Leadville, CO - Elevation 10,200ft

After two excellent days in Crested Butte we made our way up and around to Leadville, CO. This is where we will be staying for the remainder of our time in preparation for race day on Saturday. The town is a bit rougher then Aspen and CB but still a great atmosphere and friendly people. Lots of history here going back to the late 1880's. Leadville was once in the running for the capitol of Colorado due to its quick growth from the rich mining reserves.
Wednesday afternoon we climbed up to the "power line" section of the race course. Tough rocky area with over 1500 ft elevation gain. Nice to get a feel for some of the course.
The pointed mountain in the photo is Mount Elbert, tallest point in CO - 14,440 ft.
We have two camp sights for the rest of the week at a cool campground called Sugarlofin, just outside of Leadville a couple of miles.
Shane is one of the employees at camp. Every evening there is all you can eat ice cream for $1.50 a bowl. If you stay in the room you can eat all you want, all of us took advantage.
Big sign in the middle of Leadville - Matt is standing between the E in Leadville and the G in Great.
Thursday morning - our last ride before taking it easy prior to our race. Road up to Hagerman pass. Again, lots of very interesting history. The majority of our route took us up an old abandoned Colorado Midland railroad grade. The photo above is an old tunnel that the railroad used up until the early 1900's. When the railroad went bankrupt, cars used the tunnel (had to take turns going either direction) up until 1932. Lots of remnants of what use to be there, we even found an old rail road spike.
At Hagerman Pass - 11,925 ft. Weather was not as sunny today which made it very cool at the top. It took us 1-1/2 hours to get to the top, taking our time spinning the wheels and only 40 minutes to get down.
Really nice back country hut built and maintained by the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association. Huts are point to point locations used mainly in the winter for skiers in the back country. Seriously nice work in every detail Open to the public with the correct reservations. My Land Cruiser would make it here, I wonder if Kriston would be up for the challenge??
The photo shows the cut out in the mountain that the rail road used before the tunnel was put in. This section was cut low so that a snow shed could be put over the tracks to aid in winter travel. It is hard to imagine all of the work that went into building this type of project. At the time there were no bull dozers or even dynamite. Hundreds of workers, blasting powder, picks and shovels were used for everything.

Tomorrow, Friday is reserved for race day preparation. Mandatory medical check, packet pick-up, meeting and just about anything else required pre-race. Lot's of buzz in the town with Lance and all the media he brings in tow. It's getting close, I can't wait!