Sugar-loafin'

One of the best decisions that I made regarding the Leadville Trail 100 was to head to Leadville as soon as I had to ship back my princess canopy bed. If I couldn't be sleeping at simulated altitude I needed to be living and trying to breath at real altitude. I got myself set up in the Sugarloafin' campground in Leadville and unbeknownst to me embarked on a week of making new friends.

My Sweet Set Up

The campground defined 'United States'. I met people from so many states and we were all united by the Leadville Trail 100. There were lots of campers doing the bike ride and there were campers doing the Leadville 100 run and there were even some campers venturing to do both. There were even campers from foreign countries like Canada;)

My week of camping flew by filled with many activities. There was the day the So Cal boys and I took a drive up the Columbine mine climb, in a two wheel drive no less. Not everyone in So Cal has a 4x4 to drive on the I5 freeway!

Tommy and Gerry atop Columbine

View down towards Twin Lakes

Even though we were loafin' we were still focused on the goal ahead and most of our activities centered around the race ahead. We did have movie night, but of course we watched the Race Across the Sky. One night we watched the official movie and another night we watched Pierce's version. Last year when he did the race Pierce mounted a video camera to his handlebars. He had a friend then edit the film and put it to music and captions. After comparing the two versions of the race, I am more excited to see Pierce's version this year than the official movie! It will be a real nail biter as Pierce snuck in to buckle with only 4 minutes to spare this year. I am sure that he would have been ahead of me if he had not carried a HUGE camel back and all that extra gear, but then we wouldn't have the movie to watch. The movie I made only plays for select audiences, me and the voices in my head!

Not all the time at the campground was spent sitting around. We did manage a few taper rides. One day the boys headed out for an easy 2 hour 24 mile flat ride. I decided to head out a little later to do my ride. I left 2 hours after them and they were not back yet. I kept riding and riding expecting to see them on their way back and I was almost at my turn around point when they finally showed up. Good  thing I remembered my lesson from when I was a teenage girl that boys always try to go further than they say they will!!

View from Campground

While I was spending time in idleness and lounging about, Tana was very busy treeing squirrels and chipmunks and then guarding the trees. She had to work tirelessly from sunrise to sunset without taking a meal or water break. On race day we reversed roles and she rested all day!

In the Middle of a Two Hour Shift