im in the unbound/leadville group. so training for leadville is currently secondary. lots of gravel rides. considering adding USAC mtb marathon nationals for funsies.
Reading the reports from others here - I am both under powered and under trained!
I’ve been training 6-8 hrs per week, 300-400 TSS - about all I’ve had time / desire for with work / weather.
I have Moab Rocks this weekend. After that, I’ll increase my training volume as the weather improves. Needed if I’m going to hit my sub-10 goal.
I have the Silver Rush in July - which unfortunately follows a MTB trip to Crested Butte with friends. I don’t know whether to limit the volume while riding in CB the days before and be somewhat fresh for Silver Rush. Or just go into Silver Rush fatigued and be happy with any corral placement better than last.
Days 7-14 before Leadville I’ll be on vacation at sea level (I live at 6700 feet). Not ideal. But - was on vacation last week at sea level for 6 days, then hiked up to 16,500 a day later with no adverse symptoms - I.e. no headache / no signs of early altitude sickness; was definitely breathing hard! So maybe that’s not long enough at sea level to lose much of my baseline altitude acclimatization.
Most of my big days in the coming months will be with friends on long rides at the weekend. And I’ll soon swap weekday trainer hours for outdoor gravel and MTB after work. Not ideal / structured training, but more fun.
Mostly same here on volume and Moab this weekend! Looking forward to it and staying West next week to hit GJ Rides and Vibes the following weekend!
Have our first child in the mix this year and work demands have been high so balancing a new training schedule vs the old (which in comparison now feels like it was unlimited!)
In my mind there are only two corral positions that matter.
Red or better - you get an automatic crew spot at Twin Lakes
Not Brown - you know everyone you are starting with is at least capable of finishing an endurance mtn bike race in a reasonable amount of time. Brown, it’s possible you end up beside someone who has never raced their bike before.
Agree that getting out of brown would be #1 priority, but being further up still has benefits. An earlier corral increases the chance of finding good groups to work with (hagermans, powerline to twin lakes, etc.). And the earlier you make it to columbine, the lower the chance of being help up by walkers on the goat trail. Not saying a better corral is going to swing your race results by 30+ minutes, but could definitely make a 5-15 minute swing depending on your pace and how things play out. Very little downside to being in an earlier corral unless it gets you riding above your head.
Those are fun back to back weekends. I’ll try get down to GJ or Fruita sometime ~mid-May. I’ll be back in Moab over Memorial Day. Hard to beat desert riding.
Agree. I’d like to be in a corral where I am matched with other riders of similar ability.
Purple is where I think I “should be”. If I slow roll the Silver Rush and get Blue or White I’m 5-7.5 mins behind Purple. And would prefer not to feel pressured that I need to make up that time on Kevin’s and Hagerman’s.
Got some unexpected good news, Red Corral. I finished lutsen last year in 6 hours and some seconds, so I figured that was not sub 6.00 and green corral.
Should be a good position for the sub 9 attempt.
I got an email and it showed me in red as well (also unexpected). After a 4:55:41 in the SR50 in 2025, I started the LT100 in 2025 in green, missing red by 42 seconds. Not sure if this email was an error, as the corral chart has not changed for 2026, which requires a Sub 4:55 for the 2025 SR50 to get into red.
In the LT100 I paced for a 9:00 finish, and was on track all day except TL to OB inbound, where I lost 6 minutes. I am definitely planning on going out faster, pacing for 8:45… red would certainly help!
My guess is that they gave it to everyone within the cutoff minute. Maybe us cheap skate red corallers should team up for that sub9!
Thoughts on starting focused training in mid-May (12 weeks!) after winter of semi-slothfulness?
I just got an email and – totally unexpectedly – I can get an entry to Leadville. It’s a totally normal entry, no corporate sponsorship or friends-and-family hookup, I think I simply got lucky (or maybe they liked what I said when I filled out the lottery form?). Unfortunately I have only been riding casually for the last 2-3 months, I had a lot of work and very little motivation after not getting in through the lottery.
My questions:
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Is signing up at this point an irredeemably terrible idea (see below for pros / cons)?
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If I do sign up, how should I figure out how to approach my training? Is there an obvious “follow plan X for the next N weeks and then plan Y for the remaining 12-N weeks”?
Thank you!
Some factors that make me think it’s worthwhile:
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I live along the Front Range, Leadville altitude will hurt but it isn’t like I’m coming from Florida. I’m close enough to Leadville that I can get a few training rides on the course.
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While I’m not strong on the bike by local standards I’m generally fit and historically I’ve done well in endurance athletics, including races at high altitudes – nutrition / hydration / pacing / etc. above treeline are probably under control.
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Strava has my FTP at 245, 2.9 w/kg. I think it’s reasonable to believe there’s room for improvement with a real training plan, those numbers are pretty much a group ride some weeks + 1-2 solo 60-90 minute rides.
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I have a Zwift trainer, a gravel bike, and an XC bike. The mtb is a typical modern geometry XC full-suspension.
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I have some time to train now that the kids are out of school.
On the other hand… I’m old (50); I’m not really a mountain biker (20 years of group road / gravel rides until I bought a mountain bike two years ago, since then I’m split about 50/50. At this point I’m pretty comfortable on blue trails but no one will mistake me for a pro); I’ll be starting from the last corral; I may aspire to a big buckle, but I don’t really need one to be satisfied with the race; I could defer if my training totally falls apart (but I really don’t want to take a slot I won’t use, and also I don’t want to waste $600).
Unless your primary focus in getting the best results possible in a “one and done”, I’d say go for it this year. You can always come back again if you like it and optimize your training if you want to improve the result. But it sounds like you will be better prepared than well over half the field. It’s a legit bucket list event in my opinion, I’d do it if you have the chance.
I would say it depends what you want out of Leadville. If you just want to finish and get a buckle (of either size) and then never go back, then there’s nothing really to lose by going this year to check that box. If you aspire to someday go as fast as you possibly can, then I’d also say you should go. Experience at this event is pretty valuable. Not to mention, your finish this year can move you up for your start next year when maybe you train more and are more optimized and ready to go after a tougher goal time. Then again, I love the event. So I guess asking me is like asking a bunch of cyclists if you should buy another bike. Yes, the answer is always yes. 
If you want to do it, I’d do it, with some Caveats.
Put the Road and Gravel Bike away. MTB For everything from now to the race. Even Road Rides.
Structured Training Plan - I’d use TR. Do 2 Intensity Workouts during the week, and start working up your easy endurance volume on the weekend now through the race. Weekends shouldn’t be a go blow yourself up on a group ride and call it an endurance ride.
Don’t start thinking about a Big Buckle - You’re realistically targeting 10-12 range here, especially from the back and starting training now. A lot of people get big aspirations that they can’t back up, and it ends up hurting them on race day.
If you can get into camp late (and are okay with the cost) - I’d do it. Great time, and great experience. Or, just make sure you get time to ride the course and see it before race day.
Super clarifying, thanks for the thoughtful responses. I think I was stuck viewing this as my one shot, and that’s really not the case, it’s more of a bonus pre-shot.
Re training, in general I struggle to do easy endurance mileage, zone 1 & 2 are tedious, it’s much more rewarding to do a hard group ride or structured interval training, but for at least for a month or two even I can see I need to prioritize building my base endurance (along with some strength training for preventing injuries from adding mileage).
Good point re attitude towards finishing and not making a big buckle the goal. From looking through past data it seems the odds are quite low regardless (in my age group <10% went sub 9 last year).
I can’t quite bring myself to put the gravel bike in the basement but I’ll start working up the courage.
Thanks again!
I’ll give you a couple more quick takes.
Zone 1 isn’t Endurance, it’s recovery. If it’s a recovery ride - KEEP IT EASY. Zone 2 you should be targeting for the most part a steady 65-70% FTP. That’s hard if you do it for hours on end. Ideally - try and keep your average power and normalized power as close as possible. Yes, it’s not as fun as just riding. I’ll argue TR doesn’t do Z2 as well as it could for the Leadville Athlete. It’s more about spending as much time as possible in that 60-70% range without impacting your interval workouts.
Group Rides are fun, you don’t have to totally eliminate them, but they could be one of the number one ways to sabotage training too. Make sure they don’t impact your interval workouts and you can always recover for those. You don’t want to go out and thrash yourself (See latest podcast on the 50% rule) And, you’re better off spending as much time on your MTB as possible.
Strength Training - Keep it light, more range of motion focused, same day, later in the day when you do your hard workouts. Maybe 2-3x a week max.
Big Buckle Target is generally around 4.0 w/KG Sea Level. You’re just over 3 (adjusted sea level) where you are in Denver. And, that’s a general guideline. Fitness to put out power all day long and day-long endurance matters. There’s always a lot of people who think they have it in the bag, and then Leadville comes back to bite them. And then - starting from the back makes it harder.
Drive your FTP as high as you can, build your endurance volume as much as you can. Spend as much time on the MTB as you can - and I bet you have a great day as long as you fuel, hydrate, pace well!
I finally made it out two weekends ago to check out the course for the first time. My uncle dropped me in Leadville and drove down to twin lakes to pick me up. I did it again last weekend and will continue to build and check out different segments of the course.
Thoughts:
- I am so thankful to have seen the course. Going in blind is not the adventure I would excel at.
- There is a section on Kevins that has been harvested for logs that threw me for a loop. I thought I was off trail until confirming with riders down the road that it was, indeed, newly logged and torn up. Since last weekend, the loggers cut the logs across the road and cleaned it up. Result: no more hike-a-bike.
- Two weekends ago, the top of Sugarloaf was still hike-a-bike for 1/2 a mile. Now it is fully open. This last weekend I got stuck in nasty snowstorm that ripped through and pelted me with horizontal gusts of ice for about 10 minutes. When it slowed, I threw on a jacket and got back on the trail. By the top the sun was out and I had to lose the jacket. Gotta love CO!
- Powerline… I was laughing out loud at how awful that section is! The trail condition and my poor skills slowed me down a lot. I’m thinking going to a skills course is mandatory in the months ahead. I don’t want to screw up someone’s day by slowing them down, but I also don’t want to end my day by ripping harder than my skills allow. That loose over hard sure makes skidding easy… What are your thoughts? Is there a more clear line as the spring/summer progresses and more people get out there and ride? Is there a lot of carnage on that section? I cannot fathom going down that on drop bar or on a tandem. Goodonya to the beasts that do.
- Pipeline was a nice break from the big climbs, and I can see how riding in a pack would be super helpful. Last weekend the temps were 40-50F, and the wind was just a wall blowing north. I would have been happy for a draft now and then.
- Columbine is next! I still intend to do a Leadville to the top of Columbine and end at Twin Lakes to see how my legs feel after that climb. Then I’ll start working my way back to see how the route back to town feels.
Other post ride notes to myself:
- Use very light sun glasses. The darker road glasses definitely made seeing my screen and the trail harder.
- Do not start this even slightly dehydrated. Ride one had me entering twin lakes with a headache. I had not had enough that morning or later on the bike.
- I think I want to supplement with gu. Maybe pop a Gu before each long climb? Go with a little less sugar in the bottles?
Overall impressions: I’m so excited for this race, but I can’t fathom just how hard it’ll be.
I intend to keep heading up each weekend - time permitting - to get time on course and keep doing my long endurance rides on various section combos. Is there any interest here on the forum to do some group rides?
You should do it. It’s a bucket list thing. A lot of people sign up for the lottery for years in a row and don’t get in. You have the opportunity. Recommend taking it.
If you want to improve your corral placement, you could ride the Silver Rush in July. That’ll also give you an opportunity to test nutrition, pacing and steep climbs and descents similar to the 100 (the Silver Rush course is generally a bit rougher than the 100, so if you’re good there, you’ll be fine on the 100).
Figure out what works for you now. Leadville is jokingly referred to as an eating contest disguised as a bike race.
But - generally you’ll be better off if you can train your gut to take in 75-90g of carb per hour, or more. I personally do 100g-120g per hour, but I know my stomach can take it.
Gu - If it works for you, great. But try it out. I personally hate the stuff. I think it’s the one gel that makes my stomach turn.
I would advise anyone and everyone - do NOT go 100% liquid fuel. Basically, if you get cold weather, cold year (like 2023) and then you don’t drink as much, don’t fuel enough, can lead to bonks. Or, you drink to get the fuel, and you’re stopping to take a leak a bunch. I’ve gone 100% gels but will probably work in some liquid fuel this year for convenience.
Whatever you do - your longest weekend rides should also be looked at as race-day fueling practice. Put a timer on the bike and eat every 15-20 minutes for the whole ride, which is what you should be doing race day.
By the time you get to the race, you’ve practiced your fueling a number of times. If you’re going to use neutral aid - buy what they’ll have at aid stations and start using it now.
I’ve been reading through the 2025 forum and got some great reminders about things I need to pay closer attention to.
This is my first year using Flight Attendant. I saw that some people experimented with different settings leading into the race last year. For those of you who made adjustments:
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What changes did you make?
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How did they work out?
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What settings are you planning to use this year?
Also, for those who race with hard power targets - like Jonathan talks about on some podcast episodes with max power targets by gradient, how are you setting your “Leadville FTP” in the week leading up to the race? Are you adjusting your FTP for altitude at all and do you just know the course so well at this stage you know where you should be? (First time at Leadville so trying not to overthink it but also be properly prepared at the same time?
And once the race starts, how strict are you about sticking to those targets when you’re chasing wheels or responding to moves?
Finally, for riders who’ve gone sub-9, what did your overall IF end up looking like after the race?