Silver Mining

I just read the story of the Silver Queen, Baby Doe Tabor. Her life was not easy. Sure, there were times when she was the queen of society, but there were also times when she was living in rags in an unheated, unplumbed shack. Bet she wished then that she hadn't spent so much money on silly trinkets!

It is fitting that I read this the same week that I started doing recon rides on the Silver Rush mountain bike course. The Silver Rush 50 is the second race in the Leadman series. If I want to strike silver I am going to have to dig as deep as those miners did. They led a hard uncertain life and I feel that I will be experiencing many of those things during this race. There are going to be very rocky bumpy times. I hope that I can hold my fortune and not end up burning all my matches on the early climbs. If I do, I'll end up like Baby Doe dying in the Matchless Mine. 

Climbing the back side of Ball Mountain

Not nearly as hard work as what the people who settled this area experienced.