get her stuff.  Oh Well,  Nancy is pretty resourceful so it's all good.

    We hangout chatting etc. waiting for our folks to come through.   We could see that it was raining where the racers were  and with the cloud cover we knew it was cold!   Lance came through with a few other riders about 1 minute ahead of Dave Weins.

     I don't remember which order our folks came in at but I think it was  Scott, Dave and Nancy.  (Yeah I know I could just check the website, but you can too!).   Pete and his friend (Don't remember the name) were all over Dave's bike.   Pete borrowed some chain lube from Miguel and took care of the chain.   Dave was having ghost shifting issues and we figured this would help.  Dave got food etc. and was off and running.

    Scott had new water bottles ready, but I suggested that he only take one due to the cold etc.   He agreed, but I was thinking afterward I hope I made the right decision to suggest that, cause if he ran out I would feel bad.  I figured that he didn't need much cause both his bottles were almost full since he had them filled at Pipe Line.   He got the chain lube treatment too and was off and running.

    Nancy was next to come in.  She was cold and explained, that due to as she put it,  "A blond Moment"  forgot to put her gloves on coming down pipe line and they were on her bike so she lost them.  She did realize this, but she wasn't going back up the hill to get them.   She was glad that my camera's battery was dead and that Paul's didn't have his either cause she didn't  want any pics.  Truth be told, she didn't look so good, so I just as soon not take any pics. Well I say that now, but if I had a working camera I would have....  We get Nancy fresh food etc.  I check her hands and they were warm now.  She exclaimed that they were so cold she had to ride the brakes down Powerline, cause if she let go they probably wouldn't have been able to respond in time.   I remember the previous years when she came in all chipper and all.  This was a different Nancy, one who would be tested today!
    With some talk of Klingon Honor and all we send her off,  up the mountain to bring honor to herself, family and crew!

    With the outbound duties over it's time to relax.  Did I mention that the TV crew had a helicopter! Anyway when it flew over everyone was waving and shouting.  Great fun!  Hope I can see myself on TV, or at least the pink flamingo tent marker.   With a couple of hours Paul and I walked around the Twin Lakes area checking out all of the sites.  We went back to my truck to get some food etc to keep us going.   We walked up the trail a bit to see some of the action.   Lance was coming, Lance was coming.   We could hear the cheering as he was coming down the mountain.  Coming down the mountain like a man possessed!  He was flying!  faster than anyone I have ever seen on that section.  He's got mad MTB skills, and the way he drifted that last corner, totally unreal.  He needs to be racing Downhill! Seriously. 11 minutes later Dave Weins would appear.   He was fast, but no where near as fast a Lance!

     I ended up going up the trail a bit to the summit of the last little hill.  I tried to cheer on and give encouragement to the riders.  "Good Job" and all that kinda stuff.   Most of the riders were responsive.   I got to see a bunch of folks I knew.  Gale and Scott were making some serious time,  Tim (SS) and his wife Barb were making good time too. A few folks recognized me from previous years and 1 said,  "Shouldn't you be out here?".   I liked the guy with the Helmet cam and I asked if that was a cam he turned to me and said  "Yeah say something", to which I replied "Peace" while giving the hand sign.

    Scot, Dave, Nancy in that order came by.  They looked pretty good  and  with the weather getting better I figured this would be a good day for all.   I walk down the mountain and find my brother coming to greet me.  He wants to get over to Pipeline to meet Nancy.   She was hurting and he wanted to make sure that she was gonna be OK. He also mentions that Dave has abandoned!  He said his back was hurting.   Paul tells me that Pete asked him if he was sure and that he replied something to the affect of "yeah I'm done".   Paul suggested that he sit for 10 minutes and then decide just to make sure.   Nancy also offered some words of encouragement to "come on" but the decision was made.  By the time I got to the tent, I was pretty much too late for me to say anything ....

    We pack up our stuff and head over to Pipeline to see Nancy.  We get a good seat and before long she comes in. We shout, "Nancy, Nancy over here" and she comes over.  She needs water as it's so dusty her contacts are bothering her.  As luck would have it, the folks across the way had saline and offered some to Nancy.  To top that off they gave here some to take with her!  Gotta love all the crew camaraderie.     We give Nancy some more fuel and she is good to go.  While she is there, Paul and I over hear another rider throwing in the towel.   We give Nancy some more Klingon motivation. Her spirits are good.  She says, "This is so hard, but I guess this is what we are here from".  Spoken like a true Klingon.  The Duras Sisters got nothing on Nancy.     Anyway, she takes off and our job is done here.

    We take the long way back to town so Paul can see some more of the suffering.  That climb by Turquoise Lake was brutal looking.   After seeing this and knowing Powerline, we feared for Nancy.  Today she would certainly be weighed and measured!

    We make it back to town and we go to the subway.  The woman behind the counter tells us how Lance came in with his posse a bit earlier!  She said that Lance was so nice earlier in the week as her kids saw him while playing in the yard and he stopped by to say hi to them!  Way cool.  We finish our meal and go to the finish line to wait and see.

    We wait on the boulevard and watch rider after rider.  We see Tim and  Barb and many others.  Folks are cheering on their people and this is as big a crowd as I have ever seen here.  Finally we see Nancy and she is way ahead of where we though she would be!  Nancy waits at the finish line to greet Scott as he comes in a bit later! 

    Long day and I am tired.  A day well spent though!   Yeah,  Spent that's how I am sure most felt that day.