Decided to start driving myself crazy early. Checking out the Windy app, and it looks like now it’ll be rain later in the day, and hot with gusts…last week it was forecasting a perfect day, but nothing to it but to do it!
NOAA and Accuweather are saying sunny with 10mph winds + gusts out of the west.
I’m sure we’ll get a better idea Thursday
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So my weather app is showing rain Wednesday into Thursday morning (I know, I know, different apps show different results). But after 8-9am, no more rain. How much will the course dry out in the 48 hours after the rain stops? Just wondering, trying to get an idea of what to expect. I know weather forecasts can change up to 1/2 hour before the race starts.
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It usually drains pretty well in most places, but they have really been getting hammered this week. I’m just assuming there will be some wet/muddy sections, the big question is whether it’s on the MMR stuff and whether it’s spotty or extended stretches. My plan is to go pre-ride Kaw reserve (first MMR at ~mile 28) and Divide road out of Eskridge on Friday afternoon and make tire decisions based on that. It won’t tell the entire picture, but those are both early selective spots and are known to get muddy. The wildcard is that Lifetime could do some last minute re-routes if they have concerns about emergency vehicle access.
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IIRC, last year saw similar rain a few days before and it was almost completely dry for the non-pro field. Pros saw some mud but nothing like 2023.
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Thanks for this info. I’m kinda surprised 2.1w/kg could potentially get me in by 13 hours! I was targeting closer to 15 hours, but now am probably hoping to meet in the middle and beat the sun in around 14 hours… All this assuming no mechanicals though.
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I think those are pretty good, but with the big caveat that you need to nail your nutrition, pacing, and racecraft. By racecraft I mean avoiding flats/mechanicals, and joining appropriate groups (so critical). When I rode Unbound, I was prob 3.5 w/kg, ended up around 12.5 hrs (quite a bit of time leakage at the breaks).
The start is super fast, with way too many people riding well over their limits. I was pushing 300w at one point in the first hour and got passed by someone on a fatbike (later saw this person waiting for the meat wagon 1/2 way into race). But at the same time, joining some of these huge groups saves massive amounts of energy.
It’d be really cool to do a poll of people with pre-Unbound w/kg and their final finishing time!
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Running my cross bike that can only fit 38s max so I’ve got Thundero HD in 36. That’s what I’m running wet or dry.
If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be running pathfinders if it is wet. The center slick section and tight packed side “knobs” seems counterintuitive to all the usual muddy condition recommendations.
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If it’s muddy, tire choice is more about clearance and shedding rather than traction. There can be some slick/greasy mud in spots, but it’s pretty rare and I wouldn’t make tire decisions based on it.
I assumed this was NP w/kg for the race? Not necessarily FTP?
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With course changes (most years) and dramatically different course conditions, comparing times year to year isn’t that meaningful (in my opinion). I was about 90 minutes faster last year than I was in ‘23 (some time in the mud and much less pack dynamics that year).
I know I’m supposed to stick to the plan, but today TR wants me to do a 4 x 9 minute Threshold at 105% of FTP. With unbound in 4 days that seems like a lot of extra stress to put on the body. I’m curious how others are spending this week and how they’ve setup their plans. (I’ve got Unbound as my A race with a 15 hr goal).
I think I’m going to do a longer zone 2ish ride instead as I know the threshold will be a lot of stress on my system.
You have to know you. I do better when I keep some intensity in the lead up to the race, but certainly dial back the volume. I would maybe do a 4 x 5 minute at 105%. And then keep the ride short. Probably 1 hour total.
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That sounds really wrong unless it’s a significant step down from what you’ve been doing. The general rule is keep some intensity, but reduce volume. You obviously aren’t building any fitness at this point, it just a matter of shedding fatigue while working the engine enough to stay open for business. I like shorter punchy stuff in the week leading up to a big event (particularly when the first couple hours will require a bunch of big spikes). If wanting some time at threshold, I’d keep it at (or slightly under) 100% and probably do 3x5-7 minute efforts.
For Unbound, I err on the side of very easy the last couple weeks. Today was 3x3 at 116% just to remind the legs that some efforts are coming later this week. And then putzing around for an hour at high endurance. I’ll do a few hard efforts in Emporia on Thursday during some pre-riding and then a few openers in Friday. But probably only another 2-2.5 hours of riding left before Saturday for me. Legs should be super fresh and fighting to get out of the cage on Saturday.
That sounds absurd, to me.
I did 4 hrs Z2 at 65% FTP Saturday. Monday was a 1 hr ride with 4x2 at 118% FTP and 1 min at 160% FTP (each interval separated by a long 5 min rest).
Wednesday will be 1 hr Z2.
Friday will be around 1-1.5 hrs Z2 with a 5 min, 3 min, and 1 min interval tossed into the middle. Each with a 5+ min rest afterwards.
I did very similar to this before my last race and felt 100% on race day.
Everyone is different and trial and error is important. The great thing about all the workout tracking is being able to look back to previous races and see what worked.
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Yeah that sounds a little bit much. I’m doing Cajon today (30 minutes), rest/drive Wednesday, 1 hour gravel ride zone 2 Thursday and then 30 minutes easy with a couple of 30 second pick up’s on Friday. But I’m only doing to the 100.
Thanks I ended up doing 90 mins. 3 x 5 minutes at 105% and the rest Z2. Felt pretty good.
Doing 77 TSS in 45 minutes on the trainer definitely seemed like would’ve been a struggle and not entirely helpful.
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Are those numbers average or NP?
Is that the section they bypassed last year as it was too muddy? mile 28 sounds familiar for some reason and last year there was one road the re-routed. Could have been a different place but mile 28 sounds about right. I don’t recall significant rain leading up to the race last year.
100 or 200? I know we did it in the 200 last year and it wasn’t too bad. There was basically zero mud of concern (ie - walking) in the 200 last year despite rain earlier in the week and some folks having issues during pre-rides.
I do believe they skipped Kaw Reserve for the 100milers last year, it was an easy reroute turning west onto 400 since the course departs from the 200 course pretty close to that point anyway. I can’t remember if that was a last minute change or just how they originally planned the route, maybe the mud re-route was somewhere different. I honestly don’t remember a re-route for the 200m course, but that was a year ago.