I’ve heard the whole course is on Rouvy, so if I were doing LV for the first time I’d be checking it out on Rouvy.
Listen to some back episode of the Leadville 100 Podcast with Fatty and Hottie. There is a 4 hour one where they break down the course really well and I found the descriptions more use than watching YouTube videos as Youtube isnt great for judging speed, lines and obstacles.
If you are out there early enough I would pre-ride Powerline going down. Nothing else is particularly challenging (but that depends on how much MTB you have done previously)
1 Like
Thanks for the detailed responses and insight, super helpful and good to know that there’s camping close to town like that - it’s exactly what I plan to do, don’t need hook ups or anything, just a place to park and get to town kinda quick.
I’m a bit of a numbers geek myself - but don’t have a benchmark on who to be looking up on Strava yet but I’m coming over for Silver Rush also so will get a look at some of the course around then also.
I’m hoping for sub 9 so need to sharpen my pencil for sure. I’m 53, about 129lbs, 260ftp and used to long days in the saddle but not elevation (yet)
Maybe we’ll see you at camp one night…
1 Like
Your w/kg is going to be nice for this race and that is the biggest thing with all the climbing I think. You should absolutely be shooting for sub 9. Fuel it, pace it, and you’ll be good.
I’m going to add a quick counterpoint to w/kg.
I was around 4.4 w/kg at around 78-79 kg last year. I have a friend who was the same 4.4 w/kg at around 61-62 kg. We both did the race, no mechanicals, issues, or blow-ups. I did have a slight corral advantage starting from green where I think he was in blue. (But, not at the back in White/Brown). Day went well for me aside from the normal parts of the race where it’s just hitting you hard. His day was “so-so” but he couldn’t put a finger on it. (But again, no blow-ups, bonking, mechanicals, etc.)
Last year was the hardest conditions of the last 3, but I came in at 8:42, he came in 10:30 ish almost 2 hours back. Just a way of saying that w/kg matters, but it’s way more than that and in some senses your durability and the percentage of FTP you can hold and how hard you can go across a long day may matter more. How you train and details matter when you’re trying to go sub-9.
2 Likes
True. Let me be more specific. Weighing 129 lbs is a big advantage at LV vs another 4.4 guy that weighs 170 lbs. 4.4 and 4.4 aren’t necessarily equivalent up there. But you are absolutely right. How long can you ride high endurance/low tempo, that’s huge.
Any stand out differences in his training vs yours?
1 Like
We’ll, the reason I said it. I was 170-175 race day at 4.4, where my friend was 135 ish pounds on race day at 4.4, and I still came in almost 2 hours ahead of him. Both coming from sea level and both with a nice long acclimation in Leadville, neither of us rookies.
Yes - I do a TON of steady state power work. Last FTP increase is late Spring followed by a long specialty / race fitness phase building TTE and TiZ. Lots of boring Z2, Tempo, and Sweet Spot with some real butt kicker back to back days approaching the race (.8 IF for 4 hours followed by .72 IF for 6+ the very next day being an example) where I think he tends to want to get out and ride singletrack a lot more than I do, and is a punchier rider than I am. I’m pretty stubborn about executing workouts and getting more steady state / race focused as the race gets closer.
I can also say (at least by his strava) that a lot of his long endurance days, especially when he does them on the trails, come in a way lower IF than mine.
1 Like
Yeah, at similar w/kg, the heavier rider will typically be faster. Climbing speed on the steep stuff should be similar pace, but the heavier rider would be faster on the flatter sections with more raw watts. I’m surprised it was a 2 hour difference between you and your fiend, but not surprised the difference was big with you having a huge wattage advantage and the conditions last year. I assume he was bleeding time and/or overcooking himself pushing into the wind on the way back. People underestimate the amount of “non-climbing” time at Leadville. Getting in good groups and being able to hold a decently aero position on the MTB can buy a lot of time.
I’ve been around ±4w/kg and 167-172lbs for all my attempts and that has been enough fitness to go under 9 in 4 out of 5 (with the 9+ being a mechanical). It’s very doable at under 4w/kg with decent course conditions, good execution, and a little luck.
5 Likes
Interesting. Yeah, I would have thought being light was a way bigger advantage. On the one hand, you have to climb so much and 20% lopped off a higher ftp is more watts than 20% off a lower ftp. But on the other hand, yes…more watts to be had on all the in between stuff. As usual, it’s complicated. 
2 Likes
IMO, you should absolutely be gunning for sub 9 with those numbers. When you are at silver rush, go pre-ride some segments of the leadville course at “all day race pace” and that should give you a decent idea of where you stand (you can compare those segment times to folks on strava to see how it might translate into finish time). But don’t be too concerned if you are not hitting sub 9 pace in your pre-ride. The course always runs faster on race day (course conditions, drafting, motivation). I pre-rode the first ~80 miles of the course solo in 2020 (covid year) and was discouraged to be about an hour behind sub 9 pace in those 80 miles. I didn’t think I had much of chance at sub 9 at the 2021 race coming in with similar fitness, but I decided to go for it and pushed a 9 hour pace (understanding that I might blow up). I dug about as deep as I ever had on the bike and snuck in at ~8:50. My logic was it was better to blow up trying for a sub 9 rather than racing conservative. The conventional wisdom is to not go out too hard and I think that’s good advice to a point. But personally, I have to push hard from the start and continue that all day to have a shot at sub 9.
And yeah, let’s plan to connect as it gets closer. I’ll be out there for at least 2 weeks prior and I know some good spots for van camping.
1 Like
Yeah, and to be fair, like I said above I think I train more specifically for the demands of Leadville too. And to say I’m “detail oriented” might be putting it lightly 
1 Like
Haha, clearly. And part of the reason I’m here is because I’m learning good stuff from all of you. Just because I’ve done the race doesn’t mean I’m doing it right and can’t improve. I’m absolutely stealing ideas all the time like your specific training close to the event going out and holding pretty high IF for a long time two days in a row.
But I would also like to express to possible newcomers that despite us loving to overthink and plan all of these things, I genuinely have fun on race day. I enjoy racing on that course and wouldn’t do it merely to tick some kind of time goal or to get a buckle. I do it because it’s fun.
2 Likes
This x1000. There’s nothing wrong with setting lofty time/placement goals and going crazy planning/preparing for the race, but it can be really disappointing if your Leadville experience only hinges on your race day result (which is never completely under your control). I look at the race as the cherry on top of all the preparation and activities around the event. I hope that perspective gives me a shot at keeping my sanity if some idiot crashes me out in the first 2 miles….
4 Likes
I’m planning on getting a campsite in the Turquoise Lake area. BLM / National Forest land will be plan B.
I did once with support, once using neutral aid. All-in, not much difference other than nice to see people you know for encouragement.
The neutral aid can be very fast - they have water jugs filled and ready to do quick bottle and pack refills. And they retrieved my drop bag within ~15-20 seconds of me rolling in.
I will likely use neutral aid this year.
I completely messed up my nutrition and hydration the first time. Swore I wouldn’t do that the 2nd time, and did anyway. Hopefully I’ll get it right this time.
Both of my prior times, the weather has been good. But be prepared with clothing for any conditions. I’ll likely carry my rain jacket with me at all times. And have cold weather clothing ready to go in my Twin Lakes drop bag.
That’s a good shake out ride. Are you staying in Colorado between Silver Rush and the 100? If so, be thoughtful about where you stay, and how well you sleep and adjust to altitude.
Leadville is over 10k feet. While you’d have time to acclimate in the 5 weeks between, if you don’t adjust well to altitude, you could be getting bad sleep which might be more detrimental to your performance.
I live in Colorado at 6700 feet. I’m not sure I could live full time at 10k.
Lots of good points already made but one I will add if solo is to have a cheap jacket you don’t mind losing that you can throw to the side before the start. It is really cold waiting in staging and you will want a warm jacket to take off just before the start.
Also, you have the w/kg to go sub 9. I feel the key item to go sub 9 is durability and being able to ride at top of endurance for the flats and tempo on the climbs all day. I think this is where you will see big differences in people from sea level who are at 4 w/kg (or higher) going sub 9 or not.
2 Likes
I’m planning on staying in either Fort Collins or maybe with a friend in Boulder, but they have some home renovations planned in the spring, so depends if that’s wrapped up. I do hope to get there 10-14 days before Silver Rush, pop up there a few days in advance and ride a bit and maybe get back up for 2 weeks prior to the 100. I’ll keep the sleep quality in mind as I didn’t consider that so may be a case of dropping down to Copper or somewhere lower and just drive up to ride.
Great tip…
Do you mind if I ask what happened and more importantly, what’s going to happen this year?
Did you do a full pack change or just pick up some gels? I probably have no choice but wear a pack as I ride a small and can only fit one water bottle in the frame - but that’s a decision for later on.
..my note is below
I would be very careful of this. If you are focused on suffering on the flats during the race, you can have a very, very bad day.
Suffer during training to push up your ability to go harder on the flats, but on race day you need to keep it smart. I’m basically running mid - high endurance, maybe low tempo on the flats, pushing up into low / mid sweet spot on the climbs. Find a group, but don’t overcook it to stay with that group. (My NP from the base of Powerline to the start of the Columbine Climb was 62% based on sea level power, coming back it had already dropped 10W to 59%. Altitude adjusted estimates equate to 73% / 70% IF.)
Every year I’m passing people in the second half of the race who went out too hard. If you’ve got gas in the tank, and are feeling okay for Powerline inbound - start ramping it up there.
1 Like
Yep. The flats are for being as efficiently fast as you can go without actually doing too much. The climbs are where increases in effort actually make big time differences.
1 Like