ALLIED TEAM MAKES HISTORY IN LEADVILLE
BC40 TAKES THE RECORD & A SLEW OF TOP RESULTS
We make bikes that encourage riders to test themselves each time they saddle up. And the Leadville 100 represents a keystone event to see if what we’re doing in the factory translates to success on the ride. When our five Leadville athletes, Kate Courtney, Payson McElveen, Taylor Lideen, Maude Farrell, and Michaela Thompson lined up for the renowned Race Across the Sky, you could feel the energy in the air that we were about to witness something magical. Not because everything had gone to plan to be ready, but because when you have the best tools and support crews that truly encourage you, the sky’s the limit.
KATE: LEADVILLE RECORD HOLDER
For Kate, the former world champ is no stranger to the pressure of the world watching. Comes with the territory when you ride with rainbow bands and a Red Bull helmet. But Leadville was not only an unknown to her, but it was also her first event back from injury (breaking her wrist after the Nove Mesto World Cup in May). Nerves? Calm despite it being her debut at the race and smokey from forest fires in the air. Excitement? Bit between the teeth. As she said in her Monday Mantra substack, she knows how to ride a horse, but we know she is the horse as well. Did she know in under seven hours that she'd be riding into the history books? No. But there was resolve in her to show that she was ready to. And it didn’t take long for Kate to make her mark on the race and drive toward history. Pressing hard on the Columbine climb got the gap. Tucking into her signature aero position slipped her well into the horizon. Flow-state is when you know you are simultaneously riding within yourself and beyond. And that's what Kate describes her race to history feeling like. Head down, digging deep, body fully prepared to perform. At the line, she beat the course record by over ten minutes on her She Sends Racing BC40. Icon. Queen. Champion. Kate’s back, and bringing mega sparkle watts with her.
PAYSON: STANDING MAN
Payson’s run-in to Leadville wasn’t too dissimilar. Breaking his hip at Sea Otter in April sent him on a road to recovery he’s sadly a little too familiar with at this point in his career. But Payson knows how to rally and is a master of the comeback—not ready to give anything less than 100%. When the pressure of Leadville mounted on him on the Columbine, it would have been easier to yield to it. Put a little less into the pedals. Give himself credit for making it this far. Settle. But support where it matters, matters the most. At the base of Powerline, his dad changed the game, shouting, “You are Standing Man.” And the power came back, and in Payson’s words, he snapped out of the slump, and turned a solid day into a great one, racing to 5th on the day—equaling his result from his 2024 dream year.
TAYLOR: ON THE RISE
Taylor took to Leadville with the chill of a rider immune to pressure. How he does it, we’d still love to know. His training? Locked in. His BC40 setup? Basically, in mountain bike mode. Dropper post instead of a high post. 100mm traditional travel. Undecided on tires, but not sweating the moment. Mindset at the start: a top ten finish. Goal was to keep with the lead pack, but avoid cooking himself. He knew the pace would slow after the initial launch, so it was better to burn some matches early to stay with the draft than blow later with a doomed bridge. It paid off. He paced the climbs, smoked the descents, got aero as he could with flat bars on the flats. Not even a bottle drop and a missed gel at the neutral zone could slow his roll. He was comfortable, and the chill paid off under the Colorado sun with a time of 6:17:02 for 7th place, besting his 2024 11th-place result. Vapor Trail is on notice—Taylor’s rolling hot.
MAUDE: IN THE ZONE
Maude is a model for the self-aware athlete. Diligent in planning, perceptive in training, and highly analytical in racing. She also had a bundle of nerves taking the Leadville start line. It was cold, windy, and smoky—conditions that made even the best prepped slightly fazed. But cycling is rain or shine, and that meant ceding to the suffer-bin for the next 100 miles. Her goal: do the fastest ride she could, adapt to the race pace, but not succumb to it—there’d be a lot of ground to cover. Crush ’em on the climbs, no risks on the descents, pace it on the flats. Food in. Watts out. Aside from the screaming barfies from the cold on the first climb, the race was exceptionally smooth. Prep work is the best work, kinda stuff. Living at altitude, doing the Leadville Series, and racing within herself paid off with a smashing ride to 11th place. Next up, the Leadville Trail 100 Run. My knees just cracked typing that.
MICHAELA: FLYING ABOVE LIMITS
Michaela did the groundwork Leadville demands: perfecting the taper, tuning into her biometrics, and trying not to overthink it. Internal pressure builds up, but you have to release it in the right amounts and at the right time. Her BC40 was dialed: raw carbon, bigger teeth for fast racing, high post, you name it. On the top tube, “fly” in flowy cursive, there to remind her that when the pressure came in the Race Across the Sky, she knew to believe in herself. And that is critical to understand when life throws a curveball your way. The day before, she had stomach issues. Her body felt off balance. Not what you want when racing at altitude for 100 miles against Life Time competitors. The race started well enough, and she was in the front group, feeling very much like she belonged there. Pedal. Breathe. Eat. Drink. At Columbine, however, the wheels began to come off. Legs and body felt heavy. The gap opened up. This is when preparation pays off. She’d been reading the book How Bad Do You Want It? by Matt Fitzgerald. When the mind is feeling like it can’t go on, the body is still capable of amazing performance. Could she tap into that capacity? Stay positive? Stay strong. Despite the fact that she was alone, cramping in her shins of all places, feeling heavy legs and a tormented gut, she kept the cranks turning over ahead of her chasers. She had this, sector after sector, all the way to town. Prep, effort, gear, and one hell of a mental breakthrough equaled a top ten at the end of the day. Her parents were there. Had flown in from Costa Rica to watch her compete. What a day to reach a new level as a rider. And collectively, Leadville was the best show of performance ALLIED has ever had. Our hearts are full. And the bar was raised. See you next year, Leadville.
BC40: THE FASTEST BIKE OF LEADVILLE
Safe to say we’ve got that Rocky Mountain high. For us, as an American bike brand, Leadville is the MTB race of the year, and on BC40, our athletes delivered the best collective result we’ve ever had. We designed BC40 for Leadville. And our riders just proved it—beginning with breaking the course record.