After scoping the dino museum near our homestay on our drive last Friday, a trip to check out some bones stacked up there at #1 on the list of things to do post race. I’ve seen dino mock-ups before but never a full skeleton so I wasn’t going to waste this chance, besides we are going to Moab later in the week so I might as well get ready to see lots of dinos!
Lesson 1) Dino poop is heavy.
Lesson 2) Dino DNA is hard to find.
Lesson 3) The supersaurus is orange & has a hip bone the size of 7 Chris Hongs!
Lesson 4) The sandpit with dino bones in it is for kids only...apparently my creeper mustache gives away my age.
Lesson 5) The guy cleaning dino bones behind the glass wall is real, but the guys cleaning dino bones not behind glass walls aren’t.
Lesson 6) Flying dinos were better at the “bulleye’s game” than their grounded comrades.
Lesson 7) Easter eggs are filled with chocolate and dino eggs are not very paintable.
Our SLC itinerary also included a trip to the Temple of Mormon. We found some fuzzy hats, a big shiny glass thing called a chandelier and took a bunch of photos of a building that is a bit too white for its own good. See if you can find my hand-standing teammate Quinn.
We also ventured out for a training criterium at the Rocky Mountain Raceway on Tuesday night. Day 4 at elevation really made the legs useless but the efforts were great. Those racers up there really go nuts! I jumped in a four man breakaway, although Reid Mumford and Chase Pinkham leapt off in a two-man charge. So my chase-mates included Leadville 100 winner Bryson Perry (Life Time Fitness), Michael Booth (Ski Utah) & Aaron Olsen (FFRC SBO). With 1 lap remaining and Chase/Mumford way off in the distance, Bryson, who had been pulling 75% of the race (that guy is flying!....I've heard that he is preparing to comeback to Leadville this year so look out), took a flyer. So I figured it was as good a time as any to practice my leadout for my chase-mates. The sensations were good!
A few more days of elevation in Moab then it’s down to Tucson!
Bryson Perry's wins at Leadville:
2001 Bryson Perry Utah 7:30:01
2002 Bryson Perry (2) Utah 7:32:27
2003 David Wiens Colorado 7:07:44
2004 David Wiens (2) Colorado 7:05:51
2005 David Wiens (3) Colorado 7:17:47
2006 David Wiens (4) Colorado 7:13:14
2007 David Wiens (5) Colorado 6:58:46
2008 David Wiens (6) Colorado 6:45:45
2009 Lance Armstrong Texas 6:28:50
2010 Levi Leipheimer California 6:16:37*