Yeah I’m leaning that way. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the course. We’ll see what the year brings 
Ride anything you want. I took a HT with 100mm fork. FS probably keeps fatigue lower. I’m unaware of anyone using a rigid gravel bike to finish or place. Though it would be quick on the paved sections!
I rode a 20.5lb Niner Air 9 RDO hardtail with 100mm fork in 2019. Worked well but there are a few pretty rough sections where a full suspension would be of benefit.
This year I’m likely going to ride a Trek Supercaliber FS. It’s about 3.5lbs heavier than the hardtail Niner, but is equipped with an AXS dropper vs a fixed carbon seatpost on the Niner HT. Figure if I go FS I may as well go dropper too.
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In a moment of weakness I signed up for the lottery. Well crap, now I need to train. 2x RUN finisher but I’ve never done a bike race and for that matter never ridden a century.
I’m 2 weeks into SSB MV and feeling pretty good. Did a local ride and PR’d all the big climbs without killing myself. I have a long way to go but I’ll see y’all in Colorado.
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Leadville isn’t technical for a mtb, but there are enough chunky sections that a mtb is going to be faster than a gravel bike overall. That’s ignoring the fatigue factor where you will beat to crap for at least 7 hours and more like 10+ for most folks.
I’ve raced the stage race and ridden the entire course a couple other times and there are several sections where I’m thinking “don’t ever ride this course on a gravel bike, it would be really stupid” even though much of the course would be fine.
I’ve considered putting some drop bars on my Scott spark RC, but I’d probably be better served just adding some mini aero bars.
I’m Racing this year and next, I went to the rattler qualifier to improve my corral and ended up with a spot for 2022. I had no intentions of racing in 2022, but I couldn’t resist when she handed me a coin at the finish. If I hit my goal time this year, I’ll probably make 2022 just a fun ride day rather than killing myself.
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Has anyone heard the status of Wilmington of June 5th? Just over a month out. I’m assuming no news is good news…but would be nice to get a confirmation considering all travel is booked.
HEard some rumors that it maybe canceled but spoke with a lake placid native and he said felt like its still a go…but no official news yet
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Same boat - haven’t heard anything. Lifetime was really good about giving plenty of notice last year if something was going to be cancelled. I think it was 6 weeks out. It is strange that nothing has been updated on the website at all.
Are other races happening in NY State right now? If they have been, then that would be encouraging.
Ohio just had a big gravel race last weekend, Black Fork Gravel Grinder. They did wave starts and didn’t allow last minute registration transfers, but otherwise it seems the event went off as planned. Lots of other events around the country have been going off as well, but I’m not in touch with the NY scene.
NYC had a crit race on Randells Island last weekend.
I was in a MTB race in Fruita, CO on Saturday. Roughly 150 racers that went off in 2 big waves 5 minutes apart. Makes me think no news is good news for the rest of Leadville Race Series events happening.
Wilmington - the registration page is currently listed as being closed.
My guess on that is it might just be full: I assume there are still group size restrictions in place, and with last year’s rollovers plus anyone who registered for this year they could have easily hit that smaller mark, whether it’s 250 or even 500.
Among my friends (local to the race) there’s still no real clue what’s up. Last I heard, second hand from the town visitor’s center, was that it’s still on.
Ahh, good point. Hope they get the word out soon. Thanks for the note.
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A friend of a friend just emailed Whiteface, and they said it might be delayed this year. I definitely would not take that as gospel though. Basically, nobody really knows anything!
Wilmington cancelled. Announcement on Youphoria’s FB page.
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Do you have a link to some suitable mini aero bars for your MTB? I have a Scott Scale that I am converting over to my chunky gravel bike. I’ve added a 36 tooth chainring and a Whisky Rigid carbon fork and I would like to add some aero bars for smooth gravel and paved sections.
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That sucks…a month out is kind of late to be canceling an event of that size, I was really looking forward to that race. Oh well, looks like I’ll head to Kingdom Trails that weekend. On the FB page, the comments say it is a town related thing as NY outdoor limits are 500. My immediate thought was that a limit of 500 wasn’t large enough to make enough money to make it worthwhile, but they would/should have known that quite a while ago. Really too bad, I just did a local MTB race of at least a few hundred people each day (2 days of racing) this past weekend in Mass, and with just a few precautions it was just like a regular bike race.
The 2018 100k distance had 352 people in the starting field. I know there is a 50k but not sure on size of race. So the town of Wilmington has a limit that differs from the state? Seems to be contrary to what was just announced this past week: New York stadium capacity limits expanding May 19
Furthermore, there have been more than 500 people in outdoor stadiums over the past several months.
The situation with Wilmington Whiteface is a little odd. Surprised this info goes up on Facebook but no prior communication sent out to registered athletes. At minimum, not a good look from a professionalism standpoint.
I wonder if any of this has to be vetted through Lifetime? Wilmington is a key race being a Leadville qualifier, so I would think Lifetime wouldn’t want it cancelled unless absolutely necessary. I don’t have all the facts of the situation in NY state, but I would be very interested to know the exact reason for cancelling. If the worry is that the field is TOO BIG and will break current Covid guidelines, then that is understandable. However if it is the opposite and they are worried about turnout, then not a good look. The comment about the Canadian border still being closed is concerning as this really shouldn’t be a factor in whether to hold the race or not.
There are a lot of things that could be done to run the race safely. Wave starts would address the crowded start line. Masks at the start and then back on again after the finish. No post-ride buffet. Etc. etc.
With no emails getting out to riders today does make me wonder who is still looking at this and I still hold out a faint hope the race may happen. Regardless, I went ahead and signed up for the Mohican 100 today, which is also on June 5th. It is not a Leadville qualifier, but still an amazing endurance mountain bike race with 100k and 100 mile options. It’s got 25 miles of old school single track right at the start and is a more technical race than Wilmington. I figure best to have a back up plan in place if Wilmington officially canceled. https://nuemtb.com/mohican-mtb-100/
Looks like website now updated that race will be June 4th, 2022… https://www.wilmingtonwhitefacemtb.com/
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