Category Archives: Sports and Events

Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race 2011

August 15, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

First, you should know that less than a year ago, neither I nor any of my friends rode mountain bikes. And you should know that the Leadville 100 is perhaps the most “epic” mountain bike race in the U.S. Lance Armstrong won it a couple of years back. It’s a 100 miles, and it starts at 10,000 ft. elevation. And when I tried to ride just a portion of the course, there was a five-mile stretch during which I crashed (hard) three separate times (to say nothing of the thin-air climbs up bumpy trails).

There’s a lottery to get in, and Shane and Ned wound up getting “slots” in this year’s race; for better or worse (almost certainly better), I didn’t. They trained like crazy, especially Ned, who spent about six consecutive weekends in Colorado (ask him about the oxygen tent over his bed in Houston – no kidding). They both rocked it! At least I got to tag along, drive the chase car and take pictures.

Oh: And it all took place on my birthday. So I got a nice present from the gang — a Payday (candybar). Long story.

Colorado Multisport Week

July 19, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

Ned’s spending a couple of weeks in Colorado — mostly riding bikes and training for the Leadville race in August. I joined him for about five days. Day 1 we hiked Bear Mountain near Boulder (and saw a mother bear with 2 cubs at a distance of about 40-50 yards). Seeing a mother bear up that close sure is thought-provoking; it made me think: “I wonder if I can outrun Ned in an all-out short sprint?” Day 2 we rafted the Arkansas River near Royal Gorge. The rest of the days we mostly scouted and mountain-biked part of the course of the Leadville 100, and even did a kayak tour of Lake Dillon on the way back to the airport.

Royal Gorge is a suspension bridge about 1000 ft above the Colorado River. Ned was dubious as we approached — scoffing a bit that so much touristy enterprise had sprung up around something that, he said, “frankly doesn’t seem like it’s all that impressive.” Ha. About five minutes later, as we actually drove onto the bridge, he stopped the car dead in its tracks — voice nervously giddy and spewing expletives. Suffice it to say that he was impressed. This was the funniest moment of the trip.

Forgive some of the mediocre photography — this is mostly pocket camera stuff.

Ironman Texas

May 25, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

In a moment of weakness and/or bravado a couple of years back, I claimed that I would do an Ironman on every continent. So, Brazil 2008 (South America: done); Germany 2010 (Europe: done). Last year they announced, for the first time ever, that there would be an Ironman event in Texas — right here in the Houston area. I was bummed — on one hand, if they’re having one in your hometown, you can’t NOT do it, but I’d loved doing them as “destination events” in cool distant places. Worse, they scheduled it in late May — in south Texas where, you may already know, it gets really hot in late May.

And so we did it. My friends / training partners all did great. Scott exorcised his IronMan demons (his last attempt – in Germany – landed him in the ICU rather than the finish line). Shane logged his fourth Ironman (his third within a 12-month span). The one female in our group, Angie, kicked all our butts (in our defense, she’s a fitness “professional” and she’s about three age-groups younger than the Shane and me). All good. Me? I had some unmentionable problems during the bike section, which set me back nearly an hour and gave me my worst Ironman time ever. But hey, I finished, so who cares, right? North America: done.

And my Mom and Dad even came down to watch.

That’s me in the black tank top (#2079). [Update: I added some pics of Scott, too]. I’ll try to gather and add some pics of the others. Here are a few for now.

(Obviously, I didn’t TAKE any of these pictures).

Laughlin, NV with Ricochet

April 7, 2011 by Jeff C | 2 Comments

I got to fly out to Laughlin, NV to spend a week with Ricochet, the country band (of “Her Daddy’s Money” fame) led by two of my Vian, OK childhood buddies, Greg Cook and Heath Wright. Laughlin is a small casino town an hour outside Vegas in the pointy south tip of Nevada. They had a six-day gig at Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort and Casino, which has apparently stood on that site for 50+ years. Entering the place is a trip to the 1970s, but it was lots of fun. We met Don Laughlin himself, and even hung out with his grandson (who works there as a pit boss).

Part of Ricochet’s deal was to sing the Star Spangled Banner at the Laughlin River Stampede (rodeo) each day, so I got to see a high-quality PRCA rodeo with VIP I’m-with-the-band access. One day I took Greg and Heath aboard N3738R for a flying tour over Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Monument Valley. It was truly great to spend a week with dear “old” friends (let’s just say that Greg is (a) “a little older” than me, and (b) a two-time grandpa).