Around The Hoop

Lance teases fat tire fans with Leadville tweet

Despite reports that he won't compete, Lance Armstrong is talking about the Leadville 100.

The seven-time Tour de France winner qualified for the endurance race on July 31 when, as a surprise last-minute entrant, he won the 63-mile Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey by three seconds. Afterward he downplayed the possibility of racing in the Leadville 100 saying he's “old and retired,” according to Jason Sumner at CyclingNews.com.

Still, he made similar remarks about time passing him by in a public conversation at the Aspen Institute three days before he went out and conquered a mountainous single-track and a 200-yard snowfield to win in Crested Butte.

You just never know when the part-time Aspen resident might show up at a bike race in Colorado.

But it's a good idea to check his Twitter account.

His tweet yesterday got the wheels turning inside of the heads of many fat tire fans. He wrote that he went on a mountain bike ride above Aspen with pro cyclist Tim Johnson and signed off with a #talkingleadville hashtag.

“Just went for a short mtb ride w/ @timjohnsoncx. Smuggler, iowa, 4 corners, hobbit. #talkingleadville," Armstrong tweeted in reference to the Hobbit and Iowa Shaft trails on and around Smuggler Mountain and Four Corners.

Armstrong won the Leadville 100 in 2009 but sat out last year. While his participation this year remains uncertain, a couple of past winners won't be there. Defending champion Levi Leipheimer, who set the course record in 2010, will not be competing. Neither will Dave Wiens, who won in 2008 and is a regular top finisher in the event.

The 1,800-person race begins in downtown Leadville and traverses the high country to the 12,550-foot Columbine Mine above Twin Lakes. The course then changes direction back to Leadville. Start time is 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

River Name / Location	Stream flow, ft3/s	Gage height ft
Gore Creek
At Upper Station, Near I-70 Twin Bridges	n/a	5 ft
Booth Creek	n/a	4 ft
Abv Red Sandstone Creek At Vail	256	7 ft
At Mouth Near Minturn	289	7 ft
Beaver Creek
At Avon	21	2 ft
Lake Creek
Near Edwards	114	1 ft
Cross Creek
Near Minturn	158	4 ft
Homestake Creek
At Gold Park	199	5 ft
Eagle River
East Fork Eagle River Near Climax	n/a	2 ft
At Red Cliff	30	3 ft
Near Minturn	296	4 ft
Wastewater Treatment Plant At Avon	875	5 ft
Below Gypsum	844	5 ft
Colorado River
Near Kremmling	374	4 ft
Near Dotsero	1,410	3 ft
Below Glenwood Springs	3,140	5 ft
Near Cameo	3,260	6 ft
Below Grand Valley Div Nr Palisade	1,800	5 ft
Near Colorado-utah State Line	3,860	4 ft
Near Cisco, Ut	4,270	3 ft
At Lees Ferry, Az	9,740	9 ft
Near Grand Canyon, Az	8,190	6 ft
Yuma Main Canal Ww At Yuma, Az	1,030	10 ft
Roaring Fork River
Abv Lost Man Cr Near Aspen	n/a	n/a ft
Ab Difficult C Nr Aspen	61	1 ft
Near Aspen	115	1 ft
Near Emma	593	6 ft
At Glenwood Springs	1,280	4 ft
Hunter Creek
Near Aspen	57	2 ft
At Aspen	52	4 ft
Frying Pan River
Near Ruedi	110	1 ft
Crystal River
Abv Avalanche Crk, Near Redstone	773	3 ft
Arkansas River
Ef Arkansas R At Us Highway 24, Nr Leadville	60	3 ft
Near Leadville	95	5 ft
Below Empire Gulch Near Malta	159	4 ft
Below Granite	363	4 ft
Near Nathrop	423	4 ft
At Parkdale	444	3 ft