How we'll run it

Why

The gap is real and narrow. Mountain biking in Leadville is well served, including a three-day mountain-bike stage race each July, and Oregon already has an established gravel stage race. What doesn't exist is a week of gravel racing scored on total time over Colorado's 12,000- and 13,000-foot passes. That's the whole pitch, and we keep it that specific.

The town has a reason to want it. The Leadville Trail 100 began in 1983 to bring visitors back after the Climax mine closed and the town lost its main employer. A race in mid-September does a version of that today: it fills beds and tables once the August peak has passed.

The basecamp already exists. A lodge, a private ranch, guides and a support fleet are already operating here. Most new races have to buy or rent all of that.

What makes it its own

Leadville's famous race is a one-day mountain bike race. This is a gravel stage race. Different bike, different format, different month, and a different reason to come.

Proposed A team race as well as a solo one. Riders can enter as teams of three or four, with the best times on each stage counting toward a team classification. It's how a road grand tour works and it's rare in gravel. It also gives a club, a shop or a sponsor something to race for together.

Proposed The roads are the story. Each stage is a chapter of how these roads came to be: the toll road over Mosquito in 1879, the Colorado Midland's grade to Hagerman in 1887, the wagon road over Weston. Each evening's briefing covers tomorrow's road as well as tomorrow's weather, and the pass card gets stamped at every summit.

Under consideration A week that's handled. An all-in entry covering lodging, meals, transfers, bag service and daily recovery, offered alongside race-only entry, so riders arrive and race instead of organizing. Rider services.

Pending A morning for the land. The 2026 Willow Fire burned where some of these roads run. We want riders to spend check-in morning on a restoration project, organized with the Forest Service. It needs their agreement, so it's pending.

Proposed Run in the open. The operator playbook is public. Draft rules and rider-friendly refund and transfer terms are online for comment before anyone pays, and results will be published as open data.

What we won't do. No belt buckles, no hundred-mile distance, no out-and-back, and no dates on another Leadville race weekend. The finisher recognition here is a stamped claim tag and pass card, designed for these roads.

What we take from the Leadville 100

• One signature climb. Columbine defines that race. Mosquito Pass, at 13,185 feet, is ours.
• A prize people want. Our proposed finisher recognition is a pass card stamped at every summit and a stamped claim tag for finishers of the week. More on the race page.
• Scarcity. Demand for a capped field is what makes a lottery work. A small, full first edition is worth more than a large, half-empty one.
• A local cause. Part of every entry should stay in Lake County. The beneficiary will be chosen with the community.
• One home base. Crews and families stay in one town every night, and stages come back to it.

When

Proposed Target week: Wednesday September 15 to Sunday September 19, 2027, the second week after Labor Day. Final dates follow the permit.

• The Leadville Trail 100 and Breck Epic typically run in mid-August, so they're over by then. Riders, volunteers and lodging aren't split between events.
• The week after Labor Day is taken: The Big Lost, a gravel stage race in Idaho, runs then, and Colorado's Gunni Grinder usually falls on that Saturday. The UCI Gravel World Championships run in France in late August or early September. Mid-September clears all three.
• July and August afternoon lightning has usually eased by mid-September, and the aspens are near their peak.
• The risk is early snow on the highest pass. Every stage has a lower candidate alternate for that reason. See the stages.

Where

Proposed Leadville is home every night. The first edition would run five stages rather than all seven candidates:

Pending Hagerman and the ranch day sit in or beside the area burned by the 2026 Willow Fire. They're held as candidates for year two, once burn-area closures and conditions are known. Wildfire, smoke and closures.

How it runs

Proposed An experienced race director. We'll hire one who has taken events through Forest Service special-use permitting. The basecamp team runs what it already runs well: the support fleet, sweep, guides and lodging.

Proposed A small field. Our planning figure is 100 to 200 riders. The permit sets the real cap, and a full first edition does more for year two than a large one.

Proposed Funding before entries. A title partner and a few official suppliers should cover the fixed costs (permits, insurance, timing, medical) before registration opens. Entry pricing will be set against comparable multi-day stage races once the budget and permits are final. Sponsorship & budget.

Proposed Rider-first rules. Draft rules, refund and transfer terms and rider services are online now, so riders can see how it's meant to work before any money changes hands.

The sequence

1. NextFall 2026Pre-application meeting with the Leadville Ranger District. Early conversations with Lake County and the tourism office.
2. PendingWinter 2026–27File the Forest Service special-use permit, a BLM special recreation permit (parts of Mosquito, Weston and the finish cross BLM land, and BLM asks for at least 180 days) and the county and town permits. Decide on sanctioning. Line up the medical provider. Approach the title partner.
3. PendingSpring 2027Announce dates and open entries, only once the permit is in hand.
4. PendingSummer 2027Course recon rides, volunteer recruiting, final course design with the medical plan.
5. PendingSeptember 2027Race week.