There is a section at the top of columbine and bottom of powerline that most folks walk on race day, regardless of tire or gearing choices. I’m not anything special on a MTB and I can borderline clean them when fresh and no traffic (not race day), so they are rideable. But they are so steep that it’s more harm that good on race day in my opinion (all out effort, risk of cramp, etc.). I was in green corral last year and the only spot on the course where traffic might have forced me off the bike was the top of columbine. There was room to pass the walkers, but there are big chunky rocks and I doubt I could have navigated it even if I wanted to. On powerline, no big traffic problems on the steep sections, but I still walked it on race day. High risk of cramping at that point in the race pushing that hard. Juice not worth the squeeze.
I can’t remember any other spot on the course where there was a big risk of being held up by traffic. St. Kevins was a little crowded and there were probably a few folks getting hung up, but it was wide enough to navitgate around someone stopping in front of you. Sugarloaf isnt’ quite a wide, but things are a bit more spread out at that point.
This is all from the perspective of green corral. If I was starting in white, I’d do whatever I could to push as far forward as possible before Kevins. There will be folks walking their bikes as soon as they hit the bottom of Kevins, but they will not be hitting Kevins in the front of the group. They are splitting white into 3 self-seeded groups this year, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. There are some fast folks in white, I think those are the only people that really suffer from the wave starts.
I’d guess I was 3.5-6 W/kg. While W/kg have some relevance, the big factors are bike handling in crowds and aerobic endurance - along w being able to recover quickly on downhills.
I’m pretty good with bike skills and handling as I spend a lot of time on the MTB. Endurance and Recovery, I think pretty good but goes along with the rest of the training for me.
I’d always advise people to opt for lower gearing. A gear ratio of even 2.8 = 28:10 ≈ 30:11 can easily get you up to 35 km/h. Yes, it’ll be a bit spinny, but I’d rather spin out at 40 km/h than grind my way up a steep climb.
Even when you are ok doing one climb in a harder gear, races like Leadville are not won on a single climb. No one ever said that they’d rather be at 60 rpm than 70 rpm on a steep hill ever.
Also, as a recent convert to oval chain rings, one word of caution: oval chain rings do not change the laws of physics, the laws of leverage specifically. Just because a 32-tooth oval chain ring might feel like a 28-tooth chain ring in some parts of the pedal stroke doesn’t mean you suddenly have a gear that feels like 30:52 or 28:52 — mechanically it is still a 32:52. Still, oval chain rings can be more comfortable and lead to a smoother pedal stroke (that is the case with me and my Rotor chain ring at least).
Any reason you have decided against a pack? On such a long race that might take place in the heat and (judging from the videos I have seen online at least) has some exposed climbs, it seems prudent to have a hydration pack on you for some parts of the race at least. Plus, my hydration pack stays cool for a very long time, so it cools my back and myself from the inside.
If you like having a pack by all means go for it. I have 2 bottle cages inside my main triangle that can fit 24 oz bottles and that is more than sufficient to get between any aid stations on this course. It’s lighter, cooler*, and keeps the weight down near the BB instead of high on my back. The course is also not technical enough that I need a pack to drink while keeping hands on the bar.
In regards to heat, you don’t definitely don’t need cooling in the morning but if you picked up a pack with a frozen bladder for going up Columbine and dumped it on the way back I could buy that. Or you could pick one up at Twin Lakes inbound and dump it to someone at Pipeline. Beyond that, it’s a 10+ hour day for the vast majority of people. Unless you have people staging to give you fresh frozen bladders a few points along the course it’s net going to be hotter.
Note the one thing I didn’t say is about aero. I’ve never seen any testing but I can buy that the USWE packs are at least not a big aero penalty, especially at the average speed of Leadville, but I see a lot of other people riding packs that are a lot less clean than the USWE ones.
FWIW in the 2 previous times I did the race I wore a pack all day for the first and not for the second so it’s not hypothetical for me, I much preferred not having it, but it’s subjective so rock whatever you prefer.
Great info in this thread. I’m going to swap from my 32 to a 30 chainring and I have shimano 10-51 out back. I have the Power2Max NGECO Shimano PM and when I got it, the smallest chainring that it would support is a 32. Found out this week that Garbaruk makes a 30 specifically for this PM. Picked that up from PowerMeter City and they were fast to ship. I know it’s not a huge difference but I’m going to need every bit of help I can get to keep the watts reasonable on the climbs.
Been a while since i’ve done Leadville but always been able to do it with two big bottles. Never been a fan of packs for a number of reasons:
upper body/butt fatigue - its a long day in the saddle…why stress these parts when the bike can shoulder the weight
Handling - even a little weight makes me feel top heavy…i’m sure you get used to it but
Not tech - Leadville is not tech and its easy to grab a bottle. if it was super tech then i could see the point.
hot - unless its iced (then only a small window to drink) its basically like having a puffy on your back
This is hotly debated and really comes down to personal preference. Some people feel naked without their pack but i say save it for big unsupported rides. The only point i could really see it is if you knew the weather was going to be really bad on top of columbine or something and you need layers.
This is key if you are in the white coral. Based on my finish time I would be in purple next time around so probably stronger than the average white coral racer. I knew this going in and made sure I started as far up as I could and burned a match to get to the front by Kevan’s and it worked out well
good feedback. Just curious - from the front of the white corral, did you have any traffic delays from folks in the the corrals in front of you going up kevins?
A little bit but not bad, I was able to pass people as needed for the most part. There was traffic at the top of Columbine as well, no one was able to ride due to the lines of people. That’s the only places I hit any real traffic. Sugarloaf going out was fine, and while there were lots of walkers on power line (myself included) that had nothing to do with traffic…
Good thread! I ran a 34 last year and am considering switching it up to 32… only b/c of this thread. I wonder if i may have saved some better legs for later with higher cadence on the climbs. My hesitation is that there were walking spots mentioned above that will be waking spots even with 32. Just not much to be gained by riding. I also loved having the ability to keep high speeds on flats and slight downhills. I don’t mind a little slower cadence and it felt right last year.
I’m slightly over 4wkg at 7000ft, and really don’t mind a slower cadence. But… you have me thinking about change in strategy… argh.
It’s two weeks away right? That’s pretty close depending how many spins in the 32 you can get in.
There are slight differences in the gearing. It’s not a difficult thing to get used to but if you can’t get it on to test/make sure your chain is right etc etc I’d say stick with what you know.
I rode Columbine and Powerline a few weeks ago and was able to clean both of them with surprisingly less power than I expected using a 32 front, 52 back. Was mostly sweet spot and only went above threshold for very short windows. The caveat is that sweet spot feels like VO2 at 12K.
If you actually had the space to ride (which 99% of people won’t) I think that riding Columbine goat trail is actually a lot more reasonable and attainable than it seems. Powerline not so much. I actually was able to ride that at relatively low power too but at very grindy cadence that I doubt was much faster than walking and probably likely to trigger a cramp on race day.
Riding a 30T last year I never felt like spinning out was a problem, but I have a dropper so I just super tucked and easily blew by anyone pedaling on the long straight descents. On the road sections I got close to spinning out a few times when we were in massive groups but it wasn’t actually an issue. You don’t want to be the one leading the train for long anyway and in the pack I could coast.
All that said, I think you want your gearing to give you a nice comfortable gear for the long sustained climbs like the 1+ hours on Columbine before you get to the goat trail. If you felt like you were grinding there then I think it’s worth going down a size on the chainring.
That is of course unless you like grinding. I rode a lot of Columbine with Elden Nelson (“Fatty”) last year and he rode the whole thing out of the saddle at like 65 RPM because single-speed causes brain damage
Regarding the pack/bottle debate: if you have support at twin lakes, you can ditch a pack for a couple of large bottles, it’s certainly an option, and pick up the pack on the way back through. If I was to do it again I may contemplate that approach. I built up a Santa Cruz Highball for 2 reasons: BSA BB and can take three bottle cages - originally I thought that would be my approach. Yet, St Kevin’s is a “cluster” and going so slowly in some parts that drinking from a bottle wasn’t wise, yet with a pack it’s easier to drop a tube from your mouth than a bottle on the trail. There are lots of strategic variables that suit everyone. I used a pack throughout in the end. No regrets.
I’ve never done Leadville, but one issue for me is sweat rate: 2 bottles last me about an hour on a climb. E. g. there is one long road climb here, 1,200–1,400 m elevation (not sure), and while there are some toilets, the water there is not drinkable. In Z2 the climb takes about 1:30 hours and every time I run out of water. On a mountain bike, like you write, it depends a lot on the terrain and your fueling strategy. I like to double up the carbs in my bottles and have plain water in my backpack. On the other hand, I recently got a big saddle bag, Ortlieb’s 1,6 l saddle bag, and this thing fits a lot of stuff. I can see myself using that on a race combined with a jersey chock full of stuff.
Another option are the big 1 liter bottles from Zefal. They take a bit more than normal large bottle. They don’t fit all frames so do the math before you buy I use these things in big rides and bikepacking all the time. You could have then a third back bottle or normal small bottle in your jersey pocket.
I’ve used the Back-bottle before and they are great for MTBs in that they are easy to get in/out of pocket and have just enough to get you over that edge to the next AS. The quality of the lid sucks (hard plastic, leaks, valve small) but for what it is they’re nice.
Again not to be a hydration pack hater but on the weight issue its not just on your upper body but all around they weigh more as an overall weight …average pack weight for even a light USWE is around 350-450 grams (BTW USWE does not include their bladders in the weight specs?!?)… a 24oz bottle is 78 grams (and those are the heavy CB’s). Plus if you need to get anything out it is a total time suck to take it out and dig through it (although the mesh pockets on the shoulder straps for gels are sweet) vs reaching in your jersey pocket or even a saddle bag is way faster. And at the AS transfer even grabbing a second bag vs a water bottle is a total time suck comparatively speaking. Alright, might rant against hydration packs is over…normal discourse can continue.
I think that’s a good point. In my experience, I also feel the additional pressure on my hands when I carry a pack. However, at least I tend to drink more and more regularly with a pack on. And I’m whatever the opposite of a camel is. Mentally, it also frees me from having to think as much about hydration. Although during a race I’d probably carefully weigh the pros and cons — and perhaps come to a similar conclusion.
Is your experience similar, i. e. do you find you drink less without a pack? Or do you just get used to it?
. Seems like you’ve got good fitness to me lol.
Mentally, it also frees me from having to think as much about hydration. Although during a race I’d probably carefully weigh the pros and cons — and perhaps come to a similar conclusion.