Did you get a sense for how the course will be adjusted for the bridge?
Not really, but there is no way around the lake to bring people back through the start area. I suspect they will still have us take that right into the area where the running course runs adjacent. And there is a spot where we typically take a right to go around the lake (a loose, off camber spot by the tall tower) and I bet we’ll take a left there instead and have a 2 way section back to the start with tape separating the 2 way traffic. Just my guess, I don’t think they have many options. Might be cool if they looped us around the pavilion to get back to the starting line, but not sure if there is a good path. I talked to the guy out there taking $, but he wasn’t sure what they will do with the course. He did confirm that the single road (where we typically start) is the only way in and out of the starting area now that the bridge is gone.
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Won’t be able to pre ride, how’s it looking?
did the rain help?
any major changes to the course?
I got a couple more laps in today. Absolutely beautiful fall day in the hill country. Amazing how much better the course is compared to last sunday. They got some more rain yesterday, the course was running fast today and no major sand pits. A decent line has started to form from all the folks pre-riding and many of the loose rocks are getting mashed in a bit. Still a lot of loose rock (just the way it is out there), but the racing line will be even more established with more people riding it friday before the race. I did a lap at around race pace and it was only ~5 minutes slower than one of my race laps last year at the same wattage (and course conditions were perfect last year). Unfortunately, the forecast is warm and sunny this week and on race day. That means all the sandy sections will be loose by next weekend. Starting temps will be nice (mid 50’s), but it’s going to be mid 80’s by mid day. Should be low humidity, but the 3rd lap will be tough in those conditions. I’ll be running a hydration pack for the first 2 laps, will probably add an extra big bottle as well for lap 3.
Lifetime did a video about the changes to the start/finish loop due to the bridge being out. They will still send us back behind the lake a bit, then loop back to the road we started on (with 2 way traffic, also including the runners). Should be interesting. Nothing technical in that area, just wondering how it’s going to work with cyclist and runners all sharing that narrow road in 2 directions (no tape separating lanes per the video). I’m not aware of any other course changes. I think the video about the course change is on the rattler facebook page, can’t remember for sure.
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This is the course update linked from the Rattler website (but the GPS routes have not been updated yet)-
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Super helpful. Thank you.
I was out on Sunday pre-riding a lap. The signage could use some improvements, especially on the rock slabs halfway through the course lap. Many times I came out onto a trail with multiple branching paths and had no idea where to go. Then 100m onwards there was an orange Rattler sign.
I read quite a few comments above saying to get there early. How early do people recommend arriving at RPR on Saturday morning?
Ive never been and my pre ride time will be limited. What should i try to make sure to ride?
Ride the first ~6 miles from the start and that will put in into a big open area that has some dirt roads that come together. The road will take you back up to the gate you came through after the start and that will get you back pretty quick (and you can check out the finish going this way). There are really just a couple long-ish climbs on the course and both are in the first 6 miles, so you’ll get a taste for those. And you’ll get a taste for some of the loose rocky spots and probably a little sand. The only common “feature” you won’t see in the first 6 miles are the granite slabs. There is nothing technical about them and they are super grippy even when wet, so really no need to pre-ride those anyway.
One other thing to consider - they will send us up the road on the first lap and we will go through that gate before getting on the trails. On the 2nd and 3rd lap, they will send us up to the gate on a trail (since traffic will be spread out after the first lap). You might consider pre-riding both of these sections, they are short and near the start/finish area.
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last year, with a start at 8 a.m., I was on schedule to get there by 7. But that wasn’t enough. Spent almost the entire hour in traffic at the entrance, barely made it to the start line. It was a shit-show.
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Thank you! 
If you see a bike with pink streamers that is me
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Wow that’s good to know. I think I’ll try and get there by 6. Worst case I can try and nap in the car 
In the video about the course change, they mentioned that they would be letting cars in race morning without stopping them. I think in the past, the big delay was dealing with liability waivers or something where they seemed to be stopping every vehicle.
I typically camp in the van Friday night, so haven’t had to deal with it, but the long/slow line getting in has been an issue in the past and hopefully the change will fix it this year.
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Final update on course conditions - everything has dried out, so it’s a bit sandy and loose in places. Not bad, just not the hero conditions we’ve had the last couple years. Should be a beautiful day and the temps are looking a little lower (low/mid 80’s by the finish and no humidity). Good luck to everyone racing and hoping for Leadville entries.
Also, they were able to cut a new road this week near the start/finish, so we won’t have 2 way traffic coming and going from the start line.
What a race! I wasn’t as fit this year and it showed. I felt the climbs more and had to use the flats and descents more for recovery which slowed me down. The course was marked WAY better than last year, they got it right in my opinion. The change to the start of the second/third lap was interesting lol. Overall I had a great time hammering out the miles but missed my sub 6 goal by 18 minutes. It could’ve been worse I guess so overall a successful day..
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Congrats on the good finish. Agree that the course was marked better, but people still got race brain and took wrong turns. 3 different times, I had to yell to a person/group up ahead taking a wrong turn (so, I assume it still happened to a lot of people). Course marking was better, but they really need to make it idiot proof. And I know some of the people messing up got dropped from results because a few of them initially showed finishing in front of me (with missing intermediate time checks) before their results disappeared.
But it was a great day. It got a little warm on the 3rd lap, but not too bad. My primary goal was keeping it smooth and upright after having silly wrecks the last couple years. This was reinforced when I had 2 people go down right in front of me in the first few miles and several others later in the race. I was about 7 minutes slower than last year with normalized power within 2 watts. I ended up 6th in age group (7th and 8th the last couple years, so I guess I’m consistent). The course was slightly shorter with the re-route, but times looked like a tick slower. I’m not sure if my slower time was me being cautious or just the course being a little slower. Conditions were really good though, even the sand sections weren’t that loose.
The leadville lottery at the end keeps growing every year and the number of spots up for grabs has decreased. The odds of getting spot at the end are really low now. I remember doing this race many years ago and your chance for a leadville coin at the end was at least 50% if you stuck around. And for big age groups like 40+ and 50+, they would often give out coins 6-7 people deep. Now, you have win your age group or finish top 3 overall to get a coin. And after they give coins for the winners, only 20 coins remained for the lottery and they split those evenly between women and men. I believe every gal who put their number in the hat got a coin and the remaining went to men. I think it worked out to 12-13 coins for hundreds of guys hoping for a spot. It’s a well run event and a lot of fun, but travelling to it with the goal of securing a leadville spot is a very low probability outcome unless you are really fast and can win your age group. Here’s a pic of just some of the folks hoping for a spot during the lottery raffle (many more out of frame and behind me).
I thought the start/finish actually worked great given the circumstances and I might even prefer it over the old loop around the lake.
Race went decent for me - a stubborn flat at the start of lap 2 set me back a few minutes and a bunch of places but got it sealed and chased back up for the rest of the day. Managed 6th OA, about 5 mins slower than last year (3mins with the flat). A minute short of getting a coin though 
It did seem like for one reason or another the course was a bit slower this year, whether that was conditions, weather, or the new course is hard to say. 11 under 5hrs this year vs 17 last year. Similar comparison for the sub 6 crowd I think. It’s close enough though that I don’t imagine they’ll adjust corral qualifier cutoffs though.
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Fun day, hiccup at the start with breaking my glasses and ended up having to start in corral 3. More bottlenecks than ever as a result. Felt I had the legs for sub 6. Last lap was 8 minutes faster than lap 2. No cramps, no mechanicals, no crashes. Seemed looser than normal with sand and rocks than the other times I’ve done it, but stayed upright.
Considering the circumstances, I thought the reroute was great!
Still never pulled for Leadville. Part of the reason I come back. With so few coins, I agree, maybe it will be less of a draw. Fun day. Thanks fore the course updates along the way!
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I was having a pretty good day. Think I could have managed a 6:10ish finish, legs felt good despite starting to fight cramps on lap 2 (I think I’ve messed with my bike fit too much in last month). Ended up flatting at mile 32 and for dumb reasons it ended up taking me 25 minutes to get a tube put in it. Hopped back on the bike and were legs were not having any of it.
With no gear left to fix a flat, I bailed at the end of lap 2.
Overall though pretty happy with it. I set 2 year power PR’s for 30 minute power and lifetime PR for 2.5 hour to 3.5 hour before the flat.
Biggest win is all my traveling from houston to places with actual descending. When I raced the Rattler 4-5 years ago a huge chunk of people were dropping me on descents, but this year I was making up time on descents and carrying way more speed into the climbs.
Traffic was a bit of a nightmare on the first lap. Probably need to be more forceful about making passes on descents and in some of the tighter double track.