As some of you know, I have had a “one and done” attitude towards the Leadville MTB 100. I completed the race in 2009 and I have never felt the need to do it again. That’s nothing against the event. I love the event and I have coached athletes specifically for this event for the past 20 years. I even attend the event each year to support athletes with a pre ride/talk and set up a feed station at Twin Lakes. The vibe at this event is like no other I have attended.
My “one and done” feelings stem from the fact that I felt that I had my best day at Leadville and I am satisfied with that day and my accomplishment. Nothing more is needed. It was the hardest day ever on the bike for me.
“Never say never” is the saying and that became my truth when last November an athlete that I have coached and supported the last 12 years asked if I would join him for the Leadville 100. The event has always been on his bucket list. He’s not a mountain biker by trade and does not live in the US so he felt more comfortable having a companion along for the ride to aid in his goal of sub 9hrs. I did not immediately respond.
After 10 days, my first response to him was I needed to speak with my family and think about it. Training for Leadville is no joke. It takes time and most of that time will come from weekend rides which takes time from the family and any other activities that I have planned. If you sign up for this event, you come ready to perform or you come ready for disappointment. After 6 weeks, he reached out again and I agreed to join him.
My first job was getting into the event and the easiest way is through the lottery. I entered the lottery and contemplated other ways to get in like attending a qualifying event. Fortunately, on Feb 1st, I was notified that I had been awarded a lottery spot in the event. This made this task feel more real and the pressure was on. This athlete has a goal of sub 9hrs and I know he can do it so that meant I needed to be well prepared with good fitness and the speed to be able to guide him to his goal.
Like with all my athletes, I started to write down my goals supporting the 9hr goal. This included a everything from my training and power goals to my weight and to what bike I would ride. The past few years, I have been riding a down-country bike that weighs a respectable 30 pounds but now I would need something a little more nimble and a lot less weight. I was not in a hurry but would want something by mid May so I could train on the bike and still have time to make any necessary changes. I did know my companion had bought a bike local to him and it came in at just under 23 pounds. Knowing his weight and power and my need to ride with him, I absolutely needed something close to the weight of his bike.
The Bike
At first, I toyed with the idea of going very light and riding a gravel bike. I’ve seen more than a few people do this at Leadville and I feel very confident in my handling skills to ride a rigid drop bar bike. I also thought much about a hardtail MTB. When it comes to speed at the Leadville 100, and if you are a rider comfortable with your skills, a hardtail mtb is hard to beat especially when they can weigh 19-20lbs. Plus I knew the Leadville record was set on a hardtail MTB when I assisted my athlete Kristen Hynek and his team on breaking the 6hr mark at Leadville.
In the end, I went with a MTB as I wanted to have components and wheels that match my partners in case he had a mechanical and I could assist him with a quick wheel change, bike change, chain, etc… I became obsessed with this for a while checking out what seemed like an infinite amount of options and scouring the lightly used MTB market. A new bike whether hardtail or a fully in the weight range of 19-24 pounds would be in the $6k to $12k range. I saw many options and spoke with specialist MTB shops like Bicycle Haus about their thoughts. I came close to purchasing a few bikes but again, I was not in a rush so I took my time.
In the end, I was scrolling through my Instagram stories and saw that Taylor Lideen was selling his race bike from the 2022 season. This bike had all the bells and whistles including a double sided power meter and full XTR group set. The bike had the lightest wheelset that I know of and all this was mounted on a Pivot Mach4 SL frame which I must admit I had been admiring for a couple of years. I reached out to Taylor with some questions and the bike was in my possession in about a week.
I must also admit that I had been pining for a Pivot bike for a couple of years. Pivot is an Arizona company and I have toured their warehouse twice. It’s impressive. The frames are produced overseas but all the bikes are built and put through quality control here in Arizona. I was amazed in both of my tours at the hours and the care taken to make sure each bike is shipped to dealers as the bike is described by Pivot. It’s also cool seeing R&D being done right where I learned how to ride a mountain bike, South Mountain.
When I received it, I was stoked. Not only was this bike sub 24 pounds but Taylor takes very good care of his equipment. After a few changes like stem length, saddle, and grips, I made the bike mine. I have not looked back since and each day I am learning more about this bike and it’s capabilities. I highly recommend it as it’s a very savvy trail bike along with its race weight. The one change I will make after Leadville is a change from the current Fox 32 step-cast to a Fox 34 step-cast. I think this will match my riding style and the terrain around me much better than the 32.
Now that I have the bike, what about the more important piece, my fitness. I had started trail running over the winter to do something different so I had some general fitness but I needed to transfer that fitness to bike and build from there.
The Training
To start, I phoned up Tenac’s newest Coach, Rose Grant, to ask for her help. She has won Leadville twice so she knows this race. I had some ideas on what I wanted to do but wanted her feedback and for her to hold me accountable. She agreed and we wrote out a big picture plan of training the different energy systems along with putting down any know variables in my schedule like vacations, cycling camps, events, etc….
My approach to preparing for Leadville will be a little different but it has pieces of training that has worked well for me in the past. Working with any athlete even if it’s yourself, must include the realities of life. It must be in a format that is achievable. I want my athletes and even myself to be put in a position of success. And like all plans, it must be flexible and easy to amend as new variables appear.
With that, I tend to focus on bigger the picture and try to have each week have goals and be pliable. By that, I mean I will have an objective or two each week and it’s up to me and my schedule to get those objectives done. It takes a lot of communication and trust for a coach to give an athlete this kind of autonomy. However, I have found with more experienced athletes that this scenario works well.
In general my training is outlined below. It’s what I would call a Polar Pyramid. After some transition time, its a polarized plan and then switches to more of a Pyramid plan as Leadville nears.
February
Transition to the bike and ride how you feel. Volume to be 8-10hrs/week with 3hrs being a long ride
March
3 x 20 min Fat Max intervals and aim to increase Volume 8-12hrs/week with 4hrs being a long ride
April
May
One day of Rønnestad Intervals per week. All other rides are endurance and aim to increase volume each week. 6hrs is a long ride
June
Begin sub-threshold intervals. 1 x per week aim for a race effort—Strava segment or group ride. Keep volume the same or small increase
July
Increase volume to a weekend of 1 x 6hr ride followed by a 4-6hr ride. Possibly some altitude riding to remind me how that feels. Continue sub threshold climbing efforts and maintain VO2 max.
August
Race Leadville Stage Race and taper to the race.
Due to Coach Rose Grant holding me accountable, I have done well thus far. I just finished my hell week with the Rønnestad intervals. These have worked well for me in the past. These are very difficult. I have coached a few athletes to use this protocol and have had success with them. But I must say, it’s a very challenging workout let alone doing them for 5 days out of 7.
With these, you need to front load the intervals so that means 3 days of of the 3 sets of 13x30 max efforts, then two rest days and then do 2 more days of the intervals so you get 5 days of the intervals in a 7 day period. After that week, you just do one day of the intervals along with zone 1/2 riding. In the past I have seen a 5% increase in power and a bigger boost to my stamina or ability to hold power longer.
Before starting the intervals, I did a short field test on a local climb. The climb was 12 minutes and I was able to hang on to a 300w average just by the skin of my teeth. At the end of May, I’ll repeat the test. I hope to be at 315 watts. My end goal is to be at 4w/kg for 60 minutes. I will feel comfortable in being able to achieve my goal of assisting my athlete to a sub 9hr goal with this. So I need to be 67kg and produce 268 watts for 60 minutes. Currently I am 68kg and have a modeled power of 262 watts for 32 minutes.
There is work to do. There is still time. This is where I am and where I am going. I’ll make my next update in June.