I personally have taken to ultralight white arm warmers all day long to go with the Rule28 Gravel Suit. Basically - great for sun protection, white absorbs less heat than skin, and I think they don’t make me materially warmer. I have a shaved head too, so ultralight skull cap all day too that you can see under my helmet. All that and full finger gloves - not sure it makes a damn bit of difference freezing your ass off on the way to Kevin’s. I’m half way up the climb before I can feel my fingers again.
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Won’t help you go sub nine (I think your W/kg has you in good shape there anyway), but here’s some trivia about Leadville.
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I use some very cheap “arm sleeves” from Amazon. Like $10 for 4 pair. Very thin, enough to take the chill off but hard to overheat in them. And hold up well, but once they wear out or lost, no big deal. Arm sleeves
FWIW on tires - I’ve ridden thousands of miles in Leadville on Specialized Renegade 2.35’s (F/R) and rode them to a 7:18 time last year in the race. They’re light, durable, fast and reasonably priced.
Never flatted these tires once in my life.
Ultimately, line selection, weight distribution and bike handling play a massive role in protecting your tires on race day. But, I can’t say enough about the Renegades from my personal experience.
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This thread is making me extremely nervous about my first Leadville, and it’s only January. Hopefully the camp will help?
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pre-rides definitely helped me.
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I think a lot of this early back and forth is people being excited about the race and looking for reasons to talk about mountain biking in winter (me included). It’s not that you need to start planning things this early 
- other than getting your training plan sorted.
Success on the day - like other long - races comes down to a few basics:
- Nutrition
- Hydration
- Pacing
- Riding smart - I.e. ride in a way that avoids flats and crashes
Pre riding the course - or key sections - is helpful to know what to expect in general. Plus, allows you to identify the spots where “riding smart” is most necessary day-of. The camp will help with this.
That’s part of the fun…. Camp will definitely take some of the “fear of the unknown” anxiety away.
I always get a nice kick in the nuts the first time I try to climb after arriving in Leadville, it’s just a matter of getting used to being kicked in the nuts for extended periods. But climbing isn’t my thing, YMMV.
I don’t mind the climbing, but unless I get my Afib sorted 2027 Leadville is in jeopardy.
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With good prep, you don’t need to worry. This is a place lots of people enjoy sweating the details, it is definitely possible to do well with a lot less worrying on the details than us
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I booked a site today for my van at one of the Turquoise Lake campgrounds for Fri and Sat nights. If anyone is still looking for a site - there looks to be a few left - but they go quickly, so recommend getting on it ASAP.
Unfortunately I didn’t make it in via the lottery for the fourth year in a row. Seems like volunteering is a good way to go, but it’s hard for me to justify traveling across the country and spending so much time and money just to then spend more time and money on the race itself. I’ll probably keep putting in for the lottery and see if maybe a 5th or 6th time is a charm! I get excited every year and start thinking about tires until I get the sad email and then curb my thoughts for another 12 months haha
Same here. Hang in there! I get so excited every year–I’m not sure what else to do to improve my chances. They just took away the only qualifier within driving distance for me (Coldwater MTB, 11 hours away). Any other qualifier race is a flight, and I would struggle to budget for that. And it’s certainly not a guarantee to get a token.
Any idea if they read the essays? I though I had a pretty remarkable story, but maybe that’s not what they are looking for.
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No idea if they read those or not. I’d love to know how they make their lottery decisions and if there’s any randomness to it at all or if there’s a certain criteria they’re trying to meet. There are a lot of MTB courses I’d probably enjoy more, but Leadville still sucks me in every year because there’s so much history and prestige in the race. It’s a special race in the MTB world (even if it’s not the most “pure” MTB terrain). I’d like to do it once and can cross it off the bucket list and move on. It’s just frustrating when I see roadies get in who have no interest in MTB other than saying they’ve done the Leadville 100. But I guess there’s no way for the organizers to keep from that happening.
I thought the same. I’m back for #3 this year. It’s such an epic course and the race has great positive energy.
Agree that the lottery can be frustrating. My last Leadville was in 2019 - so took 6 years of lottery applications to get my name pulled.
I wish they gave more entries to people who ride qualifiers.
Leadville is type 2 fun :).
Agree though - as MTB course go, it’s bland from a technical and engagement standpoint (but it’s still epic).
For some “true” MTB courses, I’d recommend Grand Junction Rides and Vibes; and Moab Rocks.
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Second this in the best way.
And this year they are on back to back weekends so it will make for a great week in the desert at the start of May!
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Re the dropper. I’m a BOP rider. I’ve ridden once with and once without at Leadville. the with was faster although I don’t think it was the dropper. However, I was definitely more comfortable and more willing to push the downhills with the seat out of the way. Plus, on the long descents I was able to rest my legs
The distinct lack of snow in Colorado’s high country has me very worried about fires this summer. Really hoping it doesn’t happen as there’s so much that goes into that weekend in August.
This was Vail today (Feb 10th)
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I live in Breckenridge and can assure you, we are definitely fucked this summer.
That’s also a pic of going into Vail coming from the west on 70 and what you see is south facing. It’s usually not as snowy compared to north facing in the valley. But my point remains, we are fucked.
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Which pads are you running? The T2’s are incredibly powerful for 2 piston brakes….almost too powerful for XC at times. Move to metallic if you haven’t already.
