Not to mention people holding the tops of thier forks. Because that’s safe.
I am lost and confused here. Knowingly violating rules in a sporting event is cheating. Personally, I don’t cheat, and don’t appreciate competing with cheaters. It is sad. Out of the 2023 40-50 year old age group, there were 453 finishers, I know I look and see where i came in, now I wonder how many cheaters there were, that were “better” than me on race day.
Couple questions for y’all that want to cheat…
-
Why not use PEDs as well if you don’t plan on podiuming?
-
Why not use a completely concealed electric (or gas) motor?
-
What is the point of paying $500 for a race entry, countless more for lodging and training, only to be a cheater?
-
What’s to stop the race officials from disqualifying you at the finish? Easy to do, and probably should be done.
-
If “its all about the buckle,” do you just want to buy one?
Didn’t this whole thing start as a concern about the concern that aerobars extend out beyond the bars and have the potential to gore or otherwise injure the rider or, moreso, another competitor in a wreck? It seems like the whole issue has slid into concerns of aero advantage now. Or was it always about the aero advantage. Maybe the reduced control from having your hands that close to the stem (and not able to readily grab brakes), is an added concern that should be accounted for (I know I’ve had a couple of of “uh-oh” moments when using the center of the bars as an alternate hand position on a long ride).
100% yes. It was about safety, not aero gains. Does any given rider have the handling skills to use a closed loop on the handle bar? I’ve seen some sketchy folks on aero bars, but that doesn’t mean they’d be any better off with puppy paws, hanging on to fork tops, or any of the other “legal” aero positions on an MTB.
Having a arguably safe (from the point of you’re not going to gore anyone) loop being equated to a motor, or PEDs is just a bit of a push, but just to be safe, maybe we should bring the UCI in just to make sure the playing field is as even as possible all the way down to the brown corral.
I haven’t seen anyone saying they are planning to cheat or even bend the rules, it’s a discussion about legality of certain bar setups. But I do think your perspective is flawed at a race like this. It’s tough to make things black and white when you have pros, elite amateurs, weekend warriors, and beginners lining up for the same event.
Races like this are basically glorified charity events for most of the attendees. While I respect and relate to your perspective about finishing behind “cheaters”, I just see it as little more nuanced than that.
For me, it comes down to intent. If some age group amateur is knowingly running illegal equipment or taking PED’s to improve their athletic performance, of course it’s wrong whether they finish first or 500th. While I’m not fighting for podiums at a race like leadville, there are plenty of races where I am in the mix and it’s impossible not to think that some of the folks in front of me are likely doping. I can appreciate that some folks feel the same tracking their results mid pack, but I personally don’t care if I finish 200th or 250th at leadville. Wherever a person finishes, there is a decent chance there will be dopers/cheaters in front of them at an unsanctioned “old dude” race like leadville. I deal with that reality by thinking of them like the weather or anything else that’s out of my control. Just like I can’t change the fact that someone has better genetics than me, I can’t control whether they choose to dope.
Also, I don’t believe there are any formal rules against PED’s at leadville except for the lifetime grand prix participants. But if some age group dude shows up glowing from EPO and testosterone, I still consider that the most blatant and pathetic type of cheating even if it’s not technically against the rules. If we just went by the rules (black and white), the doper would be legal and the beginner cyclist unknowingly using illegal inner bar ends would be the cheater. Again, common sense goes a long way here.
While the primary reason cited is safety, it has never been defined solely as the risk of an aero extension goring someone. They don’t want people riding in packs in aero bars plain and simple. The length of the bars doesn’t change that you have less control and less ability to brake. Safety and aero are also intertwined here, they want to prevent an aero arms race that would potentially lead to a greater prevalence of what they consider to be less safe positions.
For sure agree those positions are less safe. I don’t want amateur races to start having full UCI rules but thats why those positions are fully banned by UCI now too. UCI also changed rules in 2022 to clearly ban all inner bar extensions period. Doesn’t matter if they are welded or not. The note on the Ridefarr site that says they are UCI legal is clearly incorrect, must be leftover from before the rule change.
I personally think the Ridefarr bars are cool and I don’t think they are dangerous. I wish the rule was no inner bar ends or any kind for pros, and stubby bars below a certain length allowed by amateurs.
But that’s not the rule. The rule clearly states no aero bars or clip ons. It’s or not and. It doesn’t matter if stubbys are welded vs bolted on, they are a type of aero bar and they are prohibited by the rule plain and simple. If the race directors tell people they don’t plan to enforce the rule for amateurs that’s totally fine with me, but that doesn’t make it grey area of whether they comply with the rule or not.
Team Peg-Leg at Leadville 2025?? This peg-leg would certainly join!
Welcome to the team!
Are loop style bars legal like the Jones h bar?
Joe
Maybe we should route that question to. “The Spirit of Gravel” for consultation. 
Does anyone have any links to outfits that I can pay to crew for me? Thanks in advance
There will be a contingent from the form. Best bet is we discuss among those going and figure things out.
I wonder if @Nate_Pearson has one of those big expo stand up flags with the TR logo on it. I could transport it to and from Leadville, but since TR has no Marketing budget I doubt the have something like that.
There is updated corral info up on the LT100 website. A brown corral added behind white and also some language saying they are reviewing corral times for all qualifiers to make them more consistent. So, if you are targeting a finish time for corral placement at a qualifier (based on prior year chart), you might want to include some buffer time to anticipate possible changes.
I did the 2023 Austin Rattler and targeted (and hit) a Red corral finish time by about 7 minutes, but the new cutoff times they just posted have me in green (missed red by ~3 minutes). A bit of a bummer, but I think it’s a fair corral. I’ve never gone sub 8:30 at leadville, so green is probably right for me. It sounds like they are reviewing all qualifiers and looking at data to set corrals, so that’s a good thing in my opinion. It’s been really off for some qualifiers in the past.
@webdev511 you mean we figure out Crewing together? I am interested in just paying for it cuz I don’t want to owe any of you anything 
Here is a little update on my training and prep for leadville. I hope everyone’s training is going well?
I’m flying solo, but from what I’ve heard neutral support is pretty good. I may still do a Twin Lakes drop bag, but I sure as heck am not going to carry anything up columbine that I won’t need. I may put 1l of electrolyte in my pack, but I’m not topping up to a full 3l that’s for sure.
I might just have 2 bottles, drop off the pack at Twin Lakes.
Just FYI, I was just under 2:40 round trip from TL Dam, up Columbine, back to TL Dam (Edit: 2:35). It was 2 hours even if that’s from TL Alternate.
If it’s hot out, that’s a minimum of 2L for me (Just from Alternate)
9 hour pace. It’ll be longer if you’re slower and caught in conga lines.
+1 on more hydration and plenty of fueling heading up columbine. I consider the stretch from twin lakes to goat trail the most critical fueling/hydration stretch of the day because it’s easy to get caught up in the effort of the climb. And once you hit goat trail, eating/drinking get really tough for a long stretch as you climb/hike to the top and then hit the fast descent. I’d always err on the side of a little extra weight vs. the risk of getting behind on fuel/hydration. An little extra weight might cost a minute on the climb, poor fueling/hydration can cost an hour or more if things go sideways.
Isn’t there an aid station at the top?