Mountain Bike News – Lance Armstrong Swaps His Road Bike For a Mountain Bike at the Leadville 100

Oct 19th, 2009 | By coolbiking | Category: Bike Rides & Tours

By Mark Andrew Woodcock

The 2009 Leadville 100 race in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado witnessed an impressive battle between Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens. These two biking legends have enjoyed a friendly competition over previous years. In 2008 Wiens beat Armstrong in the same race and set a new course record of 6:45:00 but there would be no repeat of this in 2009.

Armstrong’s fortunes were reversed this year as he won by an impressive gap, twenty five minutes in total, and smashed Wiens’ record by over ten minutes. All this and Lance crossed the line with a flat rear tire. At one point it looked as though Armstrong would not be able to continue as swarms of fans and supporters lined the track and impeded his route.

The Leadville 100 is close to the heart of both riders for different reasons. It was shortly after the 2008 race that Armstrong announced his return to professional cycling. He has since defied his critics with successful performances in the Tour of California, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. Training for the race seems to have inspired Armstrong with a new passion for mountain biking, with plans to enter some other big competitions in the next couple of years, as well as sticking to his road biking. For Wiens, the race remains one of his favorites even though he retired from a twenty year professional mountain biking career in 2004. During his career, Wiens was a US national champion, world champion and now holds a place in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Riding in the Leadville 100 is a physically shattering affair, and riders are given twelve hours to complete the course in order to gain a recorded time. The course itself stretches along the Rocky Mountains, weaving around trees, roots and of course, rocks.

If you like the sound of this challenging sport it is easy to get involved with mountain biking. All you need is a mountain bike and access to a fairly rough terrain. For beginners and enthusiasts it is a good idea to join a biking club as you can find good locations together and socialite with fellow mountain bikers. You may also be entitled to discounts at bike retailers so you can pick up top of the range safety equipment and performance-enhancing gadgets.

There are other options to choose if you think mountain biking may be a little too extreme for you. Road bikes are a great way to stay fit and explore the surrounding countryside, but doing it on a flat surface instead of over dangerous terrain! If you want to share the experience with a loved one you could get a tandem, or a tricycle so your child can join you in biking fun.

Leadville 100 Bike Race – Race Across The Sky Trailer

–About–

By Mark Andrew Woodcock – Author Mark Woodcock is a Webmaster of a wide variety of online specialty shops including a very popular site selling Mountain Bike products and bikes.
Visit http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk today.

Source: Cool Biking Zone – Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!

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