Curious about people’s hydration/fuel strategies. I don’t think drop bags are allowed and I won’t have any crew support so thinking I’ll run 2 bottles and homemade gel in silicone flasks. Then, I’d just refill bottles with water at aid stations as needed.
Anyone know if the aid stations are usually quick to refill bottles? Wondering if better off carrying more water with fewer stops or less water with more stops. Given the amount of climbing, I’m leaning less water and more stops.
Current thoughts:
-Start with large 1 bottle full (probably incl 100g carbs) and 1 empty
-Refill bottle at Printer Boy Out
-Refill bottle at Stumptown
-Refill bottles at Printer Boy In
Will probably target an LT100 purple corral position so 5-5.5 hrs goal here but do not want to push too hard since under 4 wks is a short turn-around for me to recovery and go into Leadville as strong as possible… So, depending on how the day goes, might dial it down further which would mean a longer day and more water needed.
The aid station refills are usually very quick. Probably 30 seconds all said and done. Worth it 100% to use them. I’ve done the race with no crew and have been fine… just have to carry a lot more gel which isn’t too bad for 5 hours. It looks like you’d target 1 bottle per hour? The thing that always gets me in this race is ingesting too little water and sodium. It’s deceptively hard and it’s usually my first altitude day of the year. I’m actually going to target 1.5-2 bottles and 1000 mg of sodium per hour. I tested this strategy last weekend on a 5 hour ride and felt really fresh.
Unless you are a light drinker, I think you’ll need more than 3 bottles for this amount of the race.
I’ve usually started with 2.25L of water - 1.5 in a pack and 0.75 in a bottle. No stop at printer boy outbound (you’re coming off a descent, so moving pretty fast where it’s nice to just keep the momentum). Refill the pack at Stumptown. Refill the bottle inbound at printer boy (coming off a climb, and tired, so stopping is easier in this direction).
All nutrition through gel flasks. Add electrolyte tablets to the water at each stop.
My personal plan at this point is to wear a USWE with a 2L bladder and refill at the turnaround. I plan to do carb mix in my USWE and a gel every hour in gel flasks. Personally, I don’t like relying on bottles for hydration because I tend to get behind since I find it easier to drink from the bladder. It’s the plan I’m going with for Leadville with swapping out my bladder additional times (I’ll have a crew for Leadville), and Silver Rush is basically a test run race for me. For me, the downside of carrying extra weight from the bladder is outweighed by me actually staying on top of hydration and fueling by making it easier.
Yeah, one 750ml bottle per hour is usually the most I can manage unless it is very hot. If it’s chilly out, I don’t even get that down.
According to the gatorade sweat patch I’ve tried, I am a moderate sweater with a heavy concentration of sodium which lines up with what I expected. During an hour of hard intervals inside at 68 degrees, it claims I sweated up to 775ml with up to 900mg of sodium. I have been adding about 1100mg of sodium citrate to my homemade carb mix which I’ve used for 6-12 hour races so plan to do the same for SR and LT.
I was thinking I might start with one full bottle since it looks like a bit over an hour to PB in but probably fill the 2nd bottle too at the 2nd and/or 3rd stop… so more like 4 bottles or so.
I plan to use a USWE pack for segments of LT100 since I will have support but don’t really want to wear an empty one at SR once I’ve finished it and don’t want to take the time to refill one.
The other option I was considering is more like your suggestion. First refill at Stumptown and another at PB out if needed (or just the one stop at the midpoint).
Also planning to fuel through gel flasks which will have electrolytes.
My time for the SR50 was 5:15 a few years back - so right in the middle of your target time. It took me 1:30 to get to Printer Boy. 2:50 to Stumptown. And 4:00 to Printer Boy on the return.
Giving yourself an excuse for some hike-a-biking here and there? Strong move! Haha.
What gear ratio are you going to be on?
Yeah, been there, tried that. Last year at Austin Rattler. But Justin Holle showed up, and there went my hope for the coin. Then I was hoping he’d pass that down the podium, but suddenly he took this one for himself. Well, what can you do.
Cool, I’d checked a couple random results from last year to see splits of people who finished in that ballpark and that’s right around those guys’ splits too so that’s what I will go in expecting, at least.
If skipping PB-in then I’d bring a third bottle in my jersey pocket which would get me to Stumptown… but that’s like 2 more lbs for the first climb. Hence, the lean towards stopping.
Yes probably way more hike a biking than I’d like, but honestly will be a fun(ish) new challenge.
I’m planning on running 34(oval)-21 or maybe 22. I think it’ll be manageable for the longer climbs but the short steep sections not so much. I honestly had no idea where to start with gear ratio so as the saying goes - run what ya brung. That’s the joy of single speeding I guess.
Seems like a great idea until that guy shows up! Good news for me though if he’s at SR he already has his coin … Assuming I can ride fast enough to keep up with my ego which I’ve never done once.
The first climb up the riverbed is the crux for this. It is a grind with lot’s of short steep segments. On top of that traction is bad; there is only one “good” line; and if you get too far back people start a congo line of walking which can really slow your overall time. In some ways it is like the “goat trail” section of the 100.
I am not a single speed rider but I would consider gearing for that because if you can get a good start in that first hour it can make a major difference.
Edit: the Strava segment is County Road 6A to Iowa Ampitheater. It is 7.5 miles with 5% grade average the final 3.7 miles are 7% grade average. There are about a dozen short bursts of 15-20%. The top ten riders all spend right around 45 minutes climbing it so expect it to encompass ~20% of your race effort.
Hello! This will be my first time racing in Leadville. May I ask what kind of FTP is generally required for a sub 5 at silverrush on a geared bike? I want to see if it is a feasible goal, of course, considering acclimation to altitude by arriving a week early and nutrition in point…I sit around 235-255 ftp. TIA
My personal experience… numbers all at 5000 ft. elevation: 4w/kg and ~315w FTP got me 4:40ish finish on a perfect day for me. When i’ve raced at 3.8w/kg at around 300w FTP, I have finished between 5:10 and 5:20.
Thank you for that :). Im at 3.4w/k, maybe a little better by the time SR50 arrives, but will lower my expectations to about 6 hrs and celebrate if it’s anything better than that !!
Are you at sea level? Last year I went 4:58 with a 3.4w/kg (6’2 ~200lbs, 310w) living at 7,000’. I lost about 6 minutes due to crash/mechanical/pit stops.
The course has changed several times over the years I’ve been doing it, but generally I’d say you need around a 3.8 W/kg or above sea level FTP to go sub-5, and that itself is dependent on how well you handle altitude and other factors.
Sub-5 at SR50 generally correlates to a sub-9 at LT100, and the general rule of minimum 4 +/- 0.2 W/kg to go sub-9 applies to SR50 as well in my experience.
Congrats. That’s a great time. I am from sea level, south Texas to be exact. I’m going to be up in the mountains starting two weeks out with the last week staying in the outskirts of Leadville. The highest I’ve raced is the Foco fondo in fort Collins from 5000->8000 altitude. So I know I’m in for a hit to my wattage.
On the home stretch and getting a little nervous. Thinking about switching out my dropper post for a rigid to save some weight. For people who’ve raced this event before, did you use your dropper post at all?
… Assuming I can ride fast enough to keep up with my ego which I’ve never done once.