But... anyone have an aero cycling kit they'd recommend for Leadville that would be relatively comfortable for the long day and have sufficient pockets?
But... anyone have an aero cycling kit they'd recommend for Leadville that would be relatively comfortable for the long day and have sufficient pockets?
I started using a Giro Synthe helmet mainly because it's cooler on my head than anything else I've owned and I figured the extra aero advantage can't hurt. Other then that I would just wear a tight fitting jersey and lycra shorts.
But... anyone have an aero cycling kit they'd recommend for Leadville that would be relatively comfortable for the long day and have sufficient pockets?
If you have to ask this question, you very likely aren't fast enough and certainly aren't experienced enough for it to matter.
Any typical "road" jersey will have pockets. If you choose to wear a hydration pack, it will have lots of storage space. Wear what you normally wear for long rides and don't over-think it.
That's a hell of an assumption...you know what they say about those.
I'm shooting for sub 8:30. Not elite by any means, but plenty quick. Leadville is not really my kind of race. I much prefer longer single track races like Pierre's Hole, Dakota Five-O and even the Laramie Enduro (all of which I have podiumed on).
Leadville is a different monster though. Two of training buddies are going for their 19th and 10th Leadvilles this year (they typically finish between 7:40 and 8:40)...they say there's much more riding in a pace line then ripping single track, and you can battle a headwind the entire way back after the turnaround. In races like Pierre's Hole and the Dakota Five-O, you are pretty sheltered from the wind and don't need to worry about those things. The only skin suit I currently own is for time-trials at road stage races which I occasionally do, but don't need any pockets for a sub hour 40k.
There's a pretty big difference between an average "road" jersey and a skin suit when you are battling a head wind...and I will not be wearing a hydration pack. Only time I wear one is when I'm fat-biking and don't care for my water to freeze on multi-hour treks in the Wyoming Mountains in Winter.
Your over thinking it as others had mentioned. work on your drafting game...LT 100 is more of a road race and you need to know where the pavement and/or key drafting heavy spots are and position yourself strategically with some guys with bigger engines than yours to draft off of. A typical road kit will suffice. I've ridden the LT 100 3 times and knowing the course is half the battle and the key drafting spots is huge. I road ride with a guy that just last year got a sub 8 in just a road kit. If you really want to over think it, LT100 is well supported and you could go with a skin suit if you wanna be that guy.
At speeds where drafting is beneficial, aren't aero wheels worth considering too? I had a road bike with decent wheels that had blades spokes, I swear they felt noticeably faster. I was just talking 'aero' with a racing buddy who comes to mtb from triathalons (he was quite good), I think he was saying good wheels can get you up to one mph faster at the higher speeds. Any measureable speed improvement in an 8hr race would be significant. For the slower/techy mtb I do I'm sure it's not worth it.
I got my cycling legs in a college town in Central Washington (CWU), it would get pretty windy there. We used to ride upwind for about an hour, then blaze back to town with a big tailwind (often 20-30mph). Even with the big tailwind we could only go so fast, seemed like spoke drag to me (which is constant relative to speed regardless of headwind/tailwind).
That's a legit question and I don't think you're "over-thinking it." Hell, Todd Wells raced in road shoes/pedals for the improved aerodynamics over MTB shoes! I really like the Pearl Izumi PRO LTD Speed Jersey. It's tighter and strechier than a regular jersey and uses a dimpled aero fabric in sections, but still has pockets. And there's nothing wrong w/ wearing an "aero road" helmet...although a full on TT helmet would be wrong on many levels!
I'm trying to get from 8:28 last year to around 8:00 this year. I'm averaging around an additional hour of training a week, but I'm also going to use an Evade helmet this year and will put some foam and/or bar tape on the center of my h-bars for riding some of the pavement sections in an aero position. Drafting is obviously the way to go when you can, but I was shocked at how many people (at the front 15% of the race) were clueless about how to ride in a paceline. And there were definitely times on the inbound section where I was in the wind w/o anyone to draft...Nothing wrong w/ being a little more aero.
Just curious. You know two guys that have done this race for 9 and 18 years respectively, and you are asking a bunch of people on the internet for advice?
I would venture to guess that nobody that is responding has that kind of experience with the race. I would recommend you ask your training buddies. I would also recommend staying on their wheels for the whole race. Your best aero benefit will come from drafting them. If they finish in 7:40-8:40, you just follow them and you're golden.
I have chatted with them. They both recommend finding an aero kit of some kind but made no specific recommendation (which was really the question). Hopefully, I'll be blasting the doors off them this year so drafting isn't an option. They are both doing LEADMAN for the first time, so they'll be holding quite a bit back in the LT100 to prepare for the 100 mile trail run the next week.
One thing that the naysayers need to remember is that the longer you are out there the bigger the advantage aero equipment makes and you're gonna be out there for 8 hours or whatever so I'd say yeah, it could make the difference definitely.
If aero is your thing and you need pockets, get the Sanremo speedsuit from Castelli. It's a noticeable difference over even the aero/laser cut jerseys at road speeds. On a MTB speeds, I don't know...
I've done Leadville and will be doing it again this year. If for some reason after the turnaround I end up riding by myself, my learning has been that I will save significant energy which translates to time if I wait for the group coming behind and work with them. Yes, you will spend some time at the front as part of the rotation but if you are playing it smart, the percentage of time at the front is statistically insignificant to justify a skin suit IMO. A good quality tight fit road kit will be enough. A guy like Lakata has no choice. He will have to ride my himself if he wants to break his own course record. All the rest of us, we are just playing a different game.
Another thing to think about, and I say this as I'm carrying an extra few lbs around, is to consider how (if any) much weight you could drop from your person or bike between now and then. If you train with any power devices, then could you loose 3-5 lbs of body weight and still maintain a constant level of power? If so then this might translate into a measurable amount of time gained.
-CJB
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