Thanks all, good nuggets in all these responses. I’ll collect data, but not ride by it for the stage race. Sounds like fun.
I personally hate hike a bike and would always rather spin than hike on powerline and upper columbine, but it’s kind of a pointless debate because the choice of whether you could ride upper columbine won’t be yours to make for 98% of people on race day regardless.
By that I mean that once the pointy end of the field starts coming down and there’s bi-directional traffic it only takes a single person to put their foot down and the conga lines start to form, then everyone is walking whether they want to or not. It’s not some wide expanse up there, there’s usually a relatively narrow rideable line on each side and if people are hiking on the right and people are coming down on the left there’s no place for you to go even if you wanted to ride it.
All that said, I still think the majority of the field should be on 30Ts for this race, 4 W/kg people should be on 32T, and no one who is going slower than 8:30 should be even thinking about 34.
Thanks. Yeah, I certainly have read enough discussion to grasp that aspect of it not being a choice on raceday. I’m not doing Leadville this year, would like to some day. My comment/questions were more general in nature, because I’ve been doing an annual trip into the GA mountains with some really steep climbing, and I’m trying to decide if I should bump up to a 34T because I don’t spend much time in the middle of the cassette anymore (at home, 99% of the year), though I also don’t spin out in the 10T either (hills are short, everything else is flat here and I’m spending more and more time in the 10T with my ftp in the 300w range right now).
I usually don’t get this many responses, so I didn’t reveal earlier that I’m not asking specifically about Leadville 
. I’m really interested in this race, though, and love all the discussion about strategies and following along, and am working toward being able to do such an epic ride. So, sorry and thanks. Yeah, I’m also averse to hiking, with an old tib/fib break and lots of foot arthritis, walking uphill is brutal, but I can ride it with a lot less discomfort. Maybe someday.
Chainring and Tires…the two Leadville topics that can open a big can of worms. 
With that said, road from Twin Lakes to Fish Hatchery yesterday and back. Was loving the 34t chainring on that section but still thinking of going back to 32t. I did love the 2.4 Dubnital on front as it definitely felt more “secure” on loose stuff and single track section compared to 2.2 Race King.
All good, as @DamonM said it doesn’t take much to spur a good debate about chainring sizes.
As someone who was born and raised in FL, but has lived in CO for the last 10 years and done LT100 multiple times, riding a 32T at the top of Columbine is like riding a 36T in GA ha. I wouldn’t worry about going to a 34, the difference between riding near sea level and 12,000ft is incomparable until you’ve done it.
Have tried to find this answer but haven’t come across much. How much did the corral spacing help for the back corrals last year on congestion. I am going to be in the 2nd to last corral because I was sick for Silver Rush and just gutted it to the finish line with a slower time than my capacity, but I am a 4 watt/kg rider. I’m curious if the corral is going to hamper me as much as it has historically with walking and congestion from back there?
I have heard of a lot of people still going sub 9 starting from the back. Ty Hall with Leadville Legacy Dream Chasers starts last and raises money for everyone he passes. I believe he has always finished under 9 hours
I think you will be fine once you get through the first climb at Kevan’s where it likely will get backed up at the start. Kevans is wide so you should be able to pass a lot of people once you get through the bottleneck at the bottom. Also, try to position towards front of your group before hitting the climb which you can do not the dirt road prior and will help. After through that area it should open up enough to pass people easily.
I would plan on walking the Goat Trail as well with the Congo line but this is typical. You also will likely have to leap frog groups between Powerline and Twin Lakes since you will be faster than the other riders with no one to work with. This happened to me last year when I flatted on Powerline outbound and went from 140th to 550th from Carter checkpoint to the next checkpoint.
With that being said, can you do the Silver Rush this year since you can still sign up. You could also send an email to see if there is anyway to get into the Stage Race. I was in the same boat last year and had signed up for the Stage Race before it sold out which moved me up to Silver.
You’ll be fine if you ride your pace. With your fitness, just make it a point to be at the front of your corral as you roll to the bottom of St. Kevins. There might be some slow traffic on that first stretch of St. Kevins, but it’s wide enough to pass folks. Once you make the hard left off the steep part of Kevins, you won’t have any other serious traffic to deal with. That first stretch is only ~12 minutes, so even if you are slowed a bit, you’ll be fine. After that, you have another couple hours to ride through the slower corrals prior to the top of columbine where there is the possibility of more traffic. With your fitness (assuming you are riding at ~9 hour pace), you’ll be well clear of the long conga line. You might still run into some folks dismounting at a couple spots on the goat trail (that happens even close to the front), but you won’t be the conga line if you ride at pace to that point (and don’t have a mechanical, etc.).
Everything went really well at Lutsen. Was as perfect a day/conditions as you can get on the MN north shore.
Now begins the checking every few days to see if I got the corral I wanted. Based on the last few years, my best guess is 5:55/6:00/or 6:05 and I was 5:59.
Grats to all in this thread that finished. Any century mountain bike finish is a nice accomplishment.
Unfortunately no, I can’t do any qualifiers as I will be out of the country for most of the month of July. And I have 3 young kids, so time away is not plentiful. But that doesn’t sound too bad on congestion, I was worried about burning too many matches at the start and being stuck in a huge conga line on Columbine.
OK cool, so it isn’t going to cause me to bleed 15 minutes or anything. A small bottleneck at the beginning isn’t the end of the world. I just don’t want to burn a match early, and I wasn’t sure how bad the traffic would be on columbine.
Just accept that the choice to ride or walk the goat trail on Columbine isn’t something in your control. That decision will be made by the first person to unclip in front of you. How far in front? 
It’s not always in your control in the moment, but if you are riding at a ~9 hour pace (even from a rear corral), it’s won’t be a conga line when you hit the goat trail. So, you are in control as much as you can get to the goat trail before it gets congested. There are still a few sections where many people will dismount and walk, but you can often ride by them (or walk past them if they are walking slow). And it’s not for long stretches. There is downhill traffic to watch out for, but you can still pass if you are careful. But yeah, if you are riding at a slower pace, it gets to a point that the conga line forms and it eventually becomes a solid line of people and you have little choice but to plug along at the pace of the line. I don’t know the exact time the goat trail gets really congested (it happens gradually), but the later you arrive, the worse the congestion (until you get really far back). I believe 9:30 pace is still good, over 10 probably is going to burn some time if you have the ability to go faster than the line (and can’t due to traffic). A good thing to remember when you are walking - you are still racing. I see folks huffing and puffing on the bike, then get off and start walking at a leisurely pace. Get around those people if you can, it’s really easy to get tempted into easing off when walking but you’ll burn a bunch of time shuffling along.
Nobody asked me, but I strongly recommend this for anything epically long, like I’d say even 3+ hours. I used to have one concentrated bottle and one water bottle and I could refill along the way, but man the number of times I wanted just plain water and didn’t have it because I had some sugar mix in all my bottles was too numerous to count. I got to a point I could put 4-5hrs of sugar in one 1L bottle, and then just carry water and mix, dilute, swish away.
For my half-IM and ultra bike days I also leaned heavily on gel flasks and water. Worst race experience I ever had was a half IM where I had my carbs mixed in my hydration bottles and the bloat I suffered on the run was just awful because I had to power through way too much fluid to get my carbs in. Also, solid food sucks when you have to run. /triathleterant
The only other bit of advice I’d have on this would be to vary your flavors. For the love of God, vary your flavors. 
Also, don’t dismiss the Coke 6 hours in. But yeah, however you attack it, separation of Hydration and Fueling should be sacrosanct.
I’ve become a fan of these 250’s:
They fit 4 of the 40g SIS Beta Fuel Gels, and are easy to open / squeeze with the cap that comes on this version. Like all flasks they’re a little bit of a pain to fill and clean, but for longer rides I’m a fan.
For Leadville, I’ll probably have two of these in my left rear pocket for each section between aid stations, maybe with a couple odd caffeinated gels to supplement.
I’m chasing the small buckle and running a 30t with Transmission, so a little nicer range up top (38,44,52) than Eagle. I always hated the 42-52 jump on eagle so I usually ran a 50t.
Another fan of using flasks for nutrition here. I’ve tried both hard and soft flasks and have settled on the hard versions. I think a lot of it depends on what’s in the flask. I use maple syrup as my primary carb source and it flows easy (so it’s more like taking a drink vs. having to squeeze a gel). I found the hard flasks easier to handle, clean, refill, etc., but I don’t think they would work well with traditional/thicker gels.
These flasks hold 12 oz of maple, good for 330g of carbs. I just swap for a new one at each aid station, filled appropriately for the carbs I need. I still get some of my carbs from drink mix, but the flasks of maple are my primary. For me, the biggest downside of using flasks vs. individual gels is the risk of losing a bunch of needed calories at once if you accidentally lose/drop it. But so nice not dealing with sticky wrappers and trying to open stuff.
You guys may have me convinced to try flasks. I usually get 80% of my nutrition from bottles, but I’m a bit worried about the logistics of that for LV. Probably should order some flasks and I think I’ll try TEMPO from Infinit first.
https://www.infinitnutrition.us/tempo-liquid-fuel
I have also started separating fluid/nutrition which has helped a lot. I also tried the maple syrup with a flask but unfortunately doesn’t work with my stomach. I did love the ease of the flask and will be incorporating this for Leadville.
My go to lately is two bottles with 130-150 carbs each. I typically add 3-4 scoops Carbs Fuel or Formula 369 plus one scoop Skratch Sports Drink for flavor. The USWE pack filled has 2 liters water which I add 2-3 scoops skratch sports drink to provide some carbs but is high in electrolytes. I am a salty sweater so need more electrolytes. The bottles I take a sip every 15 minutes and continually sip on the hydration pack. If a hard ride I will also take a gel (never second or carbs fuel) every 40-50 minutes. The flask is much easier and I will add the gels to the flask for LT100. This has worked great for me and I can typically ride 4-4.5 hours without stopping at a gas station for water.
You’re getting late to change up fuel - if you’re going to do it, do it now so you have ~3 weeks of training to try it and make sure it works for your stomach.
Personally, I am Electrolytes only in my pack and bottles. I lose a lot of sodium too so target ~1000 mg (or more) per L.
Gels, I primarily use SIS Beta Fuel but Maurten, Precision Fuel, and a number of others work for me except I don’t like Gu. I have a pretty iron stomach.