The Most Brutal Race EVER (Leadville 100)

Ben Wallace, Paige's uncle Steve Hunt, and I naively signed up for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race and actually were picked in the lottery to participate. Mike Scheuller was also on the team but we unfortunately did not get any pictures of him.

On our way to Leadville we had Steve and Ben's bikes loaded on the rear bike rack and when we stopped for lunch we discovered that Steve's bike was hanging precariously off the back, only attached to the rack with 2 bungee cords:

Gotta love the bungee cords. Otherwise Steve would have either not ridden or would have had a new bike just for the race. He was actually hoping that the bike would fall off so he would have an excuse to get that new carbon-fiber, full suspension 29'er. Alas, we discovered the problem and securely fashioned it back to the rack, and it survived the rest of the trip (and the race).

On our way we drove over Independence Pass east of Aspen; it tops out at over 12,000 feet.


Here we are at the top of the pass:


We stayed at a former brothel in Twin Lakes, a beautiful little hamlet on the other side of Independence Pass from Aspen. Such gorgeous surroundings. Check it out:





Registering for the race:


We had to get there early to get our bikes in line for the start:





Some pics before the start:




We had some Lance sightings as well:





While waiting for us to get to the feed zone Paige took some stunning pictures of rainbows:


Some pictures during the race:




Ben wins the award for best facial expressions:




Some pictures of the finish:





If you finish the race under 12 hours, you get a hoodie with your name and finishing time on it and also a silver belt buckle. We all met our overall goal of finishing under 12 and here we are with our just rewards:

Paige was a rock star one-woman support crew, supporting all 3 of us and taking all these great pictures. It was one long-a## day for her and we appreciated it so much. She was especially great at the finish when we were all dazed and hypoxic and worthless.


It was such an ridiculously difficult race and everyone we talked to said it was the hardest thing any of us had ever done. And many thanks again to my wonderful wife for all her hard work and patience not only for supporting us during the race but also for all the time i spent away training for it. You rock!!

At the Cape

Our house on the cape. It was actually two houses put together to make one big house that could fit the whole family. The owner told us that there are cannon ball holes in the attic from the Revolutionary war.


The kids can't get enough of the Nintendo DS



One sunny day was spent at Mayflower Beach, one of the outside beaches. An outside beach means that the water is a lot colder, but the sand is better. Hmmmm...take your pick. Wherever you go the water is plenty salty.


Ruby was the best lookin' babe on the beach with her cute sunhats and tweeny-weeny-polka-dot-bikini (not seen here).

So here is what the beach looked like when we got there in the morning...

...and then a really fat guy did a cannonball and emptied all of the water out of the bay so it looked like this. Actually this is what it looks like when the tide goes out. It doesn't even look like the same beach.

I tried to get a before and after picture of Chris' tan line but the reflection from the white part was so bright that you can't see the biker-tan very well. The after picture was never taken, but lets just say Chris went from tan and white to tan and pink.



We took a rainy day retreat to Martha's Vineyard since we couldn't go to the beach and the Bell family spent all of their years on Nantucket and most hadn't ventured to the Vineyard. Everyone voted hands down that Nantucket has more to offer. Despite the vote, we had fun seeing part of the island (mostly from the bus - as seen below).




We ate at a popular restaurant called The Black Dog and visited all of the four souvenier shops found in that area of Martha's. Although it is called The Black Dog, Paulie and Stoughton bought brown dogs. The girls were true to the name and got black puppies that they carried around tucked in their coats to keep them from getting wet.




We were able to catch a beautiful beach sunset one of the first nights there.


Still active, Lala (Grandma Bell) is tearing it up on Isabelle's bike.