The talk around the office is almost entirely about Leadville right now. Pretty much everyone who works for Carmichael Training Systems – and most of their families – will be heading out to the small mining town on Friday. Several will be riding the race, some for the first time, and the others will be manning one of three aid stations along the course. The CTS stations within the aid stations will be serving more than just CTS Coaches, too. We’ve opened up the support role to include any CTS Athlete. We’re not sure exactly how many athletes that’s going to mean, but so far we’re expecting more than 90 people for a spaghetti dinner on Friday night (riders and support crews).
Beyond the logistics behind mobilizing the entire company for a weekend jaunt into the mountains, the coaches and staff in the office who are planning on riding the race are busy talking through and reviewing their race-day strategies. Depending on the goal (sub-nine-hours, reaching the finish line, setting a personal best, etc.), they are considering whether it’s better to dig deep at the beginning or ride conservatively for the first 40 miles. Some are deciding whether to switch tires or change their suspension setups based on reports that this summer’s severe rains have left the course rutted and sandy.
Me? This afternoon, between meetings and some on-camera work for a new series of training DVDs that will be coming out later this fall, I was reading through the results and time splits from last year. There are a few key times that stick in my head. In order to finish the race in less than nine hours, you pretty much need to reach the 50-mile mark, the summit of the Columbine Climb, by 11:00AM (4.5 hours after leaving the starting line at 6:30AM). From there you need to get back to the Twin Lakes Dam aid station before 11:45PM. To stay on target, you have to cover the next leg to the Pipeline Aid Station within one hour, reaching it by about 12:45-12:50. From that point you’re a little more than 25 miles from the finish, but those 25 miles include the slow grind up the Powerline Climb and another long climb up a paved road to the final off-road descent down St. Kevins. To finish faster than 9 hours and earn the bigger of two rodeo-style belt buckles, you have to reach downtown Leadville by 3:30PM. For comparison’s sake, when Dave Wiens won last year and set a new course record, he arrive back in Leadville at about 1:15PM.
Since I’m pretty sure I don’t have the fitness I had last year, when I rode strong right from the start and finished in 8:45:56, I’m going to start more conservatively this year. There’s not likely to be much difference in my time splits for the first 40 miles, but going even a few minutes slower will mean a significant decrease in my effort level over that distance. Hopefully that will mean I’ll have more energy left in the tank for the Columbine Climb, because a strong effort on that 10-mile climb can more than compensate for losing a few minutes in the miles before that. Similarly, going really hard on the flatter terrain and gaining a few minutes before the climb can really backfire. If you fatigued and run out of energy on a long climb, there’s nowhere to recover and get back into your rhythm. As a result, you can lose massive amounts of time.
So, rather than drive the pace over the first few climbs this year, I think I’m going to back off just a hair and conserve my energy for a big push on Columbine. I doubt I’ll rival my time from last year, but if I ride smart there’s still a chance I’ll come in under the nine-hour mark.
Chris Carmichael
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