I started heat training about 10 days ago. Combination of trainer without a fan (and some days, winter kit) and intentionally riding outside when it is hottest (we’ve been hitting well over 90 degrees with high humidity lately). The first couple days on the trainer were brutal but did notice RPE quickly improved. I don’t have a CORE sensor (and haven’t followed their protocol) but FWIW, Garmin shows I am 80% acclimated in spite of not getting credit for indoor rides. After this weekend, I will go into maintenance mode.
I was thinking of heat training, but like you I’ll be getting to CO two weeks prior and the end of any controllable heat training in the final weeks, then relying on altitude. Didn’t see anything about this approach, I figure blood volume would increase either way.
Doing a block this week has been hot anyway, so kinda doing heat training anyway 
Hope it stays this way.
Plan is to finish a build this week and slight recovery next week. I will then do another 3 week build until end of July when I will start to taper. I will be pre-riding the course as well over the next three weeks at least one day per week.
Fitness is feeling good and higher than last year. I have hit power PR’s this year for almost every time frame from 1 minute out to 3 hours and I think my durability late in rides/races has increased. I am also able to ride in zone 2 at about 15-20 watts higher than last year with heart staying in zone 2. Been following Trainer Road plan loosely trying to do 1 to 2 hard intervals sets per week and lots of longer higher end zone 2 rides. I have also focused on increasing my cadence this year. Currently sitting at 99 CTL on Training Peaks and Intervals.icu which is the highest it has ever been.
I’ll be driving up to Leadville a few weeks early to enjoy the area, altitude etc. Any recommendations for things to see along the way from Denver, and also if anyone’s into landscape photography, any good spots in a reasonable driveable distance from Leadville?
My training hasn’t been bad, just not too disciplined. After Unbound, I took a couple easy weeks and now I’m in my 3rd “hardish” re-build week with some volume. I’ve kind of fallen into the same trap I did last year where I’m just riding/climbing a lot, but it’s just too hot/humid to do any real intensity outdoors (despite starting between 5am and 7am). I’ve been doing doubles on Thursday with a long morning Z2 ride outside and then Zwift group ride working in some threshold intervals, so that’s about all the structure I’ve seen. I’ll probably go big this Saturday with a bunch of climbing and 400+ TSS and then rest most of next week until another big day next Saturday. After that, 1.5 more weeks in town before heading to Leadville. I’ll be hitting more volume and hopefully squeeze some v02max into the time before I leave, just need to do it indoors. I had big plans to try some new things and work in more structure/intensity prior to Leadville this year, but I just struggle to make it work with outside temps and humidity. My fitness is pretty similar to last year, so I hope a sub 9 is in the cards, we shall see.
I’ll get to leadville right before the stage race and I’ll be riding sweeper Friday/Saturday and will ride Columbine Saturday early AM at around race pace before doing it nice and easy as sweeper. The next week will be lots of pre-riding the course. Drop in volume, but I’ll be riding a bunch of the climbs at race pace to keep some intensity. I mainly focus on the stretch from the start of St Kevins to bottom of Powerline and back. For me, that’s the crux of the course and it’s also nice riding. The week of the race is much lower volume, but I’ll still do some efforts pre-riding the shorter climbs at race pace (kevins, sugarloaf).
CTL currently sitting at ~120 and feeling pretty fresh. I debated pushing forward another week, but figured I’d get the rest in now and then push a little more volume before heading to leadville and then start backing off. Fitness is down a good bit from pre-Unbound highs (142CTL and 314 FTP), but hopefully good enough for a big buckle. I’m a little heavy also, trying to lose a few lbs in the next month also. Probably sitting a bit under the “magical” 4w/kg right now @170lbs (I’m doomed). But my endurance should be solid with all the volume.
Those are some big CTL numbers!! Amazing. I peaked at 76 CTL then dropped a little with some easy weeks before Lutsen and then a few days recovery. I think I’ll likely creep up to 80 before heading to Leadville. Found out I got red corral from Lutsen so that’s at least a nice confidence boost that Sub 9 should be in the cards.
We seem to have a pretty similar plan of Leadville climbing a couple weeks before. I also think the Kevin’s/sugarloaf and back again up Powerline/carters is a great place to spend time and become familiar with.
I’d stop to ride Virginia Canyon and/or Maryland Mtn.
Corrals aren’t final yet….or did I miss something?
They updated the corral time chart with 2025 Lutsen times a couple of days ago.
You shouldn’t do this. #coaching
Thank you! I’m already getting paranoid about injuries this close to the race, so I may have to wait until after the race to visit them, but both look fun!
Ah yes, I see that now. Thanks I’ll be right behind you. I’ll wave as I go by 
You might have seen me riding backwards at mile 40. I was not paying attention, crossed wheels with the guy in front of me, and wrecked. I lost my shifter pod and had to backtrack to get it. I actually bent my derailleur arm (xx sl transmission), and my bike shifted like a potato the rest of the race. I finished 6:22, which is agonizing because I missed green by 2 minutes, and I know I could have made red had it not been for this mishap. Definitely making me thirsty for Leadville though!
Just to touch on the electrolytes a bit more, I just started doing electrolyte measurements. I am losing about 2 grams an hour when it isn’t even too hot. My core sensor peaked at a core temperature of 100.5 and the ambient temperature was around 70-75 degree with about 10% humidity.
I have never gotten close to 2 grams an hour during any endurance event. I’m now questioning whether my issues with nausea are related to inadequate electrolytes.
How are you all replacing that much sodium? As a bonus is there anyone using sodium citrate specifically? I have heard that the chloride can upset peoples stomach and that the citrate is converted to bicarbonate.
Now, when I think about it, you’re making the right call.
It’s just my rotten brain who can’t think of anything better in life on any given day than riding a god damn bike, LOL.
Easier if you think about it in g/L instead of g/hour. Then, mix your electrolytes that strong in every liter of fluid you take in. And then just drink to thirst. (As long as you’re separating fuel and hydration)
I personally have used Sodium Citrate for a couple years now, and many do. Pretty easy to just mix it as strong as you need it with a gram scale, then add whatever flavoring you like. Cheaper too.
Anyone running drop bars on their XC bike at Leadville this year? I’ve always wanted to try it, just never gotten beyond some basic testing with the drop bars on the bike riding up and down the street (basically without brakes). I think the general fit works, just not sure how I’d do on the chunkier sections of the course (even 42cm bars felt really narrow). Not considering it for this year, but with the new Force road levers (w/ buttons for dropper post and FA control), I really want to give it a shot at some point. So much of the course rides like a chunky gravel course that I really think it would be faster if I didn’t burn too much time on the descents (not wrecking would be key).
So essentially you would mix 2g of sodium per liter with some flavor and keep it completely separate from calories? That makes some sense and would account for varied temperatures although I tend not to get very thirsty. I wonder if I would get behind.
For the past couple years, I’ve been mixing Sodium Citrate into my homemade carb mix. Lately, I’ve been making that as a gel that I store in a silicone flask. I add 5g of Sodium to each hour of carb mix which equates to 1165g of Sodium/hour. When it’s hot and I’m sweating a lot, I have an extreme amount of salt stains on my clothes but I haven’t noticed any stomach issues.
I’m sure it’s far from precise but I used one of the Gatorade sweat patches to measure my sweat rate and sodium concentration and based on those #s, determined the amount of Sodium Citrate to target per hour.