August 16, 2009
Aight so I have this friend, Jon. He currently lives in Denver, CO. but is moving back to the Baltimore area soon. Jon’s a great XC rider. Runs a 29” titanium Black Sheep.
As a former swimmer in college, Jon is a natural when it comes to anaerobic ability. He decided to run Leadville for his second season in a row this year. In 2008, Jon earned himself a belt buckle with a time of just over 10 hours. This year, he was shooting for sub-nines. Did I mention that he puts a lot of pressure on himself?.
Anyway, Jon did great. He was conditioned, and even teamed up with Carmichael Training for an added edge. I got many phone calls and texts from Jon over the last three months as he was in preparation. Lots of practice runs on Columbine and Powerline. He was ready for sure.
He finished this year’s race at 9:34 and change; a fantastic time even though he missed his goal. His biggest challenge seemed to be nutrition. He couldn’t fuel up at the aide stations due to a gag reflex caused by the taste of food hitting his tongue. If this sounds weird to you, then you’ve never ridden a bike for an extended period of time in the some of the world harshest, steepest, oxygen deprived altitudes.
Anyway, Jon bonked around the 7 hour mark due to his inability to get food down. What’s amazing to me is that he rode another 2.5 hours in that condition. I’ve only bonked once in my life. I never want to feel that feeling again.
So….check out this picture of Jon getting an IV after the race….I was glad to see he was in good ennough sprirts to joke around.
Big ups go out to Jon on his 9:34 time.
Yo Jon – I’m down to ride Leadville next year. If you wanna take another crack at it, I’d love to train with you and fly out there to represent Bmore. Get at me.
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