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The Leadville 100 – one tough mountain bike race.  If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a 100 mile race through Colorado starting in Leadville and climbing zillions of feet into the mountains where oxygen is scarce and the elevations are insane.

The Leadville 100 starts this Saturday and I have two friends who are competing in it.

Stacey Davis and Grace Ragland will be hopping on two fat tires on Saturday morning and tackling the Leadville 100 all day long.  Stacey and Grace have become friends of mine over the years and are a huge inspiration to me for their ability to handle endurance riding the way they do.  I’ve learned a lot from them, here are some highlights:

• Stacey taught me great form, pedal efficiency and gives humbling advice
• Grace has been great for accountability and taught me probably one of the most valuable things I could ever learn “Go Slow To Go Fast”

Leadville 100 Inspirational Videos:

Olympics BBC Campaign

The first video is an unbelievable animated sequence for the Olympics.  It’s the 1:11 mark that’s very cool as the mountain biker is a woman and man she’s pretty badass, too – look at those mountains! WOW! I know it’s not Leadville but it shows just how steep some of the climbs are.

I love when animation is done right and it seems this had a pretty weighty budget to back it as no expense was apparently spared.

Reebok – Defy

This is probably one of my favorite short commercials done by Reebok. The video is only a minute long but if I watch it I’m ready to go jump out of my skin and climb a mountain at an anaerobic state, even if that’s Powerline at Leadville

Life = Risk

“If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived.”  This video is awesome and I like the part about Abraham Lincoln and all the things that happened to him before he became president.  I failed pretty hard at the Cohutta100 which was a huge learning lesson and caused me to reevaluate things and grow.  While I’m not taking on Leadville, many have and have not made it.  But this year is your year to do so.

 Leadville 100 Inspirational Quotes

I’ve culminated a few inspirational quotes to be remembered for Leadville (and other races, rides and any adventure you may be embarking on that leave you thinking “damn this is a daunting task”).

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination. – Tommy Lasorda

 

Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears. – Laird Hamilton

 

What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose. – Andre Agassi

 

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. – Pele

 

You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy. – Arthur Ashe

 

Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you. – Arnold Palmer

 

You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation. – Homer Rice

 

Lance Armstrong

You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave–win or lose. – Gordie Howe

 

To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them. – Picabo Street

 

Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds. – Larry Bird

 

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. – Lance Armstrong

Leadville 100 Motivational Trax

I’m super inspired by music – I use Spotify (follow me) to mix all my trax.  I love mashups and here are three that are super heart pounding and very motivational.  Able to get you up any hill Leadville throws at you!

Rooting for friends and fans of Leadville

I hope all do well at the Leadville 100 2012 race this year but I’m especially rooting for Grace and Stacey to absolutely kill it and have that coveted belt buckle you earn when you go across the finish line in the 12 hour time span.  Also, I’m going to be keenly interested to see how Sonya Looney (a pro female endurance athlete) does with a cast on her arm this year.