Crested Butte area chosen to host third Leadville 100 race qualifier in late July

1,000 bikers could show up

The lottery list is out for entry into the 2011 Leadville 100 bike race and if you didn’t get picked, you may still have a chance.
Every year, the competitors in the Leadville 100 bike race are picked by lottery. As many as 5,000 enter the lottery but only close to 1,500 get picked. If you don’t get picked, no matter how strong a rider you may be, you’re out of luck.

In an effort to open the race up to more riders, and stronger riders, throughout the nation, AEG Sports created a Leadville Qualifying Series (LQS).
The LQS is a three-race series this summer that will offer 100 more spots per race into the famed Leadville 100 mountain bike race.
The first LQS race will be in Lake Placid, N.Y. on June 19. The second is scheduled for North Lake Tahoe, Calif. on July 10. The third and final race of the series, the Alpine Odyssey, will be here in Crested Butte on July 31, just two weeks before the big race.
“There are great elements for having a lottery,” says president of AEG Sports Andrew Messick. “But there are things that didn’t work as well.”
According to Messick, one in three people in the Leadville 100 end up missing the 12-hour time limit, thus missing out on a belt buckle. He hopes that the LQS will improve upon that statistic.
“That’s a lot and I think the qualifying series helps solve that problem,” says Messick.
When the LQS idea was announced, towns submitted applications to host one of the three events. A contingent of Gunnison Valley bike race enthusiasts came together to pitch the area as the place to host one of the LQS races and for Messick, it seemed a no-brainer.
“It’s a fantastic place to ride a mountain bike,” says Messick. “Crested Butte has as much mountain bike DNA baked into it as anywhere else in the world.”
Certain parameters needed to be met though to host the event, three things in particular. First, the course needs to be 60 to 70 miles long. Second, 60 percent to 70 percent needs to be on fire roads or similar, and third, no technical singletrack.
All seemingly simple goals to be met, but here in Crested Butte, with miles of singletrack to choose from, it took some planning to pick the right route.
“We sat down and pow-wowed,” says Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey race director Dave Ochs.
He thinks they’ve done it with a course that will include a neutral start in Mt. Crested Butte and through the town of Crested Butte before heading up Kebler Pass Road. The course will include sections on the Wagon Trail, Gunsight Pass, Slate D’huez, Gothic Road and will finish with singletrack on Crested Butte Mountain back to the start/finish at the base area.
In the end, the course will cover 58 miles and have 10,500 feet of climbing.
“It really fits the bill,” says multiple Leadville 100 race winner and technical director of the LQS Dave Wiens. “I think it’s going to be a good stepping stone for the Leadville 100. The course that is proposed is certainly going to be a good test.”
While the final permitting has yet to be determined, Messick expects as many as 1,000 riders for the race in Crested Butte.
“Our limit will be determined in our partnership with the Forest Service,” says Messick. “We want to make sure we’re working with the Forest Service on the impact.”
One hundred riders will qualify from each of the LQS races. Fifty will get in based on how they perform in their age group and 50 will be randomly drawn from among the finishers.
“I think we’re going to have some folks from the valley in there,” says Wiens. “We certainly have some men and women in the valley that shouldn’t have a problem qualifying.”
Registration for the LQS opens on Thursday, March 31; go to www.leadvillequalifiers.com to sign up.