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Playbook · 03 · Foundation
Course design at altitude
The course is a safety document as much as a sporting one. At 10,000+ feet, the same distance is a different race — riders are slower, weather turns faster, and the margin for a bad plan is thin. Design for the mountain first, the stopwatch second.
Routing principles
- Link the passes, transfer the boring bits. Each stage should have a clear centerpiece climb (Mosquito, Cottonwood, Hagerman). Use neutral rollouts and, where needed, vehicle transfers to connect stage towns without padding race miles.
- Budget elevation, not just distance. A "short" 45-mile stage with 6,000 ft of climbing above treeline is a full day here. Publish both distance and vertical for every stage, and taper total load across the week.
- Keep it on roads you can permit. Existing Forest/BLM/county roads and the ranch — not cross-country. This keeps the permit reviewable and the impact low.
- Design the descents as carefully as the climbs. Loose, high, no-guardrail descents (Mosquito) are where crashes happen. Neutralize, add caution zones, or route the timed segment on the climb only.
Cutoffs — honest, not punitive
Cutoffs exist to get everyone off the mountain before weather and dark, not to trim the field. Set them from real projected paces at altitude for the back of the field, add margin, and communicate them clearly.
Colorado's rule of the afternoon: thunderstorms build over the peaks most summer afternoons. Design start times and cutoffs so the last riders are off the high, exposed sections before early afternoon. A lightning hold plan is not optional (see Medical & safety).
- Intermediate cutoffs at the base of major climbs, not just the finish — turn back riders who can't clear a pass safely.
- A sweep vehicle behind the last rider on every stage; a rider behind the sweep is out of the timed race and into the SAG plan.
Aid stations
- Spacing: closer than you'd place them at sea level — riders dehydrate and bonk faster at altitude and dry air. Plan water/support roughly every 15–25 miles, tighter around the big climbs.
- Stock: water first and most (altitude + dry air = high fluid loss), then calories, electrolytes, and basic first aid. Neutral mechanical support and a spot for SAG hand-ups.
- Access & placement: put stations where a vehicle can reach them and where there's a bail-out — an aid station at a trailhead or road junction doubles as an evacuation point.
Marking, GPS & results integration
- Publish GPS/GPX files per stage in advance — the gravel standard; riders navigate by computer. Physical marking supplements, it doesn't replace.
- Sign the turns and the hazards — arrows at every junction, plus caution/slow signage on descents and cattle guards. Wrong-way and confidence markers on long stretches.
- Remove everything after — Leave No Trace and a permit condition. Assign a marking-removal crew per stage.
- Wire the timing in at design — mark where start, finish, and timed KOM/QOM segments sit so timing mats and crews have road access and power.
The design workflow
- Draft candidate stages on mapping software with distance + vertical + surface per stage.
- Ride/drive every mile in the actual season for surface, hazards, water and bail-out points.
- Review the draft with the land managers — expect changes.
- Set cutoffs and aid-station plan from real back-of-field paces + weather windows.
- Lock GPS files, marking plan, and the timing/medical overlay together.
A per-stage design worksheet
Run every candidate stage through the same questions before it goes to the land managers:
- Distance and vertical — both published; total climbing matters more than miles up here.
- Surface breakdown — percent gravel / dirt / pavement / rough, and the worst descent on the stage.
- High point and exposure — how long riders are above treeline, and when the last rider clears it relative to afternoon storms.
- Aid and water points — spacing, vehicle access, and a bail-out at each.
- Timed segments — where the KOM/QOM mats sit and whether the descent is timed (prefer not).
- Cutoff points — the intermediate turn-backs and the finish cutoff, from real back-of-field paces.
- Evacuation points — labeled, with GPS coordinates, cross-referenced to the medical plan.
- Permit fit — whose land, and any conditions the manager attached.
Setting cutoffs from real paces
Don't guess. Estimate the back-of-field moving speed for each segment at altitude (slower than sea-level charts suggest, especially climbing), add stopped time at aid, then add a safety margin. Work backward from the time everyone must be off the exposed high ground — usually early afternoon — to set the start time and the intermediate cutoffs. A cutoff should turn a rider back before a pass they can't clear safely, not strand them on top of it.
Aid-station stock list
| Priority | Stock |
|---|---|
| First | Water — the most of anything; dry air and altitude drive heavy loss. Plan generous volume per rider. |
| Second | Electrolyte mix and simple carbs (bananas, chews, bars, cola, salty snacks). |
| Third | Basic first aid, sunscreen, and a warm layer / space blanket for a cold, bonked rider. |
| Support | Neutral mechanical (floor pump, chain tool, tube/plugs), a trash/recycling station, and a radio node. |
Marking spec
- GPX files published in advance per stage — the primary navigation; physical marking supplements it.
- Arrows at every junction, plus confidence markers on long stretches and wrong-way markers where a mistake is likely.
- Caution and slow signage ahead of loose descents, cattle guards, gates and road crossings.
- Colored, dated markers that a removal crew can find and pull; a full sweep after each stage per the Leave No Trace permit condition.
Sources
- USA Cycling event/course guidance and gravel best-practice from established promoters
- NWS / NOAA Colorado afternoon-convection patterns for start-window planning
- Local knowledge — Leadville Offroad Adventures guides know surface and hazards firsthand