[Dirtrider71]

I recently raced in the Crested Butte Classic and will be competeing in the Leadville 100 next month. Has anybody done both in the past? Looking for a comparson between the two courses, physically and technically. Any advice for doing the Leadville will be helpful as well.


Ride till Ya Yak!!!!

 

[LyncStar]

Any advice for doing the Leadville will be helpful as well.

I've done the LT100 the past two years and will be doing it again next month. It is a fairly non-technical out and back course. The pain is in the length and the altitude. The most technical section is the return from Columbine Mine (the turn around). The hardest section in my opinion is the climb up Powerline on the second half of the race. This can be very hot (much sun exposure) and difficult. You may want to go to the LT100 website and check out the Yahoo LT100 chat group that discusses this race in great detail.

 

[TomP]

CB is harder

I recently raced in the Crested Butte Classic and will be competeing in the Leadville 100 next month. Has anybody done both in the past? Looking for a comparson between the two courses, physically and technically. Any advice for doing the Leadville will be helpful as well.

I just got back from the CB100. I dropped after two laps. I did the LT100 last year and will again next month.

My feeling when I walked away from the CB100 was that 2 laps of CB was about an equal effort to the full LT100. I was on the bike for a little over 8.5 hours, a little over 9.5 elapsed time. I GPS'd those two laps, and I also GPS'd Leadville which I finished in 11:15.

The first lap was about 31 miles, and 3,761 feet of climbing
The second was about 37 miles, and 4,831 feet of climbing
I don't have a track for the 3rd lap, but using topo I estimate that it was ~3,500 feet of climbing.

If I'm right, the CB100 course has roughly the same amount of climbing as Leadville, which I measured at 12,232 last year. But CB seemed like much harder work to me. The descents at Leadville are easy, but at CB they were work. Fun work, but tough on the shoulders, triceps and hands.

Also at Leadville, you have some climb/descent work, then a big flat. Then a big climb/descent, then a big flat. Then finish with climb/descent/climb/descent. I didn't really notice much at CB that I'd call flat--maybe the beginning of lap two for 6-8 miles.

I was in CB for fun and for a good training exercise. I got both, but I really burned it up. I think I went out too hard. I had the staggers at the end of lap 1. By the end of the 2nd I was cross-eyed. I'll be taking Leadville quite a bit more seriously.

I'm not exactly a vet, but my advice for Leadville is to use the flat on the way back from Twin Lakes to recover so that you have some of your cookies left for the powerline. And I'd say that if you finished the CB100 in less than 13 hours you're a cinch to finish Leadville in 12.

 

[Dirtrider71]

Thanks for the great info and advice TomP, You summed up just about everything I've already heard. CB is just awesome riding and I can't wait till next year's event. Loop #2 was just brutally Hard!! The Slate river switch backs just seem to never end, and then you get to climb some more to get to 401. The race was by far the hardest thing I had ever done on a bike!!, by the way, My finishing time for CB was 10:45 for all three loops, Do you think I get get under 10 hours for Leadville?

 

[TomP]

sub-10 is in your gasp

Thanks for the great info and advice TomP, You summed up just about everything I've already heard. CB is just awesome riding and I can't wait till next year's event. Loop #2 was just brutally Hard!! The Slate river switch backs just seem to never end, and then you get to climb some more to get to 401. The race was by far the hardest thing I had ever done on a bike!!, by the way, My finishing time for CB was 10:45 for all three loops, Do you think I get get under 10 hours for Leadville?

Sounds like it's entirely possible.

Some of the best advice I got for Leadville for a first year rider:

Take your goal finish time, and look at the finishers from last year who were right around there (there's a table in the packet you got from the race in the big white envelope). Check out the variation of splits among finishers around a given time. Then figure out what time you need to be at each aid station. That way when the race is going on, you can see how you're doing. I made a little table with best case/worst case splits and taped it to my stem.

When I got to each aid station, I knew how I was doing WRT my goal. By the last pipeline aid, I knew that I was in good shape to finish under 11 hours as long as I didn't fall apart (but I did, a little bit ).

I remember last year, just as I approached that last pipeline aid station, a guy I was riding with asked me if he still had a chance to finish under 10 hours. He had no idea.

 

[DLine]

Godd info guys - I'm signed up for the Leadville race, and am going back and forth on my tire selection. Currently, I ride 2.3s for all around trail riding, and am thinking about going thinner and lighter for the race. Problem is, I don't wan't to sacrifice durability and familiarity completely for weight. I'm thinking about just dropping down from a 2.3 in the tire I ride now (Specialized Adrenaline) to a 2.1, which will save me a little weight and rolling resistance, but still keep me confident on the downs - which seems logical enough to me.

Having never ridden the course, would there be an advantage to going thinner with even less tread?

 

[miSSionary]

Godd info guys - I'm signed up for the Leadville race, and am going back and forth on my tire selection. Currently, I ride 2.3s for all around trail riding, and am thinking about going thinner and lighter for the race. Problem is, I don't wan't to sacrifice durability and familiarity completely for weight. I'm thinking about just dropping down from a 2.3 in the tire I ride now (Specialized Adrenaline) to a 2.1, which will save me a little weight and rolling resistance, but still keep me confident on the downs - which seems logical enough to me.

Having never ridden the course, would there be an advantage to going thinner with even less tread?

DLine,
Yes, drop to the 2.1's. Very fast course for sure, the 2.1 will be fine. The course is mainly very fast fire roads. Good luck!!

 

[LyncStar]

Having never ridden the course, would there be an advantage to going thinner with even less tread?

I ride Hutchinson Python Air Lights. I think mine are 2.0 or 1.9. They are plenty for Leadville as the course is very fast, has quite a bid of road sections, and very little technical down hill that require a fatter tire.