I test rode some parts of Leadville 100 a couple weeks ago and it did not improve my confidence. It is going to be tough. One thing that might make it more manageable is riding with a group of similar people to try to meet a goal time. It seems like a groupetto of 10-20 people would make it much more efficient.
I’m sure there are a lot of folks in the white corral that have a stretch goal of 9 hours so if there is any interest out there in riding this as a team working together then let me know. Maybe we could meet before hand and decide on a strategy. Or maybe @Jonathan could be our race director (if he makes it to Leadville) and give give us a strategy.