Upcoming Team Santa Fe Events

AUGUST 2000 TSF Highlights:

New Mexico Running Series
Aug. 6, 2000

Carl Gable and his partner participated in the August 6 NM mountain run, one of a series of " No T-shirt, no entry fee, just run and have fun" races. This race consisted of running three peaks: Lake Peak, Penitente Peak, and Santa Fe Baldy from Santa Fe Ski Basin. About 25 runners started the run, about half did the entire run with the other half opting to cut the course short and skip Santa Fe Baldy. Carl and his partner ran the entire course together. They were about sixth in the pack and finished the entire course in 4 hours 54 minutes, with 4500 vertical feet.

Sea2Summit at Copper Mountain
August 12-13, 2000

Cindy Gagnon participated on a 2-person team in a 2-day staged race at Copper Mountain. Cindy and her teammate won the 2-person division and were the second team to cross the finish line. On Saturday, the race began at the base of Copper Mountain with a very challenging trekking section with substantial altitude gain, reaching altitudes of near 12,000 feet above sea level. The next leg was a mountain biking stage, which offered a variety of diverse terrain including some wicked single track and challenging descents. Cindy was very happy to be on her Titanium Litespeed mountain bike for this technical section. This was followed by a canoe paddling / orienteering leg on Dillion lake. The final stage, another bike leg, consisted of a non-technical climb back to Copper Mountain, with a surprise event in the middle É crossing a raging river during a thunder and lightning storm with your bikes. They fared well on this event, but others were not so lucky and found themselves attempting to swim across with their bikes. Day 2 started with a mass start: a canoe paddle on Dillion Lake. The trekking section on day two was much longer and more challenging than day one. However, the views on the summit was spectacular of the range of mountains as it reached altitudes of 12,500 feet above sea level. The final stage, a mountain bike leg, was a gradual grind up to Copper Mountain summit before finishing with some wicked, hair raising downhill action. Cindy, who loves to climb, but hates downhills, gave it all she had on the downhill, gritting the passport between her teeth when it had fallen out of her pack on the downhill.

2000 Leadville Trail 100 - Mountain Bike Race
August 12, 2000

Jan and Kim Bear, George Broome and Reis Robinson had made the lottery for the race. There were 551 bike racers and 315 (57%) finished in the 12 hours allowed to travel between Leadville, Columbine Mine and back to Leadville. This was George's first attempt at Leadville and Reis, Jan, and Kim's sixth time to compete. Cold, steady rain made this Leadville Trail 100-Mile Mountain Bike Race even more challenging than in the previous years. Spectators described the racers at the finish as looking as if they had been swimming in a mud hole. The challenge was the weather for 2000. Reis had begun to feel sick with a cough and a fever, the day before the race. He was not sure he would be able to race. That morning he decided to race although he still felt bad. So Kim, Jan, George and Reis started along with the 551 other mountain bikers at 6:30 am. Kim, Jan and Reis were on their Titanium Litespeeds mountain bikes; this would be Reis' first race on his brand new Unicoi and he just couldn't miss trying it out on the race course, no matter how badly he felt. Kim was glad she wore a long sleeved jersey and a Crescent Moon vest as the weather chilled. They all had their CamelBak Hydration systems, Cratoni Helmets and Acumen, Inc. Heart rate Monitors. JogMate and Phil's Bars were the nutrition of choice. The temperature was warmer than in the previous years for the start. As the race progressed, the weather changed and the day grew cloudier. At the 50-mile mark, which is a climb up to Columbine Mine, racers missed the rain and lightning, but as the next 20 miles were covered, the storm began to show its fury. Under the power lines, sparks would fly off the lines, and racers tried to move faster to get away from the storm and the lightning. The single track, which is usually the highlight of the return to Leadville, was now a small river with slippery roots and mud. Jan and Reis were about 2 hours ahead of Kim. Reis, even being sick was still fast, but with the weather, it was at the single-track trailhead that he was convinced to take care of his health and not subject himself to more insult. Reis had already ridden more than 80 miles of the course. Jan continued and finished 9:40:56. Kim finished 30 minutes faster than the previous year and placed second in her age division with a time of 11:08:46. George finished 4th in his age division with a time of 12:30:54.

Be sure to check out our ongoing feature - The Racer's Story.
This segment teammate, Slate Stern, trains for North Pole adventure

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