Some Selected Photos

All photos © John Lee Ellis unless otherwise attributed

 

A Wet Start

 

Hans Binder ready for the elements.

 

Postcard checkpoint at Kensington, KS post office - Lone Binder photo

 

Boulder Creek Flooding

 

Big Blue Sky Returns

 

Vincent Muoneke and Andréa Matney at finish

 

The Author at Finish

 

Bill Olsen off the front entering Kansas - Lone Binder photo

 

The Big Expanse (horizontal crop) - Lone Binder photo

 

The Big Expanse (vertical crop) - Lone Binder photo

 

Day 4: A Cheery Finale

A promising - although still water-filled - start to the final day for most of our riders.

 

The roads are generally dry and the winds calm.

 

This shot of Jasper Road is from the original course.  (Two days later, though, it closed because of a fallen tree.)  Unfortunately, we had to divert the final 36 miles from these tranquil rustic roads because of intervening flooding and washouts.  But riders made the best of it (as you'd expect!).

 

 

The morning saw Tom Knoblauch up and cheery after finishing the night before.

 

 

Ken Bonner, also finishing Friday evening, chats with Manfred Kuchenmuller, who at age 72 has completed ? 1200k's.  In the background Lona Binder (Hans' wife) and Margot Bonner confer.  Lona assembled a great collection of photos, which I will be posting.  Thanks, Lona!

 

In the background, KUSA-TV is covering the flooding situation.

 

 

Hans Binder rolls in midmorning having come all the way from Copenhagen to finish his second Last Chance ...

 

 

... and is ok with the fancy medal, too.

 

 

Andréa Bassing Matney in her Paris-Brest-Paris '07 jersey

- Tom Foss photo

 

 

 

Vincent Muoneke in his Great Southern Randonnée jersey

- Tom Foss photo

 

 

Theo Roffe in his Gold Rush Randonnée jersey earned last June

- Tom Foss photo

 

 

Andy Albershardt finishing his first 1200k ever!

- Tom Foss photo

 

 

Andréa and Vinnie reflecting on the fun times.

- Tom Foss photo

  

 

George Hoover, Mark Olsen and Bill Olsen roll into the finish under blue skies.

 

 

Christine Newman and Patrick Chin-Hong had to dnf/dns the Last Chance but got to ride the Roggen Roundabout 200k Permanent today.

 

 

Bill swaps stories with Andréa, Scott, Vinnie, and Theo.

 

 

Bill Olsen - this is his 5th Last Chance!

 

 

George Hoover - his second 1200k, after finishing his first, the Gold Rush, in June!

 

 

Gary Sparks - looking fresh after finishing early this morning, despite bonus miles to Thornton, CO.  Gary also rode the Last Chance through last year's (much colder!) rain.

 

 

Ron Himschoot, nicely attired in his Last Chance jersey.  This is Ron's 4th Last Chance, starting with the inaugural edition in 2001.

 

Bob Koen in his PBP'07 jersey.  Bob rode the Colorado High Country 1200 last year.

 

 

Congratulations to the finishers, and thanks to all the riders for joining us!

 

 

 -jle

Our Wonderful Volunteers!

Stay tuned for our report on Day 4 and the Finish, but in the meantime ...

Heartfelt thanks to our spendid volunteers, who got glowing praise from our riders!  Especially in these trying conditions, great volunteers make a crucial difference and really add a glow to the event.

 

Dan Shields (provisions), Charlie Henderson (course monitoring and strategist), Satish Patki (Atwood).

 

Cathy Cramer (Atwood)

- Lona Binder photo

 

Satish Patki (Atwood)

- Lona Binder photo

 

Scott Griffith, rider-turned-volunteer (Atwood & Byers)

- Lona Binder photo

 

Beth Long and Brent Myers (Byers)

- photo from the High Country

 

Tammie Nakamura (Anton outpost)

- photo from a brighter, windier ride

 

 

Tom Foss (finish)

 

 

 

Laurie Stanton (finish)

Thanks, also, to Rick Melick, our rider rescue volunteer.

 

-jle

 

P.S. Have an anecdote or note of appreciation?  Leave a reply below!

 



Day 3: Reaching the Flood Areas

By late Thursday, our riders were climbing the big rollers from Anton to the Byers overnight control.   (Most chose to take a sleep break, a few rode through.)

 

West of Byers, we're getting closer to the flood areas that have made national news.

 

Boulder Creek heading east of Boulder onto the Plains has made a broad swath across the landscape.

 

Strong currents make the situation dangerous.

 

109th Street in Boulder County now has a clean break, carved by Boulder Creek.

Then, ahead of schedule, the sun breaks through and riders scramble to find their sunglasses and sunscreen!

 

We rerouted riders the final 36 miles from Platteville (next-to-last checkpoint) onto more major roads not in the path of the flooding drainages.

 

- - -

 

As I write this, everyone has left Byers, and we have four finishers.  It's a nice, mild, dry day, with hints of sun, just in time for a pleasant finish.

 

- jle

Day 3: A Wet Start, Improving Prognosis

Rain resumed later yesterday as riders moved west, and it was a wet night.  A silver lining is that this it's fairly mild day and night, with the Gulf moisture flow.

 

All riders have passed Atwood heading west through the various shades of green on this radar shot:

 

As one nears the Boulder County finish, there are many road closures.

Water is high in fields, with walls of cloud welling up.

 

Thanks to Scott Griffith and Christine Newman who checked out the final 100 miles of route.

 

 

For safety and dependability, we've rerouted the final segment onto main roads safe from flood danger.

 

Rain is forecast to be light this afternoon, with a bit of overnight fog and drizzle, and partly sunny Saturday morning, when most riders will be riding the final stretch.

 

-jle

Day 2: Looking Up After Rough Day and Night

It was a rough start, day, and night for our riders, with intermittent periods of heavy showers and generally wet conditions.  At least it was mild, with temps starting in the 50's and into the 60's and 70's through the day.

While the Front Range and foothills have experienced flash floods and damage to homes and roads, it's a mild, overcast, but generally dry day on Eastern Plains and in Kansas. 

You can see from the KUSA-TV radar plot that the heavy rain is confined to the Denver metro area and the Front Range.  Prospects are for a much nicer day all around tomorrow, and a chance, we hope, for things to dry off by the time riders near the finish line.

Talking with one rider this morning, he offered some levity regarding the Last Chance scenery ... a good sign that levity is still in play! 

After good food and rest last night at Atwood, and rancher breakfasts in towns like Oberlin, riders should be set for a good day, albeit lots of work, with 200 miles to get out to Kensington and back to Atwood.

-john lee

Last Chance 2013 Dry Sign-In and Soggy Start!

Our stalwart randonneurs are off and pedaling on the 10th edition of the Last Chance 1200km Grand Randonnée!

 

Last night's sign-in was a dry and cheerful during break between the novelty of sizable precipitation in Colorado.

 

Andréa Bassing Matney and her husband Steve "Bones" Matney share a cheerful moment.  Bones was key to the success of the inaugural Shenandoah 1200k in 2008.   Andréa is primed for some gentler terrain than at home in Virginia and Maryland.

Endurance cycling legend Ken Bonner looks cheerful while being awarded his RUSA Mondial Award, for completing a circumference of the earth's worth (40,000km) of RUSA kilometers.  Congratulations, Ken! 

 

SIR randos Theo Roffe and Vincent Muoneke ready for another 1200k this year.  That wool SIR jersey may be a good choice!  I had the pleasure of meeting Theo on the Gold Rush Randonnée and seeing my friend Vinnie again on the Alaska Big Wild Ride.

 

Andy Alberschadt, who has moved (back) to Gunnison after years in NC, consults with Hans Binder from Copenhagen, a Last Chance veteran.

 

A few hours pass, and all too soon it's 2am and time to get going!

 

Multi-time Last Chance veteran Ron Himschoot looks all set.  You can see the sheen of wet pavement in the background.  An experienced SIR randonneur, Ron arrived at the first Last Chance, in 2001, the best prepared of any rider for the wet weather to come that year.

 

Dan Shields and Satish Patki load up Charlie Henderson's pickup with enough supplies to keep riders at Atwood fed up going and coming back.

 

Dan has been Atwood chef de contrôle so he knows what it takes, and bought accordingly.  Thank you, Dan!

 

Ken Bonner is ready to ride, as we discuss how waterproof mitten and lobster shells need to be.

Hans Jørgen Binder is clearly benefiting from experience with the Danish climate!

 

Dan Shields, Charlie Henderson, and Satish Patki. 

 

Charlie is happy to be exercising his talents again as course monitor extraordinaire.  Satish is visiting Colorado from India and is partaking of our brevets.

 

It's 3am and the stalwart randos are off!

 

 

Bonne route à tous!