Is there a video showing the difference between getting lots of air/ limited air when jumping, as Lee described?
(Demonstrating the different techniques to achieve this)
Thanks
I felt like an FBI agent trying to learn how to surf.
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I just want to chime in and say that I found Lee to be surprisingly eloquent and a welcome addition to the podcast. I must be right at his target level because pretty much everything he said clicked for me and turned on quite a few lightbulbs.
Thanks to the triathletes in the audience for being patient. 
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Oh I see it.
Not very clear to pick up technique
It would be really helpful to see more examples.
Sorry to get you out of the office Jonathan 
It’s just the life of an addict. I jumped with excitement when I saw the podcast uploaded earlier than usual.
Another fun episode with Lee. Thanks guys.
(Also another PR on the groomed single track afterwards).
If you haven’t listened to previous episodes with Lee it could be a little hard to get your head around his mindset. Well worth a listen if you want to get better at bike handling in any discipline IMHO.
Even road bikes lose traction and encounter rough surfaces. Surely, there must be some crossover in technique.
I’m interested to know what sort of speed would be maintained when using a 28 up front and the 50 in the back? That seems like it would be so slow you could pretty much crawl faster, and it would be time to walk for me. Not to mention that every pebble becomes a boulder at that speed.
It would be great to get some more insight into drive train setup for Sram Eagle.
Not just for Jonathan and other high level athletes, but also for mere mortals like myself who are new to cycling. (160-170 off the couch to 250-260 after some structured training for XCM).
PS. Keep up the great work TR. I like all the discussion on varied disciplines. There’s loads of info to glean from them all.
With a 28 tooth ring, a 29X2.25 rear tire, and a cadence of 75, you’d be going about 3.5 mph.
With a 32 tooth ring, 3.5 mph would be more like 65 RPM. In most cases, I don’t think the shorter gearing really gets you up much stuff that you wouldn’t be able to ride without it. It just makes you grind less. It also has the added benefit of making all the gears a little “closer together”. By that I mean that while the % jump from gear to gear is the same, gear inch wise, there is a smaller change, so it’s a little easier to find your happy cadence.
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Fair play if I was still averaging 3.5 mph (5.6 kph). That’s a quick walking pace if you’re pushing a bike up a hill.
I had a look back through some of my files to see what was happening when I had to get off and walk. It’s almost always around the 50 RPM mark, or 4 kph (2.5 mph) and I was carrying fatigue into the ride.
Some of the grades are 20-40% so I’m not exactly ashamed of bailing. That’s well above my pay grade.
It’s all very interesting stuff and I have a few different chain rings floating around. I’ve been training with a 34T recently to see what happens on the bike outdoors. Maybe it’s time to throw a 30T back on there to see how it feels on similar trails.
FWIW, I changed my gearing on my bikes this year to allow me to spin more, and as a result did less slower cadence grinding during training rides. I don’t think that helped me for Leadville. Day-of, the easier gear might help, but need to still practice slower cadence stuff in training.
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Two things:
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Triathlete/Roadie - have owned one MTB in my life and that was my college commuter. I love listening to the MTB skill sessions, and I’m going to get a MTB and I’m going to learn. Dunno about buying a rip row, but the concept really makes sense to me. I guess count me as one non-MTBer who likes all the MTB talk.
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I appreciated @Jonathan’s perspective on Leadville. As a runner, people often ask me if I’m doing XYZ marathon event, or if I’m going to ever do an ultra, a mud-run, or whatever… I get the side-eye when I’m not all about the longer/muddier events. As @Pete and Jonathon said, they just don’t “tickle” me like a crit or even a sprint tri does, even though I’d probably be good at them. That said, life dream is qualifying for Kona because for whatever reason a 9-10 hour slog divided among three sports seems way more tolerable and challenging than a 9-10 hour run or bike alone.
TL;DR - there are plenty of ways to challenge yourself in these sports without always going bigger/longer. Go faster.
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I would love to hear Lee talk about cyclocross. Without a dropper post, the opportunity to do a deep hinge is missing - how does this affect the way that you should deal with the varying course obstacles and turns on a cross race?
As an occasional MTBer who’s much more at home on the road and just starting 'cross, I loved the MTB stuff about row-anti-row. I was sat in my car pushing and pulling on the steering wheel! I can visualise it in the vertical plane, but it’s harder to grok when talking about corners (unless it’s berms - I spent an entire 'cross race last week trying to turn all the ruts into berms!).
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I’ve seen Lee for lessons. All the stuff I learned crossed right over to the road. It isn’t as extreme but unless you are a world class road bike handler all those techniques can be used to some degree on any bike.
Renting a mountain bike in Boulder and getting lessons at Valmont bike park is probably the best upgrade you can get.
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In my experience… the really steep stuff, there’s a threshold of how “slow” you can go and keep the bike upright… I guess it depends on what kind of technical features are on the trail, as I have not ridden Leadville, but have done a lot of rides in Breck, so similar elevation. Our local 100 miler has some pretty steep sections, but those are basically all hike-a-bike because of steep + rocks/ledges. I currently ride with a 34, but I guess 55-65 rpm at only 180-200 watts doesn’t seem all that bad. Trying to do 55-65 rpm at 230-250 watts would be a lot different.
In respect to ultra low gearing, I’ve not found a hill yet i cant walk up!
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Couple thoughts after listening to @Jonathan talk about Leadville on the podcast.
Part of the deal with Leadville is not just the race itself but the experience that surrounds it. The pre-race meeting is known to be one of the best for any race and really is designed to get everyone fired up. Ken and Merilee are integral to the whole experience and this year Payson McElveen did a live episode of the Adventure Stash podcast right after the meeting with Rebecca Rusch, Dave Weins and Dave Mackey. It was a super cool event and along with given away Garmin devices and other swag, two people in the audience got coins for next years race. The awards ceremony the day after the race was also great and seeing a 73 year climb the podium having won his age group was very cool.
I also found getting there early to pre-riding added to the experience as well. It was fun seeing other riders out there and getting a chance to chat. I also saw Lachlan Morton descending Columbine as I was heading up, which was pretty wild. All of these things, combined with the race itself, contributed to my overall “Leadville Experience” and made it an unforgettable event and something that I would be excited to return to.
I think @Nate_Pearson may have had some of this experience last year when he went early and did some riding. Perhaps the rough finish in the heat tainted things some for him but I’m pretty sure @Nate_Pearson is going to end up back in the race at some point with @Jonathan’s time in his crosshairs. Go Team @Nate_Pearson!
The photos and first hand accounts from Lachlan Morton and Alex Howes gives a much different perspective on the event is worth a read. It’s too bad Phinney had a bad back and wasn’t able to join in. The reports leading up to the event was he was going to ride an Enduro bike and that explains why.
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If you want to see some fast row/anti row motion watch the crankworx pump track races on red bull TV or youtube. They have no chains so no choice to.
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Yes, I’d like to do it again. I like the Leadville vibe, the competitors and the race. I don’t like the high altitude or the time it took me to come back from the deep hole I was in.
And yes, Jonathan’s time is beatable! 
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Hi all, thanks for your comments. I was talking about some very visual/special concepts.
To see videos and learn more, check out www.llbmtb.com.
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