Alex Howes takes SBT w/ a convincing spring vs. Boswell and Stetina.
Organizers need to make sure amateurs form shorter events get out of the way in the finishing chute….lead trio had to jam on the brakes right after the line as a motorbike was slowing to avoid running into an amateur.
That finish was awesome, wild, and 
Stetina with a convincing win in the LeadBoat by the looks then.
I said this after Unbound, but trying to broadcast these races live using cell signals is just dumb.
I’d much rather they just film the race, edit the footage and show a 1-2 hour recap show the next day.
Watching 3 guys / 1 woman ride in on pavement was just……boring.
Course changes to the Black and Blue routes I think made it harder than 19 and more interesting. Who doesn’t like riding in a cow pasture followed by blown out dirt single track on a gravel bike. Slicks made it interesting climbing out of the water crossing in the mud.
Great route today. That single track section was a great addition. Fantastic day on the bike. By the finish, however, I was ready for the finish!
Have you found a listing of LeadBoat finishing times? Over the last 2 months my coach trained about 3-4 hours/week average, and did sub 9 hours at both Leadville and Steamboat for a sub 18 hour LeadBoat.
No, I just figured that based on him being fifth yesterday at Leadville and then so high up today.
Doing sub 9 on 3-4 hours seems remarkable! They must have a terrific set of genes.
Stetina did 12:44 combined. Bonkers.
How’d everyone do?
I signed up on a whim ~2 weeks ago after literally not touching my gravel bike since Grodeo (late June) and only riding MTB since (and mostly DH, at that). Because of that (and the extra $75 to register for the full 144) I just opted for the 104 mile option. That ended up being PLENTY and the ride was harder than I anticipated. The rolling nature of most of the course made it feel like I was always on the gas – like ~6hrs on the trainer! My legs were on the verge of cramping after about 50 miles, but I just kept pedaling, easing off as needed. Still, it despite being a crusher of a day, it was awesome and I highly recommend it.
I learned the hard way that you want to arrive early to these gigantic mass-start events to get a decent spot in the corral. I didn’t and was 442nd across the start line, so I literally had to pass HUNDREDS of people on course. Finished 63rd at 5:50 averaging 17.9mph. I was a shell of a man for the last ~15 miles. 
On another note, the whole idea of Leadboat is mind boggling.
I thought the race had been sold out since minutes after registration opened?
I got access to an entry with my company’s (MRP) participation in the expo. I still had to pay though. FWIW, booth space was $1,000 for a 10x10 and the 104 mi race was $175 (IIRC). So if you miss registration when it opens, that’s alway an option, I guess.
They opened some spots for the 144 miler within the last month. My neighbor snagged a spot doing that. He averaged like 17.5mph and still finished like 370th-ish. 
All the big hitters, Alex Howes included have their races uploaded on Strava. He averaged like 22.5mph.
That’s insane…how people do 22mph on gravel is beyond me 
With like 9800’ of climbing and 144 miles, at altitude. And Alex still had a respectable 14th at Leadville the day before.
Pro’s are a different breed.
i am still sore AF, and only did Red. flatted on a huge screw that ruined my tubeless setup & it was just downhill from there; more flats w/out a spare tube led to me prob wasting about 30 minutes on mechanical issues if not more.
I did get to pass a ton of people on the big final descent, which was fun as hell. easy to spot who MTB / descends sketchier terrain and who doesn’t.
The full video was just posted:
Hi all, I’m still confused about tire selection for this race. I did the black route on Ramblers 40 and it seemed to be a good fit for me specially on some fast descents with loose gravel on the south loop however, i saw a lot of people with narrower/slick tires so just wanted to hear y’all’s experiences because I’m obviulsy planning to come back next year. This event is one of a kind.
Such a great event!
I rode green with just the stock WTB Riddler 37s that came with my Topstone. I run 35-38 psi with Vittoria inserts.
My husband rode blue with the stock Pathfinder Pro 38s on his Diverge.
I kept seeing “never use less than 38-40 on gravel” and there seems to be a general disdain for the stock Riddlers, but I personally don’t have any complaints after almost a year on them.