Category: Uncategorized

Would you ever ride with your partner on a bicycle built for two? Listen to this special episode with tandem racers Jana and David Zangerle and learn what it takes to cross the finish line with someone very close to you–physically and emotionally!

Jana and David are racing in the Leadville Race Series Stage Race this weekend. Find out what that means (hint: it has nothing to do with the Tabor Opera House, but you should definitely check that out too!)

Listen here:

Show Notes with Links: 

• What is a “stage race“?
• What’s required in a relationship to ride a tandem, how do you decide who rides where, and how does it work mechanically?
• How do you communicate? Any disagreements? Trust issues?
• The power of positive thoughts
• Lutsen, MN race and “crash”
• Eating on a tandem, like a relay race hand-off
• Athletic backgrounds
• Shout-out to Cycles of Life and Leadville Shell Station (Toby?) and the welder in Silverthorne!
• Goals for this year’s races
• Nutrition during races: Heed, Perpetuem, Candy orange slices, and real food, gel, snickers, potato chips
• Shout-out to Michael Hester, crew, and crew tips
• What they do when they’re not racing
• How has racing changed their lives
• Tips for tandems and shout-out to Wheat Ridge Cyclery
• Loving “the spirit of Leadville”!
• David’s Leadman and LT100 Run experience, tips, shout-outs to Pajama Johnny and Reid (sp?)

More Links:

• Special thanks to Lake County Public Library (for recording space!)
• Laurel’s Amazon Author page
• https://leadvillelaurel.com/writing-tips/
• https://www.facebook.com/LeadvilleLaurel/
• https://twitter.com/LeadvilleLaurel
• Intro/outro voice by Nick McHargue,
  Podcast music from Jamendo Royalty Free Music

If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! Please support Alligator Preserves on Patreon.  You will be rewarded!

Rodrigo Jimenez, 41-year-old resident of Leadville, Colorado, is competing in his 5th Leadman competition in the Leadville Race Series. Listen to the incredible story of how he started racing, and stay till the end to hear how running for 100 miles above 10,000′ elevation makes him feel!

Show Notes with Links:

• I ask Rodrigo the “Why?” question
• His very first race was the Leadville Race Series 50-mile run!
• Early injuries prevented his first LT100 Run finish (at mile 85!)
• Three goals: 1) Have a crazy, over-the-top goal first, 2) Try to beat his PR, and 3) FINISH the race
• Going for his 5th Leadman series
• Family support, and training on his own
• Can anyone compete in these races?
• What he wears and how he eats during the races
• His fastest LT100 Run time
• Aid station awareness
• Pacers, and how the weather can turn really bad
• Tips for racers about training and shoes (extra!)
• How running 100 miles makes him feel
• This year’s goals and final tips
• email Rodrigo at: stonekingmasonry@gmail.com

More Links:

• Laurel’s Amazon Author page
• https://leadvillelaurel.com/writing-tips/
• https://www.facebook.com/LeadvilleLaurel/
• https://twitter.com/LeadvilleLaurel
• Intro/outro voice by Nick McHargue,
  Podcast music from Jamendo Royalty Free Music

If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! Please support Alligator Preserves on Patreon.  You will be rewarded!

Come with me to Twin Lakes in Lake County, CO where I experienced a day that inspired new scenes and characters (a fire-breathing dragonfly and a tortured octopus) for the second novel in my Waterwight series: Waterwight Flux.

The lake was unusually serene, the weather was “seasonably” warm, and the experience was wonderfully surreal.

No need for show notes or a photo of me on my paddleboard, but here’s a link to the book in which new characters emerged from my Zen Diagrams experience! (click on book cover image):

Elden Nelson (a.k.a. “Fatty”) has two decades of Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race finishes under all of his belt buckles! Find out what makes him continue to come back to compete in one of the toughest races known to mountain bikers.

And watch our visit on YouTube: https://youtu.be/j_uB2oVVtBk

Show Notes with Links:

• First, a link to “Fatty’s” blog: Fat Cyclist (with lots of great photos of him and his family) and his podcast: Leadville: The 100 Mile Mountain Bike Podcast! If you’re into ultraracing, and specifically racing in Leadville, spend some time with Elden Nelson!
• WHY he races, and has been racing since his first race in 1997
• Elden talks about his love for Leadville
• Elden’s “Feeding Frenzy” podcast and what he eats
• Training at altitude
• Ken Chlouber’s “race family” (and listen to my interview with Ken HERE)
• Find race stats and data in Fatty’s podcast episodes about the races
• The idea of making a commitment to yourself
• Doing the Breck Epic 6-day race right before this year’s LT100
• Riding with his wife
• A shout-out to supporters and crew advice
• Mechanical failures
• Best race, and how many more will he do?
• Keeping a sense of humor during the face
• email Fatty: fatty@fatcyclist.com

More Links:

• Laurel’s Amazon Author page
• https://leadvillelaurel.com/writing-tips/
• https://www.facebook.com/LeadvilleLaurel/
• https://twitter.com/LeadvilleLaurel
• Intro/outro voice by Nick McHargue,
  Podcast music from Jamendo Royalty Free Music

If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! Please support Alligator Preserves on Patreon.  You will be rewarded!

In this episode, I share my morning routine, a walk to “The Turn-Around Tree” with my friend John Orville Stewart, and how it has inspired characters, scenes, and plot twists in my novels!

It’s a real place, I’ll have you know.

Show Notes and Links:

• Click HERE for original post with a photo of John at The Turn-Around Tree and icicles hanging under the bridge of doom!
• Next episode: Something completely different

More Links:

• Laurel’s Amazon Author page
• https://leadvillelaurel.com/writing-tips/
• https://www.facebook.com/LeadvilleLaurel/
• https://twitter.com/LeadvilleLaurel
• Intro/outro voice by Nick McHargue,
  Podcast music from Jamendo Royalty Free Music

If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! Please support Alligator Preserves on Patreon.  You will be rewarded!

On my way to Denver in 90 minutes and hoping my stress dreams about it will now end! Absolutely crazy one this morning. This is why I find fantasy writing easy, I suppose!

Doing a giveaway of an awesome Viking mug (painted by moi at Fire On The Mountain and in honor of NaNoWriMo), hers and his Orville T-shirts (thanks to Becky Jewell for the artwork and Judith Mulder for the Ts), an octopus dress (long story), and of course, some books! Scan the QR to be added to my mailing list and enter for a chance to win it all!

(and wish me luck!)

Don’t call Marge Dorfmeister a cute little old lady.

There’s something about people who grew up on a farm. Octogenarian Marge Dorfmeister shares a lifetime of experiences, her poetry, her humor, and her ideas about the end of life.

Show Notes and Links:

• She’s a farm girl! Call her Marge
• Moving to Buena Vista, CO and never looking back
• Former president of Chaffee County Writers Exchange, and now the oldest member
• The news, war, and her work establishing a new campus of Colorado Mountain College
• Writing groups, the Shavano Poets, and her poem “What Was the Question?”
• Dealing with the end of a 67 year relationship with her man

• 

  The idea of being a “cute little old lady” and the circle of life

• “Old wives tales” medical treatment
• Fears?
• Happy memories, her husband, the Pick and Shovel Players
• Controversial actions
• Advice, even though she doesn’t believe in giving it
• Her songwriting and how her daily routine has changed
• These are a few of her favorite things
• Storytelling and dreams
• Secrets

  

  

  

• Next episode: Something completely different

More Links:

• Episode 16: What Makes a Man
• Laurel’s Amazon Author page
• https://leadvillelaurel.com/writing-tips/
• https://www.facebook.com/LeadvilleLaurel/
• https://twitter.com/LeadvilleLaurel
• Intro/outro voice by Nick McHargue,
  Podcast music from Jamendo Royalty Free Music

If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! Please support Alligator Preserves on Patreon.  You will be rewarded!

Marvin and Lisa Sandoval discuss their experiences with the Leadville Race Series and what it takes for anyone, including YOU, to finish these epic endurance races!

This is the third in a special series about these renowned races in Leadville, Colorado . . . races that start at 10,200′ elevation!

Show Notes and Links:

• Marvin talks about his Turquoise Lake 20K run finish
• Leadville’s Herald Democrat newspaper
• Heavy half-marathon
• Finishing races and one not completed (no new gear!)
• Marvin talks about his knee surgery
• Marvin and Lisa discuss why they race
• Overcoming anxiety and having the right mindset
• They discuss their most difficult and most fun races
• Cut-off times during the races
• Grit, Guts, and Determination (but not “Grits”!)
• Ultra bike race advice
• Advice for crews
• Bike malfunctions (and what to expect)
• Tandem cycling
• Food . . . HerbaLife
• Smiling and encouraging other races
• How much cow bell is too much cow bell at aid stations?
• Orange Mud (Marvin’s kit this year)
• Absolute Bikes (Lisa’s kit this year)
• Leadville Trail Race Series
• Leadman/Leadwoman and Lifetime
• Life Time Fitness
• Legacy Foundation benefits the people of Leadville

Other Links:

• Laurel’s Amazon Author page
• https://leadvillelaurel.com/writing-tips/
• https://www.facebook.com/LeadvilleLaurel/
• https://twitter.com/LeadvilleLaurel
• Intro/outro voice by Nick McHargue,
  Podcast music from Jamendo Royalty Free Music

f you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! Please support Alligator Preserves on Patreon.  You will be rewarded!

Who will you remember today, tomorrow, and forevermore?  In this episode, Laurel reads an excerpt from an essay written by her West Point mentor, Pat C. Hoy II, who was instrumental in her decision to stay at the United States Military Academy.

Pat’s essay reminds us of the sacrifices made not only by service members of the Armed Forces, but by their families as well.

Read Pat’s full essay here: Homage to Vietnam

Order Pat’s book here: Instinct for Survival: Essays

and listen to the excerpt here:

“Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.” ~ an excerpt from General MacArthur’s Farewell Speech — Duty, Honor, Country (May 12, 1962)

Patron?

Hey, story lovers! Did you know that Alligator Preserves is a one-person operation?

Every week I think of ways to inform and entertain my listeners, seeking out fascinating people and writing pieces to share with the world. Each finished episode takes many long hours to produce, and I do this because like you, my listeners, I enjoy stories told well.

With the support of patrons, I can continue to provide stimulating weekly content free of charge to many who are unable to pay, and I can keep up with the latest equipment to provide you with an enjoyable listening experience.

I’ve already started to travel to capture stories on-location, and that costs time and money. A girl’s got to eat, you know, and even if you could cover the cost of one coffee (and maybe a brownie?) each month, your support would help keep me on the road!

It’s easy to become a patron at this Patreon link. For only $1/month you’ll get four ad-free episodes of my show, and at higher levels you’ll get extra episodes, including premiere readings of a new short story I’ll create each month . . . and more.

If you are already a patron, thank you for your continued support, and please encourage your friends to join you as an Alligator Preserves Patron of the Arts! I just might have a future episode with your name in the title!

Support an Army veteran! Simply click on the Become a Patron button to help support my labor of love.

~ Laurel