On August 13, at 6:30 a.m. a shotgun will fire and 1,500 competitors will begin the epic Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race. The LT100 begins and ends in the mountain town of Leadville, Colorado and covers 100 miles of Colorado wilderness, most of it at altitudes above 10,000 feet. Racers must make cut-off times throughout the course and finish in less than 12 hours to earn one of the coveted Leadville finishers’ belt buckles.
This year, four of the competitors will be members of BVF Gorilla Coffee Racing, bringing the number of Brooklynites participating in the race to an all-time high.
Saul Jacobson secured his entry through the Leadville lottery system. Peter Baiamonte, Francie Seidl Chodosh, and Midori Nakamura all qualified for Leadville at the Wilmington/Whiteface 100K qualifying race in the Adirondack mountains of New York this June. Francie, just 19 years old, had the distinction of being the youngest competitor at the qualifier, as well as the only finisher in her category.
On the morning of Thursday, August 4th, Peter and Francie will hit the road with a fully loaded car, carrying all the bikes and gear out to Colorado in preparation for the race.
Join us that morning for either of two small send-off events.
From 8 to 10 a.m. we’ll be at Gorilla Coffee in Brooklyn on the corner of 5th Avenue and Park Place, getting some coffee to fuel the trip and packing the last of our gear in the car.
Around 11 a.m. when they open, we’ll be stopping by our team’s sponsor shop, NYC Velo on 2nd Avenue in Manhattan between 3rd and 4th streets. We’ll have Gorilla Coffee, muffins and pastries courtesy of Gorilla Coffee—and pick up the last few things we’ll need for our trip.
Please come out and join us for either event.