Nice. Let’s bridge up to the other wave and find Jonathan 
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That’ll happen on columbine but we’ll be going in opposite directions!
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IMO there will be plenty of fast sub-9 worthy people in Green. If you put in a calculated effort at the beginning to get towards the front before St. K and then tuck into the conga line, you should be in a good position to link up with folks going up Sugarloaf and down towards the flat section to Pipeline.
I think the entire green corral is supposed to be predicted to finish sub 9. Purple is sub 10 even though they have the same start time.
Haha! Yes for sure!
I think that will be my plan. Ride steady but smart to get as far up as I can. I really want to try and get up the climbs without putting a foot down. I hear a lot of people are forced to put a foot down simply because after one person puts a foot down up front, the entire line behind is forced to do so.
Do one session of practice uphill track standing and leave a small gap to the person you are following up St. K and you’ll be fine.
The year I did it was further back than I wanted because someone crashed in front of me in the first 100 meters, but the traffic was fine.
I was in green.
Thank you for the info. I’m likely overthinking this. I’ve spent over a year training for this race so I want it to go as well as it can. The injury that has kept me off of the bike for nearly 3 weeks isn’t helping either.
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Throw one More into the mixer -
What about Conti speed kings…those look fairly interesting and certainly fast, maybe a race king front speed king rear? Super low resistance on them… #optimize
What’s the best advice/strategy for a experienced MTB rider with about 4.75 wt/kg (Midwest not Leadville 
) starting out in the white corral?My plan was going to be semi basic, just start at the front of white and pour in some effort at the start to try and catch “faster” riders to work with early on, or link up with ambitious white corral racers whom are in a similar position to me. I know it will be a long day, but it seems fairly crucial to get in some pace lines? With the wave start linking up could be a bit tricky I am guessing, Entire goal is sub 9, which I feel based on fitness / results is well with in my ability assuming I follow my nutrition plan during the race and do not have mechanical. I am just curious what others might do starting in the back…Maybe passing will be easier with the waves and I will be better off? Maybe going a little harder on Kevans to see if I can catch up to other corrals would be beneficial, I don’t mind putting out some early power, this is how I did barry roubaix for example, hard at the start then just steady with a slightly hard finish, (top 15 100 mile racer/ although that race has very little climbing benefit to utilize).
Finally 34x50 or 32x50…I essentially NEVER use a 32 out in the midwest, even when down at pisgah ect, do you need that low gear to balance the traffic? I cant see using it much?
I started at the back of the green corral in 2017, and did not have to put a foot down on Kevin’s. The riders were pretty packed in, but people were moving pretty nicely.
There were some people walking on the side (which I thought surprising for people who start that far up in the corrals), but looking far enough up the hill means you can see them enough in advance and maneuver into a position where you don’t get caught.
FWIW - I think any concern about being slowed by a few mins on Kevin’s is a little overblown. I found I was delayed more on the powerline, single track, and upper columbine descents.
Line up early to get a good corral placement and go hard from the gun to pass as many as possible before the Kevin’s climb.
Once you hit Kevin’s, it’ll be hard to pass.
I think The Leadville podcast did an interview with Ty Hall who starts dead last each year. This is what he recommended if I recall.
With your W/kg, you’ll go sub 9 even if you are delayed by 10-15 mins on Kevin’s. Also, with that power, you’d probably be fine with the 34T, although if you like to spin 32T would be better.
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I did it that year also. It was moving, but it was pretty slow and I was a few minutes off the pace I had wanted to be hitting the tarmac.
How early to get a good place are we talking? 5:30 ? 5:00?
I listened to the Ty Hall pod, he did recommend trying to be aggressive early to help placement. Maybe I can just find him and stay with him as a plan hah!
I am not a super spinner, but some spinning is nice. Gradients do not look too wild minus a couple of short short sections everyone is aware of.
I’d second @bwright’s question here too. I started in White in 2012, and lined up crazy early (when you could still put bikes in corrals and leave again). With the wave start this year, what are folks’ best guesses on line-up times at the front of corrals? And do we know how many riders are in each?
I had plans to get into Red using Tahoe Trail last weekend. But a puncture 30 mins in and two more in the race led to an eventual DNF, so that plan got shot down. So I am in Purple after a shitty TT100 2018, and want to bridge up towards the front of Green for all the Pipeline teamwork people have talked about already.
I think the guys on the Leadville podcast recommend somewhere in the 5:30-5:45 range
That’s not good - curious, what tires were you running?
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The new Schwalbe combination of Racing Ray and Racing Ralph. I have loved those tires in training (and have liked Schwalbes for those dry conditions since the Epic). And the TT100 DNF was the result of pilot error.
I had the bike serviced the week before and I made an incorrect assumption in the pre-ride the night before. I washed out in a berm while checking out the end of the course, and I thought it was a tire pressure issue at altitude/on such a dusty course. So I dropped to about 19/20 psi front and back.
The actual problem was my suspension settings–they were way too soft, and I hadn’t fully checked them after the rebuild in the service. I figured out the issue on my warm up ride, so had to make a very last minute adjustment to the fork and shock just before the start line. But I was still running that super-low tire pressure. And given I am 75kg and had 2L of fluid on board, that was nothing short of madness.
First puncture was a pinch flat on the single track just after the first climb. Sidewall wouldn’t seal, had to put a tube in, and the whole thing took 20 mins, so I was practically at the back. Made it back thru folks but second lap I clipped a rock at mile 38 and the rear pinched again (given the tube, and not a ton of pressure). Walked along the single track, tried to get it inflated with someone’s pump, and that wouldnt work. So walked to the aid station at mile 42, they only had an old handheld pump, and my race was over.
That was a longer answer than I’d planned … 
Going with front and rear treadlite maxxis exo 2.1. This is a faster tire than thunderbert with larger side knobs. As far as start goes the 4 minute gaps will change the dynamics since there will be no draft for fast wave 2 riders to navigate through as they move up… they will have to work a lot harder to cover the same 4 minute gap in shot gun start I think… which could use to much energy in early parts of race. I am in red and will again be mindful of first 40-60 min as I blew up last year sucking Todd wells wheel…looking back I was red zone from the gun to twin lakes and pretty much hit the wall.
That’s disappointing @apwUS but hopefully the flat tire gremlins are done with you so you have a perfect LT100 race.
I’m running my Racing Ralph/Racing Ray combo at 21 psi rear, 19 psi front on Enve M525’s. I’m about 155lb plus gear and riding a Niner Air 9 RDO HT. I pre-road the entire Leadville course a few weeks ago and they performed well and also been using them on local rocky/rooty single track with good success.
The M525’s supposedly, at least according to Enve, were designed to reduce pinch flats. I use them on both my FS and HT bikes and, knock on wood, have not had a pinch flat on either bike with the M525’s. I did have a snake bite with a older Snake Skin Nobby Nic on an Enve AM wheel last year descending from Vail in Minturn last summer, but it sealed before I got down to the bottom.
What time did you end up with?