There are many riders who dream of winning Leadville, but few if any have spent as much time working toward it as Melisa Rollins. She’s done the mountain bike race seven times, the stage race twice, the Leadville Trail Marathon once, and the back-to-back 50-mile running and mountain biking races. She even completed the Leadville 100 running race in 2018. She was the very last racer on the course for that one, making her perhaps the only participant to have finished first and last at Leadville events. This year, she conquered the mountain bike course for a decisive victory. Melisa sat down with Payson less than 24 hours after finishing the race to talk about her extensive history with Leadville, how taking a year to race exclusively on the road helped her finally win the off-road race, and what it was like passing her parents (who were also racing) on the way back to the finish.

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