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

An interesting — and confusing — story came out in the Leadville Herald Democrat late last week. In this episode, we untangle the story and lay out our best guesses for what significant changes are actually in store for the 2024 LT100. Then for our main feature we bring back show favorite Dr Justin Ross to talk about what it really means to dig deep, and how understanding this very real phenomenon can help you have a successful day on the course. There is a TON of info every racer needs in this episode; don't miss it!

Expert author Joe Friel and Selene Yeager share tips for mastering racing as a master at Leadville. Topics include age-appropriate training plans, navigating tricky turns, optimizing performance for older athletes, and addressing menopause challenges. Valuable insights on training strategies, pacing, nutrition planning, and preparation for endurance events.

Without question, the Leadville 100 is about the location. And it's about fitness. And it's about nutrition. And it's about the people. But really, when you think about it — before, during, and after the race — it's about the climbs. Face it, your reaction and conjured mental image when hearing the words "columbine" and "powerline" are already vastly different than 99.99% of the people in the world. So in this episode, we talk about climbing, with the person who literally wrote the book on it. Selene Yeager's got practical, personable tips and guidance you will not want to miss! 

Your race day nutrition plan is a crucial part of your race training, and this episode Hottie's got a great interview with Bill Armstrong of NeverSecond about setting up a one-company nutrition ecosystem. Meantime, Fatty's got a tip on keeping the rubber side down. This is a great episode; don't miss it!

This episode is all about numbers. First off, Fatty says there are four key numbers you must know when racing the Leadville 100, but they aren't the ones people put on their top tubes. Next, Jonathan Lee of TranierRoad joins to help you get ininto the zone -- your training zone, of course -- and how to understand and incorporate zones into your training. And finally, Hottie has a chat with USWE about their newish pack and we discuss who will (and won't) benefit most from it.

We're excited to have Coach Hunter Allen—who has worked with Jeremiah Bishop and dozens of the Leadvilles—join us to talk about a crucial (and often overlooked) component to your success in leadville: pedaling. Trust us, it’s more than just turning the cranks. In Fatty's Finishing Tips, Elden tells you to lighten up...but in a good, non-judgey way that will make a real difference in your race. And finally, we're outrageously excited to announce our new jerseys and t-shirts, all of which you can pre-order now at https://store.dnacycling.com/lt100/

Hottie and Fatty are joined by 2022 Leadville 100 champ Hannah Otto — one of the busiest professional bike racers in recent years. Between juggling UCI races, the Lifetime Grand Prix, and the occasional FKT, Hannah stays fast, smart, and positive: skills all Leadville racers should try to emulate. In this episode, Hannah talks us through both her prior Leadville 100 races AND walks us through a new approach. While none of us could keep with Hannah’s schedule or her pace up Columbine, we can learn a bunch from how she balances goals and overcomes obstacles. You'll also want to listen in for the Fatty's Finishing Tips segment, which is all about consistency and why the mindset you train with is going to affect your race day results.

By now you know whether you got into the 2024 Leadville 100. If you did (and even if you didn't), now is the time to do a baseline FTP test, so you can measure your progress through the season (and yes, Fatty reveals his own current FTP). Coach Jonathan Lee of TrainerRoad -- a favorite friend of the show -- joins to talk about the why, how, and what of FTP testing. We also introduce a new segment for this new season: Fatty's Tips for Finishing. With 25 Leadville 100 finishes (and one DNF) ranging from as slow as 11:27 (1998) to eight sub-9-hour finishes (including six singlespeed finishes and one singlespeed win), Fatty has learned a thing or two (sometimes from successes, often from mistakes) about how to finish the highest, hardest, one-day race in America.

In this mini-episode, Hottie and Fatty encourage you to enter the lottery for the 2024 LT100...but also, to not expect to get in the race that way. We dig into what the surefire ways are to get in, what the tradeoffs are, and strategies to get in that cost less (but are also less certain) or that require more time and patience. Also, we have a request as we plan out Season 7 (!!!) of this show: fill out our listener survey at leadville.fm/survey. It will help us help you get ready for the highest and hardest one day mountain bike race in the country.

This is it: the season's final episode. Like in other seasons, we end with Fatty's race report...but this was no ordinary day on the course for Fatty. In this episode, he talks about what it's like to do his 25th Leadville 100...less than three months after a C2-C5 spine fusion.