Leadville support advice

I am racing Leadville this year and I am lucky to have my dad come and support for the race. Having never done the race I am curious about the logistical limitations of how he would be able to support me. Should I expect him to be able to hit all of the major stops (pipeline, twin lakes, other?)? Or should he skip ahead to make sure he has a spot and is on time? I think my biggest concern is missing him and then not being able to communicate that we missed. Does anyone have crewing advice? I want to put together a plan that he can easily follow so we can both be successful. Thanks!

Edit. I forgot to include my question about how your finish time impacts the crewing. I would imagine the faster you go the easier it is because the aid stops shouldn’t be as busy. Is that true?

Congrats on getting into the race. This will be my second ride, and i’ve crewed, too. Crew management is a whole topic.

A couple things:

  • The aid stations are great, and will have plenty of food and water (if you’re OK with eating what they have)
  • You can do drop bags at Pipeline and Twin Lakes and Columbine. The staff at the stations are fast and know you’re in a hurry.
  • Getting to all the aid stations is hard, due to the traffic and the fact that every other crew has the same idea.

My POV (and what i’ve heard from others) is to focus on Twin Lakes as the priority place for crews (note: There is an alternative feed zone). That’s where my crew will be, since they can offer support before AND after Columbine. The other strategy i have heard from others is: Have them meet you at Twin Lakes going out, and then they move over to Pipeline to meet you at Pipeline “in”.

This is a well covered topic elsewhere:

I get worried about missing my crew, too. So, here’s what we are going to do this year:

  • They will know my arrival times in the zones, based on an optimistic and “worst case” situation. So, they’ll be watching for me
  • Cell coverage is spotty, but they’ll have my live tracking link from my Wahoo Elmnt, so they’ll be able to see where i’m at (hopefully)
  • They are going to be flying my flag, literally. A big Packers flag, so i can see them
  • I’ve told them approximately where to be and on what side of the trail to set up. Hope they can get there!
  • We’re going to head out to Twin Lakes the day before so they can see the land, understand where everyone else is going to be, etc. We’ll plan out a parking spot for them, and have a backup
  • They’re going to text me in the event that plan doesn’t work (again, hoping cell service is OK, but it probably won’t be)

Hope this is helpful. Congrats on the ride! Have fun!

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I’d go back and listen the debrief podcasts after Nate or Jonathan did Leadville. I distinctly recall them going over a lot of this stuff.

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Thanks for the response. That is all good input.

And the Leadville Podcast that Fat Cyclist does is chock full of good advice. Good luck!

Aren’t the live tracking services based on your cell phone / app, not the device? IOW, if there is no cell service, there probably won’t be updates from Wahoo via their live tracking?

Blocked. #BearDown

live tracking services based on your cell phone / app

Yes, i should have been clearer. The live tracking link will work if the cell service is working. Which is iffy.

Also, F the bears! (just kidding, sort of)

I can’t hear you because you have been blocked.

:bear::arrow_down: