Leadville, The 100 Mile Mountain Bike Race Podcast p/b Shimano

It's a full three hours of Hottie and Fatty detailing The Course. You may want some time markers for this episode in case you need to break it up or want to revisit certain parts. Here you go: 0:05:50 - At The Starting Line (S1E1) 0:17:35 - Starting Line to Base of St. Kevens (S1E2) 0:32:25 - St Kevens to Hagerman's Pass (S1E3) 0:43:00 - Up Hagerman's Pass and Sugarloaf (S1E4) 0:51:18 - Down Powerline (S1E5) 1:04:48 - Bottom of Powerline to Pipeline (S1E6) 1:14:06 - Up Columbine (S1E7) 1:34:10 - Down Columbine to Pipeline (S1E8) 1:51:35 - Pipeline to Powerline (S1E9) 2:00:05 - Up Powerline (S1E10) 2:21:49 - Down Sugarloaf, Hagerman's, Up to Carter's (S1E11) 2:36:50 - Carter's to the Finish Line! (S1E12)  

In this episode of The Leadville Podcast, Rebecca Rusch — The Queen of Pain — talks about the advice she gave to Fatty's wife a few years ago: the same advice that Lisa says changed everything for her: "Pedal! Pedal! Pedal! Pedal!" While your fitness is what it is at this point, understanding what Reba means by taking advantage of "the spaces in between" can make an enormous difference in your race. This is quite likely the most important lesson you can learn from this podcast, so pay attention.  Of course, before you race in Leadville, you've got to get to Leadville. Once there, what are you going to do for fun? And where are you going to eat? Hottie and Fatty have a long list full of great ideas for you.  And we get to the penultimate episode of our detailed description of The Course, talking about the rocky descent down Sugarloaf, the fast flight down Hagerman's Pass (on which we now have a ruling for correct pronunciation) and then the climb up Turquoise Lake Road, which you'll either love or...not. This is a packed and fun episode, with plenty of useful info for both you AND your family and friends. Enjoy! 

Everything you've done to prepare for this race leads to this moment. Every pedal stroke of the race itself leads to this climb. How you do in this four miles can be the difference between hitting or missing your  Leadville 100 objective,  whether it be to finish under twelve hours, under nine hours, or whatever your objective is. In this episode of the Leadville Podcast, we obsess over mile 79 - 83, AKA (cue ominous music) The Powerline climb.  It's just four miles. It shouldn't be a big deal. Trust us: The Powerline is a Big Deal.  We're also pleased to bring Racer Gibson of Racer's Cycle Service to talk about final bike prep. Rebecca Rusch talks about descending techniques for those of us not-so-gifted at downhilling, and Jonathan Lee shares some hot (haha) new research on simulating high altitude training.  Support My Sponsors We went out of our way, for this podcast, to reach out exclusively to companies we actually love and buy stuff from ourselves. Which is to say, you won't find ads here for life insurance companies or mattresses or cooking kits that come to you in a box. These are all companies I buy stuff from and use pretty much every damn ride. Please support them. Shimano XT Di2 is just perfect. I have it on both my hardtail (a Felt Doctrine) and my full-suspension mountain bike (a Specialized Epic S-Works). Shimano makes the best drivetrain and braking components there are, and XT is bombproof and affordable. The Feed Hottie and I have been using Maurten drink mix, and both of us are totally sold on it. No stomach issues, goes down easy, super easy to mix. I am a fan. And our podcast listeners can get a great price on a training and racing packs custom curated for Leadville racers. Go to TheFeed.com/leadville for the race pack, and there’s a link on that page to go to the training pack. And be sure to use the code LEADVILLE15 for a 15% discount on either of those boxes. You can use the LEADVILLE15 code at checkout for any Maurten drink mix purchase. Banjo Brothers At Leadville, and at any race, you will see riders with all sorts of crazy ways to carry their bike repair essentials. People tape or velcro stuff to top tubes, stems, seatposts and seat tubes. We say do yourself a favor, use our sponsor, Banjo Brothers, to get your flat fixing goodies strapped properly  to your bike. And not just your race bike, but your commuting bike and your bikepacking bike...and they’ve even got great backpacks and messenger bags for when you’ve got to carry bigger stuff. I've got a Banjo Brothers Bag  on every bike I have, and have been for a dozen years. They’re simple and they’re bombproof. They just work. To get 20% off your order, go to Banjobrothers.com/fatty-favorites. ENVE I have ENVE wheels on my single speed setup. I have ENVE wheels on my hardtail setup. I have ENVE wheels on my full suspension setup. They are the very best wheels you can buy. They're very expensive, but they last forever (or if they don't, ENVE takes care of you pronto — they're the Nordstrom of the bike wheel world). Spend the money on a great set of wheels and watch them outlast the rest of your bike by a factor of two. F'reals.

It's about time Hottie take his rightful place as star of this show to tell a story about one (or two) of the times he's completed the Leadville 100. In true Hottie fashion, though, instead of telling the story of his fastest racing of the Leadville 100, he talks about what he calls his most gratifying — and in some ways, challenging — effort: the time (times actually) he worked to help a good friend get onto the podium.  Whether you're interested in working with someone to help them finish fast, interested in having someone help you finish fast, or just enjoy someone with a fantastic voice telling you a great race story, this is a bonus episode you will not want to miss. 

Hottie and Fatty start this episode of the Leadville Podcast from higher than 10,000 feet...even though they're nowhere near Leadville. In fact, they're at the finish line of the Crusher in the Tushar, which might just be the most perfect Leadville 100 Tuneup a racer could pick. In addition to talking about their race day and what they learned, Hottie and Fatty dig into a very short — but deceptively difficult — section of The Course: the paved section between the Pipeline Aid Station and the Powerline climb. We don't want to give everything away here, but there might be crying, barfing, and electrolyte capsules involved in this discussion. Rebecca Rusch — The Queen of Pain — talks about the tools, tubes, and techniques you need to be carrying with you when you do an epic race like the Leadville 100, and Jonathan Lee of TrainerRoad helps you refine your training as you get close (just a few weeks now) to the Leadville Trail 100.  As always, it's a packed show, with info all Leadville 100 racers — as well endurance racers training for other events — can put to use right away.  Enjoy!  

Kimo Seymour is SVP in charge of events and media at Life Time Fitness, which includes the Leadville 100. In other words, he’s the boss of the race. He's also raced the Leadville 100 eleven times, finishing under EIGHT hours every single time. In this conversation, Fatty and Kimo talk about how Life Time chooses qualifiers and what their plans are for new qualifiers going forward, why they have double-dipping for podiums, whether they’d consider a wave approach to the starting line, what makes this race so attractive, and more. Fatty even pitches his idea for a Leadville-equivalent of the Dirty Kanza XL (and tries to secure an invite to it), getting a pretty surprising response. It's a fun, informative bonus interview anyone interested in the Leadville 100 MTB race is sure to enjoy.

There's a good chance that you've got friends and/or family coming along with you to Leadville, in which case there's nearly a 100% chance they're going to be crewing for you on race day. Which means that they've got as big a day coming up as you do...but concentrated into short little moments of crazed intensity when you roll in, breathing hard and amped up and unable to articulate a darned thing. This is the first of two episodes where Hottie and Fatty focus on crewing strategies for Leadville. You — and your crew — will not want to miss them. The Queen of Pain weighs in as well on this topic, driving home the "free minutes" a racer and crew can collect in this race with a well-executed race strategy. Also on this (very packed!) episode, Fatty and Hottie talk about the Silver Rush 50 (since Fatty raced it about two hours before they recorded) — is it a good tune-up for the Leadville 100? In this installment of The Course, Fatty and Hottie detail the trail from the top of Columbine to the Pipeline Aid Station. And of course Jonathan Lee of TrainerRoad provides his weekly training tips.  It's a loaded show full of information you (and your crew) can use. Enjoy! Support My Sponsors We went out of our way, for this podcast, to reach out exclusively to companies we actually love and buy stuff from ourselves. Which is to say, you won't find ads here for life insurance companies or mattresses or cooking kits that come to you in a box. These are all companies I buy stuff from and use pretty much every damn ride. Please support them. Shimano XT Di2 is just perfect. I have it on both my hardtail (a Felt Doctrine) and my full-suspension mountain bike (a Specialized Epic S-Works). Shimano makes the best drivetrain and braking components there are, and XT is bombproof and affordable. The Feed Hottie and I have been using Maurten drink mix, and both of us are totally sold on it. No stomach issues, goes down easy, super easy to mix. I am a fan. And our podcast listeners can get a great price on a training and racing packs custom curated for Leadville racers. Go to TheFeed.com/leadville for the race pack, and there’s a link on that page to go to the training pack. And be sure to use the code LEADVILLE15 for a 15% discount on either of those boxes. You can use the LEADVILLE15 code at checkout for any Maurten drink mix purchase. Banjo Brothers At Leadville, and at any race, you will see riders with all sorts of crazy ways to carry their bike repair essentials. People tape or velcro stuff to top tubes, stems, seatposts and seat tubes. We say do yourself a favor, use our sponsor, Banjo Brothers, to get your flat fixing goodies strapped properly  to your bike. And not just your race bike, but your commuting bike and your bikepacking bike...and they’ve even got great backpacks and messenger bags for when you’ve got to carry bigger stuff. I've got a Banjo Brothers Bag  on every bike I have, and have been for a dozen years. They’re simple and they’re bombproof. They just work. To get 15% off your order, go to Banjobrothers.com/fatty-favorites. ENVE I have ENVE wheels on my single speed setup. I have ENVE wheels on my hardtail setup. I have ENVE wheels on my full suspension setup. They are the very best wheels you can buy. They're very expensive, but they last forever (or if they don't, ENVE takes care of you pronto — they're the Nordstrom of the bike wheel world). Spend the money on a great set of wheels and watch them outlast the rest of your bike by a factor of two. F'reals.

In this episode, we’ll also be talking about the part of the course everyone obsesses about — one of the true defining moments of the Leadville 100: the climb to Columbine Mine. We set you straight on the most asked about part of Leadville bike setup: the rolling parts. We brought in a couple of our friends from ENVE, both of them Leadville veterans — each with finish times of around 7:30 — to geek out about rims, tires, sealant and air pressure. We talk about how to come back from setbacks during training, whether it's an injury or illness. Enjoy this seriously-packed show! Support My Sponsors We went out of our way, for this podcast, to reach out exclusively to companies we actually love and buy stuff from ourselves. Which is to say, you won't find ads here for life insurance companies or mattresses or cooking kits that come to you in a box. These are all companies I buy stuff from and use pretty much every damn ride. Please support them, because you should. And also so they will love me and want to keep supporting me. It's the circle of advertising, folks. Shimano I don't even know what to say about Shimano that I haven't yet said. XT Di2 is just perfect. I have it on both my hardtail (a Felt Doctrine) and my full-suspension mountain bike (a Specialized Epic S-Works). The Hammer has it on her Epic, too, and it's her favorite bike ever. The way it shifts. The way it brakes. Shimano makes the best drivetrain and braking components there are, and XT is bombproof and affordable. Get it already and find out how much better your bike will be. The Feed Hottie and I have been using Maurten drink mix, and both of us are totally sold on it. No stomach issues, goes down easy, super easy to mix. Hottie's super anal about stuff like this, so he loved the package precision; they tell you exactly how much water to use, no guessing with scoops and different sized bottles. My overarching impression is that it’s a ridiculously non-intrusive way to get down a lot of calories. One bottle, 320 calories — it’s a little sweet, it’s a little thick, but there’s no aftertaste and I felt great — my stomach was fine, I didn’t feel that weird energy spike you get with some energy drinks. It tastes smooth, and it burns smooth. I am a fan. And our podcast listeners can get a great price on a training and racing packs custom curated for Leadville racers. Go to TheFeed.com/leadville for the race pack, and there’s a link on that page to go to the training pack. And be sure to use the code LEADVILLE15 for a 15% discount on either of those boxes. And starting with this episode (now, basically), you can use the LEADVILLE15 code at checkout for any Maurten drink mix purchase. Banjo Brothers At Leadville, and at any race, you will see riders with all sorts of crazy ways to carry their bike repair essentials. People tape or velcro stuff to top tubes, stems, seatposts and seat tubes. We say do yourself a favor, use our sponsor, Banjo Brothers, to get your flat fixing goodies strapped properly  to your bike. And not just your race bike, but your commuting bike and your bikepacking bike...and they’ve even got great backpacks and messenger bags for when you’ve got to carry bigger stuff. I've got a Banjo Brothers Bag  on every bike I have, and have been for a dozen years. They’re simple and they’re bombproof. They just work. To get 15% off your order, go to Banjobrothers.com/fatty-favorites. ENVE I have ENVE wheels on my single speed setup. I have ENVE wheels on my hardtail setup. I have ENVE wheels on my full suspension setup. They are the very best wheels you can buy. They're very expensive, but they last forever (or if they don't, ENVE takes care of you pronto — they're the Nordstrom of the bike wheel world). Spend the money on a great set of wheels and watch them outlast the rest of your bike by a factor of two. F'reals.  

Here at the Leadville Podcast, we have fun preparing for and gaming out and gearing up for this race. But what we LOVE are the stories that come out of this race. And it's high time we posted a woman's race report. More to the point, this is Lisa Nelson's (now Fatty's wife, though this happens before they were together) telling of her first Leadville 100, in her own words.  It is a case study in strength, flat tires, courage, hypothermia, tenacity, driving rain, and a world-class bonk.  Lisa now says this day permanently changed her life and her perception of who she is and what she can do. Seventeen years later, it still makes her emotional. We think it might make you emotional too. Fair warning. Give this a listen some day when you just don't feel like going out on a ride. This tale of toughness might give you the inspiration you need to get out there and get it done.

A Note from Fatty: Hey, next week (7/4-9) The Hammer and I are headed to Leadville to race the Silver Rush 50. If you're going to be in Leadville during that time, let me know. And more importantly, if you're thinking of RACING the Silver Rush 50 (the MTB or running version), use my MRK18INFEN code a checkout to get a $10 discount. This same code works, by the way, to get into the LT100 Stage Race. And from what I understand, those are your two best options for qualifying into the LT100. Indeed, from what I hear, racing the Stage Race is darn close to a guarantee for getting into LT100, as well as a really good way to preview the whole darn course and get some experience at altitude. In this episode, we address the important questions in life: hardtail or full suspension?  What is the right gearing? Have you thought about your shoes, since you're gonna do some hiking? And of course there's so much more on this Leadville-specific bike setup episode. Coach Jonathan Lee joins us for this deep-dive into all things gear.  In our Course segment, we’ll talk about what should be the fastest part of your day: from the moment you turn off the Powerline and onto the pavement, to the high-energy Twin Lakes Dam aid station...in the ominous shadow of the Columbine Mine Climb. And In our Questions for the Queen, we ask Rebecca Rusch about head games — how do you trick yourself into a successful race? Support My Sponsors We went out of our way, for this podcast, to reach out exclusively to companies we actually love and buy stuff from ourselves. Which is to say, you won't find ads here for life insurance companies or mattresses or cooking kits that come to you in a box. These are all companies I buy stuff from and use pretty much every damn ride. Please support them, because you should. And also so they will love me and want to keep supporting me. It's the circle of advertising, folks. Shimano I don't even know what to say about Shimano that I haven't yet said. XT Di2 is just perfect. I have it on both my hardtail (a Felt Doctrine) and my full-suspension mountain bike (a Specialized Epic S-Works). The Hammer has it on her Epic, too, and it's her favorite bike ever. The way it shifts. The way it brakes. Shimano makes the best drivetrain and braking components there are, and XT is bombproof and affordable. Get it already and find out how much better your bike will be. The Feed: Hottie and I have been using Maurtens drink mix, and both of us are totally sold on it. No stomach issues, goes down easy, super easy to mix. Hottie's super anal about stuff like this, so he loved the package precision; they tell you exactly how much water to use, no guessing with scoops and different sized bottles. My overarching impression is that it’s a ridiculously non-intrusive way to get down a lot of calories. One bottle, 320 calories — it’s a little sweet, it’s a little thick, but there’s no aftertaste and I felt great — my stomach was fine, I didn’t feel that weird energy spike you get with some energy drinks. It tastes smooth, and it burns smooth. I am a fan. And our podcast listeners can get a great price on a training and racing packs custom curated for Leadville racers. Go to TheFeed.com/leadville for the race pack, and there’s a link on that page to go to the training pack. And be sure to use the code LEADVILLE15 for a 15% discount on either of those boxes. Banjo Brothers At Leadville, and at any race, you will see riders with all sorts of crazy ways to carry their bike repair essentials. People tape or velcro stuff to top tubes, stems, seatposts and seat tubes. We say do yourself a favor, use our sponsor, Banjo Brothers, to get your flat fixing goodies strapped properly  to your bike. And not just your race bike, but your commuting bike and your bikepacking bike...and they’ve even got great backpacks and messenger bags for when you’ve got to carry bigger stuff. I've got a Banjo Brothers Bag  on every bike I have, and have been for a dozen years. They’re simple and they’re bombproof. They just work. To get 15% off your order, go to Banjobrothers.com/fatty-favorites. ENVE I have ENVE wheels on my single speed setup. I have ENVE wheels on my hardtail setup. I have ENVE wheels on my full suspension setup. They are the very best wheels you can buy. They're very expensive, but they last forever (or if they don't, ENVE takes care of you pronto — they're the Nordstrom of the bike wheel world). Spend the money on a great set of wheels and watch them outlast the rest of your bike by a factor of two. F'reals.