This past weekend was what I’d like to call D-Day for my 2014 season – the Leadville Trail 100. If you aren’t familiar with Leadville, it’s a 100 mile mountain bike race that starts at 10,000 feet of elevation and climbs all the way up to 12,424ft. It’s not a technical race as it’s mostly dirt roads, forest service roads and some paved roads, however the event brings over 1500 slightly insane riders from all over the US and the world!

My friend Gianna, this race is dedicated to you!

Leadville was a special race. I had no intention of doing this event as I thought it was just crazy to go torture yourself for that many hours on a bike, however last year my athlete Jason Hanson first inspired me when he qualified for Leadville at a 104 mile race, only 2 weeks into owning or ever riding a mountain bike, and in 2 months he completed Leadville. I was amazed by his fierce determination to do this event. And then as you may recall from my previous blog about my friend Gianna who passed away, she had been re-diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer just a few weeks after completing Leadville in 2012 so this race had a huge connection to her. It was a connection I didn’t understand, however when her health started to take a big dive, I realized that Leadville was the one thing she could close her eyes and think of that would make her happy and help her find a reason to fight or as the founder of Leadville, Ken would say “ dig deep”. Her last wish to me, the day before she passed away was that I’d do Leadville, and I would kill it! She wanted me to train my ass off for this race. And sure enough, the day she grew her angel wings, the Leadville race lottery was drawn and my name was picked!

Tuesday night, I piled into the Hanson’s truck as we all drove through the night to the town of Buena Vista, just 30 miles south of Leadville. Aaron had to work but would join us later in the week. Jason was racing again this year and we needed to get a little more altitude acclimatization. So, once we arrived, per the suggestion of my brother-in-law Evan, we drove to the top of Cottonwood pass at 12,000ft and rode the Continental Divide Trail. It was incredible and yes my body was working pretty darn hard for an easy pedal.

Jason Hanson and I rode on the Continental Divide!

Friday came in no time where we had packet pick-up and our race meeting. 1500 people packed into the high school gymnasium and it was cool to see the celebrities that Leadville attracted such as the Multi World Champion F1 racer, Mark Weber. It also brought the Ride to Recovery team which supports wounded soldiers and helps them recover from their physical and mental wounds from war. These guys were actually really strong as I saw multiple amputees kicking butt on the course! The meeting did take a while however, when Ken gave his pre-race pep talk, he said, “Leadville will be a huge challenge, but won’t be as hard as some of the other challenges you may face in life.” I thought of my friend Gianna and that maybe that was why she was able to push hard and dig deep through her cancer.

Packet pick-up included a book signing with Rebecca Rusch on her new book, "Rusch to Glory"

Saturday morning the race started at 6:30am. We woke up early and I ate my breakfast in the truck as we drove up to Leadville in the wee hours. Since I have a pro license, I got front row staging in the race which was a huge advantage for a race of this multitude! It was almost surreal to be standing on the start line next to big time pros like Todd Wells. I was literally on the very front of the start line and couldn’t have been more lucky!! I had friends back in other corrals that would probably have to wait 5 minutes or so to even get through the start line because there were so many people!

With drones and a helicopter following the race, we took off racing down the road and turning onto a dirt road. Being at the front had its advantages as these guys were soo fast but really smooth so there were no worries about people crashing. We were flying probably 30mph and then finally, the road pitched up a little and finally we turned onto our first climb up St. Kevins. It was in the low 40’s so chilly at the start and I had decided to wear my knee warmers and arm warmers so my legs wouldn’t freeze. But once we started climbing, we warmed up quickly. The altitude was tougher than I expected and my adrenalin was going crazy for the start so I was really careful to pace myself and not go out too hard. Several people passed me, but I kept with my pace. The hill went up and up and reminded me of the Mt. Ord climb. As we were near the top, none other than Rebecca Rush passed me (she had passed me at Sea Otter Classic in March!) and she was coaching another lady. “Come on!” She’d yell and look back to see if her friend was on her wheel. It amazed me that Rebecca could be going at this pace and just coaching someone! “Someday I’ll be able to do that,” I thought to myself. I jumped on her wheel as long as possible however she dropped me when we came to a long descent on the road.

The next climb would take us up to the top of the Powerline road. This was a key point in the race as you go down a steep and long washed out road that runs along the powerlines. I was looking at my splits and starting to realize that hitting the 8hr or even 9 hour mark would be more challenging than I thought. I started to get really focused. “Common G, I need your help,” I spent the entire race talking to my angel Gianna. And boy, did I ever feel her presence throughout the day!

I took the smoothest line possible down powerline and when I reached the bottom, a guy passed me and said, “Thank you! I followed your line the whole way down!” The next section was a few miles of road so I got in a group of guys and we started pacelining up the road. They accelerated too much and with the wind, I fell back and was one my own. Another group passed with a familiar face, “Hey Melissa jump on!” So I jumped in with their train as long as I could. We turned onto a cow trail that took us to the Pipeline road. This was aid station #2 and where many people had tents. The road was lined with people cheering and I could hear my name a few times. I was good on food and water so I blew by our tent where Laurel and Joe Hanson were feeding. There was another girl I was going back and forth with so I didn’t want to lose ground. She ended up stopping at the aid station so I stayed ahead for awhile. The road was a slight decline so this section of the race was fast. After a few short climbs, we landed on some single track. By then the lady had caught up to me however I could tell my skill level was higher than hers so I was able to gap her on the singletrack section. It didn’t last long though since we were back on the dirt road in a few miles and she again passed me. There was a short climb on the gravel and I kept pacing myself. We came down a small hill by the Twin Lakes Dam and there was the next aid station. Aaron had passed me on the road with his dirt bike just 10 minutes before so I knew he’d be there. Jennifer and Shelby Hanson were also waiting to give out feeds. But with so many people, it became a blur and all of a sudden I blew right past them. I decided to keep going. I knew I had enough water to get to the top of Columbine and there would be a station up there if I needed anything. So I kept moving.

The climb up Columbine was much more challenging than I imagined. I had ridden part of the climb a few days before and for my training leading up to Leadville I did similar climbs at hours 4 or 5 of my ride so my body knew how to climb with that amount of fatigue. The road was pretty smooth for the most part, but as you went higher and higher, the altitude made your body feel weaker and weaker. Plus the road became a little more loose and rocky and at that point, the lead riders were starting to come down the hill. There were a few spots I saw people walking but I tried to ride as much as possible as riding is sooo much easier on your body than pushing a bike up the hill. As we were above 11,500ft, there was a line of walkers so they could make room for the riders coming down the mountain. You could see the top but your brain was going crazy from the lack of oxygen. I finally made it to the aid station and I was really happy because I knew my body would feel awesome once I came down in altitude. I stopped for a brief minute to fill up my water bottle, eat a banana and grab a gel.

This is looking at the peak of Columbine from the Twin Lakes Dam.

The ride down the mountain was awesome! You could see a line of people pushing their bikes up the road and cheering for you as you came down. Then, sitting on a 4wheeler was the race founder, Ken Chlouber yelling at people, “Dig Deep!” That amused me! My brain started to feel more focused as I descended. I was ready to find my people at the feed area and swap out my camelback and strip off my arm warmers and leg warmers. So far I was a few minutes off of the splits to get a sub 9hr so I was on a mission to make up time!

I found Aaron, Jennifer, and Shelby and stopped. They had coke, banana and food. I tried stuffing my face while stripping off the arm warmers and leggings. It seemed too complicated as my body was a little tired. “That climb was so long!” I told them. “Hurry up!” Aaron would say. I grabbed some things and got back on my bike. The rain started right at that moment but it felt very refreshing.

Aaron said 'Smile!' and this is the face I gave him!

Shelby and Jennifer obviously know how to smile!

On the road back, I found a group of guys to pace line with as we made our way to the singletrack section and onto the Pipeline road. Once I hit Pipeline I drilled it. There was a short super steep climb that people were walking but I clicked into my granny gear and rode all the way to the top. A guy with a French accent said, “There are 3 women just ahead of you. You can get them, you look strong!” I took off with fierce determination. I wanted to try to get in the top 10 overall for women and hopefully get on the podium for my age group.

When I reached the Pipeline aid area, I stopped at our Faster tent and Shelby switched out my bottles while Laurel and Joe gave me a banana and food. I stuffed my pockets but dropped a honey gel in the process. Volunteers were standing handing out gels so I snagged a few as I rode by. I had no idea what was in them but I knew I needed to constantly fuel myself as I was in the last few hours of the race and had another big climb ahead.

We jumped onto the road and I pacelined with some guys again. We passed a few women, and the lady I had been going back and forth with the entire race. It looked like someone had crashed. When we made it to Powerline, again there was a huge crowd of people cheering all up the hill. Some were handing out oranges or cokes. There were a few steep sections I had to get off and walk. When I looked back though, it was none other than that lady who had been going back and forth with me the entire race, walking right behind me. I couldn’t believe how she could stop so much and then catch back up!! I imagined how many minutes ahead of me she’d be if she didn’t stop so much! It was at that moment that I made a decision, I had to beat her. So I got back on my bike and pedaled away. I never looked back.

Jason Hanson had told me that Powerline was a series of 3 steps to the top. So I counted, one, two, then last one…three. Nope, that wasn’t the top – it kept on going. One more time. Nope, still more. It seemed like the top was never going to come! I figured my friend Gianna would be laughing hysterically by now as this is something she would enjoy! There was an old man handing out cokes around this point and I grabbed one to take a few swigs and keep pushing on.

Finally, the top came! By then my back tire was feeling a little low. I didn’t suspect it as being flat so I decided to hold off on stopping to check it out. I couldn’t waste any time if I wanted a sub 9! I blew down the gravel hill. All of a sudden, a lady I had never seen passed me. I had no idea where she came from and as I kept flying down the hill, I made a decision to pass her. I flew by and didn’t look back.

My tire still felt low but I pushed on. There was a long section of road and a climb. Another lady passed but she looked strong and young. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get on the podium but I knew I had to try. We turned up onto a service road again where the last aid station was, just 10 miles to the finish. I was out of food so I stopped, grabbed a couple of gels from them and took off. Finally, I decided to stop to check my tire. It was low, but not flat so I grabbed my CO2 canister and gave it some air. I took off again, this time much faster with some extra air in the tire.

It was pretty much downhill to the finish except once you get onto the road, you have a false flat climb about 3 miles. I was more determined than ever to make that sub 9 as I was at 8:52 coming onto the road. I had no idea how far it was to finish but I thought I had to try my best. I knew my friend was there helping me, and I still had to put in my best effort. My face started twitching and I realized all the gels I had recently taken probably had a crazy amount of caffeine in them. Which they did – I later read there was 35mg per gel and I had taken probably 5 in the last few hours!

I pushed as hard as I could as if I were in time trial mode. I passed a guy, wiggled my elbow so he could understand to latch on and work together. We took turns taking pulls and were flying. The road turned to a gravel and bumpy road and I soon realized I might not make that sub 9. I had 4 minutes to make it and it seemed like we had a couple of miles left. I told myself not to be bummed, you gave it all you had and just focus on finishing strong. That’s what G would want!

As we moved down the road, the other guy started to make ground and I lost his wheel. I caught up to another guy, “Did you see that?!” he asked me. “What?!” “There was a bear that just crossed the road! I know I wasn’t hallucinating either!” I chuckled. Now a bear would help me ride faster! I looked through the trees as I passed through the area he saw the bear but couldn’t see anything.

We finally came to the top of the last hill and onto the pavement where it was the last sprint to the finish – all downhill. People were cheering and I stood up and sprinted like mad all the way through the red carpet line. My time was 9:11:59. So, I didn’t make the sub 9 but was close. I was just happy to get off that bike. I had no idea how I had done until I got to the truck to clean up and change out of my kit. I grabbed my phone and had received a text from Regina, “DUDE, you absolutely CRUSHED that!!!! 1st in your age group and 14th overall?!! Holy crap!!” I was just stunned. “No way?! OMG that just made my day! I am so thrashed, that was hard!”

The awards were not until the next day and again, the experience was just surreal and awesome. I knew my friend Gianna would have been so proud and ecstatic. It was like the whole experience helped me to not only celebrate her life but come to peace with losing a very close friend. I felt more close to her than ever before. And to top it off, we were the 2nd awards announced (first was the overall male and female) so we were able to hit the road early for our long drive home!

So, now I am enjoying my post season break of not riding much, drinking, dirt biking, and painting my brains out! Recently I was invited to race in the Cape Epic Race in March of 2015 as a team with Debra Doss so now we are working on establishing some sponsorship and will start my Cape Epic training the first of September! South Africa, here I come!

And lastly, I was asked if I’d do Leadville again. Originally, my plan was to just do it once and say I did it, but wow, just missing the 9hr mark put a fire inside of me so you can bet I’ll be back to set some new PR’s!

Thanks to everyone especially my family (both the Ross's and Doherty's!), the Hanson Family, and my wonderful husband Aaron for all of the support. Also thanks to all of my wonderful friends and my special angel Gianna for making this happen.