I hear they travel in packs
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Back on topic, I was reading the athlete guide and it seems you need to be in your corral by 06:00. Is that right? Will mean I have to leave a bit earlier than intended (half hour or so away).
Might need to bring a jacket / some gloves I can dump. Going to be chilly standing around for 45 mins.
I saw the same. Not sure what to point is for those of us who are waaaaay back other than to ice us.
What page are you seeing this on?
There’s a lot of stuff in the Athlete Guide and “Requirements” that are more suggestions. Like the “Mandatory” athlete meeting where they want a big crowd for their social media pictures (That is in no way mandatory - it’s a pep rally)
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Page 21 But it does say “should be” which sounds like Pirate’s Code. More like guidelines than rules. (Aye, guidelines…)
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I’ve always gotten into the corral early, made some friends and agreed to hold each others bikes so we could make a final bathroom trip. Also definitely wore a jacket, hat, etc. and tossed them to my wife after the national anthem before we started rolling.
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Yeah, I regretted going to the athlete meeting last time. Sat around for ages learning basically nothing
I also got the bump from Brown to White. I’m looking at it as a bump from “old” White to “old” Blue, it just somehow feels better.
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I suspect that the adjustments they did with corral times at qualifiers really thinned out the middle corrals and pushed too many riders into lower corrals. I bet Brown was WAY over crowded so they moved some people into White and made space in white by shifting people to blue, etc. until things were evened out.
For those who got bumped up from brown to white, did you do a qualifier? Just wondering if it was a random thing or if they specifically rewarded riders who attended their events (which seems reasonable).
Yep, did three, Fuego XL (Sea Otter), Lutsen mudfest, and Tahoe Trail. Also did Tahoe Trail in 2023.
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Nice, you’ve got around!
Living in the SF Bay area does have a benefit or two. Sea Otter is 90 minutes away, Tahoe is a 4 hour drive, and my folks live in Minnesota, so all the trips were either short or coupled with a family visit.
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So I take it they don’t take attendance or anything for the riders meeting? I’m going to be coming into Denver late the night before so not having to rush up there for 10am would be nice…
They definitely do not. It’s a large gathering on the football field. Sort of fun to go if you can make it, but there is nothing earth shattering there.
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Yeah, it’s an optional pep rally. Good views, but not needed. We cut out early last year to pick up our stuff at the expo and beat the crowd so we didn’t have to stand in line. Well worth it.
I’m going to grab my number today. Just off for an easy ride (basically doing the last 10% of the course) and then I’ll head in to Leadville.
I need to pick up a CO2 canister and a spare bottle. Hopefully no drama getting those.
I did Little Sugar in Bentonville. Solid brown qualifing time of 8:30. Fun race, but almost the exact opposite style of race versus Leadville. Very tech, short hard climbs.
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A new podcast by some fly by night outfit. Might be applicable for those racing this weekend.
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