Leadville Trail 100 MTB, live.

A hundred miles of thin air on a mountain bike

The same Colorado high country as the run, the same town, the same altitude — on two wheels and in half the time.

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is the most famous mountain-bike endurance race in the world and the crown jewel of the Life Time Grand Prix. The organiser measures it at 102.1 miles and 9,916 feet of climbing — 164.3 kilometres and 3,022 metres — out and back from Harrison Avenue in Leadville over St Kevin’s, the Powerline descent and the Twin Lakes dam, then up the long, thinning double climb of Columbine Mine at 12,424 feet and all the way home the same way.

None of it is below 10,000 feet, which is the whole problem: the effort at altitude, not the gradient, is what decides who gets the sub-nine-hour buckle. On Livebib the out-and-back is drawn as a ridgeline with the rider on it, distance covered, the aid stations in order and an arrival estimate for the next one that updates as Columbine takes its toll. One link, free to watch, and nothing to install.