← All eventsLeadville Trail 100 MTB
~104mi / 3,600m high-altitude MTB race in Colorado (the 'Race Across the Sky'). Start/finish Leadville at 3,100m, out-and-back to Columbine Mine at 3,800m. Sub-9hr = big buckle, 12hr cutoff. Altitude, not FTP, is the limiter. Date approximate to mid-August.
The Race Across the Sky. 104 miles of Colorado high country that never drops below 9,200ft and tops out at 12,500ft on the Columbine Mine climb.
It's an out-and-back on fire road and jeep track, not gnarly singletrack. Fitness is the limiter, not skills. But the thin air discounts your power 6 to 18 percent, so your sea-level numbers lie.
Finish inside 12 hours and the belt buckle is yours. Break 9 and you earn the coveted big buckle. Almost everyone goes out too hard and pays for it on Powerline, 80 miles in.
Is Leadville Trail 100 MTB for you?
- Diesel-engine riders with a deep aerobic base. This is 6.5 to 12 hours of relentless climbing, won by durability rather than top-end punch.
- Disciplined pacers. The whole day rewards riding your own numbers and ignoring the wheel in front on St Kevins and Columbine.
- Riders who respect altitude and plan for it. Sea-level fitness only gets you so far when the top of Columbine sits above 12,000ft.
- Fit riders who aren't precious about technique. It's fire road and jeep track, so you need the legs and lungs, not gravity skills.
Training plan for Leadville Trail 100 MTB
A training plan for Leadville Trail 100 MTB isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Around 104 miles and 12,000ft of climbing, mostly on fire road and jeep track
- Altitude that can drop your effective power 6 to 18 percent on the upper Columbine climb above 12,000ft
- Powerline: a steep, loose, stepped climb that arrives at mile 80 after 7-plus hours, where the day is won or lost
- Two crewed aid stations and intermediate cutoffs that pull riders off the pace
- 2x20min sweet spot and low-cadence torque intervals at 50 to 60rpm for the loose steep climbs
- Long off-road Z2 rides progressing from 3hr up to a 6-8hr peak, all with real climbing
- A 6-8hr Leadville rehearsal with 3,000m of vertical and full race-day fuelling
- Hike-a-bike reps to build efficiency for the Columbine Goat Trail
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
